Dunphy rightly is visible again
Fran Dunphy went into retirement from basketball coaching without a public fight. Somehow, he had to know his record would do all that shouting.
He was the coach of an NCAA Tournament team that had just won 23 games, was three years removed from back-to-back AAC Coach of the Year citations, and was destined for the Hall of Fame, or at least a conversation about the possibility. He was scandal-free, popular in the basketball community, still competitive, still able to ensure that his players were competitive too.
The Owls would not do any better without Dunphy than with him, yet Temple hastened a change. Then it had a 14-17 basketball team. Who couldn’t have seen that coming from the scouting report?
It was wrong, all of it, but both
sides were careful not to damage any dignity. Dunphy went quietly into stands to watch the sport he’d coached so well. The university continued to ask him to remain active as an ambassador.
“I’ve never been a ‘no’ person,” Dunphy said. “When I am asked to do something, I have a hard time saying, ‘No.’”
Dunphy was on a Zoom conference Thursday, being formally introduced as Temple’s acting athletic director. It’s a job he will do until a permanent replacement is found for Patrick Kraft, who will try not to replicate the mutilation of the basketball program at Boston College like he did at the Liacouras Center.
And if Dunphy were asked to keep the job permanently, well, he’s not a “no” person.
“From the court to the classroom, to his advocacy and philanthropic efforts, Fran has time and again proven his dedication to our university and our city,” said Temple president Richard M. Englert. “And we look forward to seeing the positive impact he will undoubtedly make as acting director of athletics.”
Dunphy would have an immediate positive impact by appointing himself to his old job. At the minimum, he can use his new position to remain visible, all the better to smooth his path back to coaching college basketball games, which he had done successfully 580 times out of 905 tries.
“You know, in this world, you never say never to anything,” Dunphy said. “It’s not something that I think about as I take my walks around my block and reflect. I wish I had my dog with me, but he left me a few years ago; it was a great excuse to get out there and just walk around and appreciate the world as I have had it over the years. I have been one of the more fortunate people that I know and I am grateful for my opportunities in college athletics, which is spectacular.”
Dunphy made the most of his year away from the bench, attending dozens of games coached by his many friends in the business. That would include games at Temple, where he would often be photographed sitting upstairs, sufficiently distanced from the sideline to resist the temptation of chiming in with a suggestion to his friend and former assistant, Aaron McKie.
“I would say it was interesting,” Dunphy said. “I would be lying to you if I said I didn’t miss the competition. I think anybody who has done this for as long as I did, the competitive piece was what you lived for. And when the ball went up, you were nervous as a cat. Then the ball went up and you got into the game and loved the competitive piece to it.
“But I tried to do the best I could with reading a lot and going to a lot of games. I was happy to do that. I saw about every Temple home game. I missed one. I watched as many games as possible on TV. I followed the Sixers. I followed all the Big 5 teams and Drexel and went to a couple of Division III games. I saw Swarthmore College, which was ranked No. 1 in Division III, a number of times. It was great in many, many ways, but I missed the competition.
“It was different. But I enjoyed sitting upstairs, as well, and being away from the crowd and grabbing my box of popcorn and glass of ginger ale and just watching the plays develop. And I was pleased to be there to support Aaron and his team.”
Dunphy had good reason to pull for the Owls. He’ll have more, even if only on an interim basis, now that he is in charge of every sport, from soccer to cross country to crew. That’s a potential river of competitive juices.
“Somebody showed some confidence in me and I said, ‘OK, I’ll do it,’”
Dunphy said. “There’s probably going to be some days when I smack myself in the forehead and say, ‘Look, what are you doing?’ I was getting used to my life the way it was. But I don’t want to get used to anything. I want as many challenges as possible. And I want people to ask me to do things because I think it is great to help others.
“I hope that I can help.” He helped plenty before, coaching the Owls to eight NCAA Tournaments and an NIT Final Four.
That Temple reached back to him only echoed what that record was shouting.
To contact Jack McCaffery, email him at jmccaffery@21stcenturymedia. Follow him on Twitter @JackMcCaffery.