Fran Dunphy’s coaching journey will likely never be duplicated. Over the span of 36 years, he was the head basketball coach of three Division I programs separated by a total of 12.6 miles. In 1989 the University of Pennsylvania hired him as their head basketball coach. In 2006, he succeeded Hall of Famer John Chaney as head coach at Temple. In 2022, he went to La Salle University to get his alma mater on firm footing in the college basketball changing world. On Friday, March 14, 2025, the 76-year-old coached his final game, an A-10 conference tournament loss to St. Joseph’s University 75-70. He coached over 1,000 games, but his contributions run deeper than wins and losses. For Dunphy, the journey has always been about relationships. “For all of us that go through that life experience when you are young and think you know everything, you are tremendously insecure because you pretty much know nothing,” Dunphy shared. ”And then each year you get a little bit better, and you start to share responsibilities with staff. When you get really good, you share responsibilities with kids on the court doing the work. If we could all be good to, for, and with each other, everyone can be really good people and also a happy group.”
Six days earlier, Dunphy coached his final regular season home game in front of a sellout crowd at the newly renovated John Glaser Arena. The 81-74 final favored the La Salle Explorers over the same St Joe’s Hawks. It snapped an eight-game skid for Dunphy’s squad. The win also capped a day even the selfless head coach admitted was special. “You are sitting there, and the clock is winding down, and you know you have won the game,” Dunphy explained.
“There are not a lot of feelings like that. In all honesty, it’s why many of us get into it. It is the relationships and being with the kids all the time. But it is also your competitive spirit. “The thing that charges you is trying to prepare your team the best way you can, and when they do well, there is some satisfaction; peace overcomes you. I was much at peace as that clock was winding down.”
So many players from Dunphy’s past made a point of being in attendance. They wanted to celebrate the man as much as celebrating his career. Generally, Dunphy is a person who likes the story always to be about the players and the school, but he shared an incredible experience during his final week on the job. “I was on a podcast with all the guys I coached with from 1980-85 at American University, including Gary Williams, who just turned 80,” Dunphy said of his time as an assistant coach. “I had a blast reminiscing. I told Williams that day that nobody was more prepared to practice, let alone the games. My man would go through practice with a sheet of paper all crumpled up, but he knew exactly what he wanted done. The biggest fear we all have is whether my team is prepared enough. “He was a guy I learned so much from. Even though I wasn’t a great student then, I took away the fact that you have to be ready to go every day. I was really lucky to coach really good guys at really good programs. I am a very lucky guy.”
Dunphy is also a guy who understands community and our role as human beings to make a difference. “We are given all these platforms; jump in and try to help as much as you can,” he said. “I am so proud of the Coaches vs. Cancer projects we have gotten involved in. So many people joined us as if it was their duty. It wasn’t their duty. We loved people coming together with us. It was amazing to see people getting behind the cause. Philly has always been that way. As imperfect as we are, we are a pretty good group throughout the city. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere other than Philadelphia, coaching college basketball for as long as I have had the opportunity. It’s pretty fabulous.”
Dunphy enjoys playing golf with his friends at Rolling Green Golf Club in Delaware County. Tee times will likely be more abundant with retirement. Still, Dunphy has bigger plans that, not surprisingly, circle back to relationships. “One of the things I would like to do is go see Swan Lake,” Dunphy shared. “I have never been to a ballet in my life, but I would like to go because my brother went. He said you will like it. I lost my brother a little bit ago. I will go to Swan Lake, and I hope to go to Normandy; those are on my bucket list. I will feel like a pretty lucky guy if I can do those.”
Fran, we are the lucky ones to have been touched by your kind, humble, caring ways for more than thirty years in the City of Brotherly Love.
