Bentley University

The 2026 season will be Jim Murphy's 34th as Bentley University's head men's lacrosse coach. The only men's lacrosse coach in school history, Murphy has led the program to the NCAA Tournament in three consecutive seasons.

In 33 years at the helm of the program, Murphy has amassed 244 career wins and he is a seven-time Northeast-10 Coach of the Year. He has led the Falcons to three NE10 Championships, four NE10 regular season titles and 22 NE10 playoff appearances.

The Falcons reached the NCAA Tournament for the third straight time in 2025. Seven players received All-Conference honors and Nathan Alviti and Kyle Piersiak were named USILA All-America honorable mentions. Alviti, Piersiak, David Gagnon and Alex Parton received USILA All-Region recognition. They finished the season ranked 15th nationally by the USILA.

In 2023 Murphy was named the NE10 Coach of the Year for the 7th time in his career. He was also voted the New England Coach of the Year for a 6th time. That season saw the Falcons selected to the NCAAs for the first time in program history and were selected to host a first round game. They reached the finals of the NE10 Championship and ended the season ranked 10th in Division II by the USILA.

The Falcons also excel academically under Murphy's guidance. They have earned the Team Academic Excellence Award from the NE10 for having the best combined GPA among men's lacrosse teams in the NE10 for five straight years (2021-25) and 11 times overall. David Gagnon was named a 2025 finalist for the NE10 Male Scholar Athlete of the Year Award.

On April 6, 2019, he earned his 200th career win with a victory over Saint Michael's. At the time that made him just the 5th coach in Division II history to surpass the 200 career win milestone. 

In the summer of 2019, Murphy received another prestigious honor, when he was inducted into the Eastern Massachusetts Lacrosse Hall of Fame.

Throughout his tenure at Bentley, Murphy has coached 14 USILA All-Americans, 30 first team All-Conference choices and two NE10 Players of the Year. He has also seen four of his players drafted by Major League Lacrosse teams, with the most recent being Max Adler by the Denver Outlaws in the 2017 draft. Adler went on to a highly successful pro career, having led the Outlaws to the 2018 MLL championship.   

He served as an assistant coach with the Boston Cannons in Major League Lacrosse for 15 years and helped the team win the 2011 MLL championship. Murphy also sits on the Board of Directors for the Intercollegiate Men's Lacrosse Coaches Association.

Murphy is a 1986 graduate of Plymouth State College and holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Education from Plymouth State. In 2001, Murphy was inducted to Billerica High School’s Hall of Fame, where he also played lacrosse and soccer.

*Season cut short due to COVID-19