Murphy Again Misses Out on San Jose St. Job

It appears as if Cal State Fullerton football Coach Gene Murphy will be the runner-up in a San Jose State coaching derby for the second time in three years.

Ron Turner, former offensive coordinator at Stanford, is expected to be named head coach at San Jose State today at an 11 a.m. news conference, according to reports in today’s editions of the San Jose Mercury News.

Murphy, who was a finalist at San Jose State in the spring of 1990, declined to comment Monday, but a source confirmed Murphy was told by Spartan Athletic Director Tom Brennan that he didn’t get the job.

Turner and Murphy were the only candidates officially interviewed for the Spartan job, which opened when Terry Shea resigned last week to become offensive coordinator at Stanford. Turner was a finalist for the Stanford head coaching position that Bill Walsh accepted last week.

A San Jose State source told the Mercury News that Turner and Murphy were recommended by the school’s athletic board, which interviewed the candidates, and that the final decision was made by Brennan and school President Handel J. Evans.

Murphy, who has spent the past 12 seasons at Fullerton, traveled to San Jose Sunday to interview for the job.

Turner, 38, has coached at six Division I universities, including USC. After playing at the University of the Pacific, Turner spent three seasons (1978-80) at Arizona, two (1981-82) at Northwestern, two (1983-84) at Pittsburgh, three (1985-87) at USC, one (1988) at Texas A&M; and three (1989-91) at Stanford, all as an assistant.