Inducted into the Weightlifting Hall of Fame: November 15, 2024
Dr. Joseph H. Murry, Jr. distinguished himself in college as an accomplished shot putter and a super heavy weight weightlifter at the University of Southwestern Louisiana from 1965-1968. After a disappointing high school career at St. Aloysius High School, New Orleans, Joe had something to prove to himself and his family. He was a walk-on for the USL track team and through his training for the shotput event he became a member of the USL weightlifting team.
Through hard training and determination, he placed second in Gulf States Conference Championships in his freshman year in the shot put and helped his team win the 1965 conference championship. That accomplishment earned him the Joseph A. Cambre Non-Scholarship Athlete Award and a scholarship in Track and Field for the remainder of his college career. Joe went on to win the GSC Conference Championship in his senior year setting a conference and school record in the shot of 55’3”, a school record which stood for some 15 plus years. He served as co-captain in his senior year and was a member of four Gulf States Conference Championship Teams (1965,’66,’67’68).
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In addition to his track accomplishments, Joe was a member of four National Weightlifting Teams (1965,’66,’67,’68). In his Junior and Senior years, he competed in the National Collegiate Weightlifting Championships, which were both held on USL’s campus. Placing 5th in his junior year only motivated him to train harder and in 1968, he led his team to another National title. On the day of that competition, Joe competed in USL/LSU Track dual meet in Baton Rouge and won his event helping his team to victory and then competed in National Competition that night back on USL’s campus. In leading his team to victory, Joe set 4 National Collegiate Meet records in the Super Heavyweight class. That same year, Joe won the AAU Jr. National Competition (setting three national meet records) and pressing 400 lbs., becoming only the eighth man in the world to accomplish such a feat. That same year he won the AAU Senior Nationals (setting two national records), becoming the first winner of the newly formed 242 lb. class. In 1968, Joe was named to the All-American Weightlifting team in the 242lb. class. After USL, Joe continued to compete in weightlifting, placing fourth in the 1968 Olympic trials, third in the 1972 Olympic Trials and culminating his career by winning the 1973 YMCA Nationals. He is a member of the USL Hall of Fame, being inducted in 1986.
In 1973, Joe became the first real Strength Coach and Physical Coordinator of the Buffalo Bills and established conditioning programs that helped the Bills reach the playoffs in 1974. The 1973 Bills set rushing records of 3088 yds as a team with OJ Simpson becoming the first player to rush for 2003 yards in the NFL. Joe credits total conditioning programs as helping the Bills achieve their goals in those years. (O-Line and D-Line) adding strength to the QB core and adding a more scientific approach to testing and the crafting of strength programs for individual players.
In 1978, Joe returned to his first love of teaching and coaching in New Orleans. Joe was an assistant coach in football, Head Tennis and Soccer Coach, and the Athletic Director at Abramson High School, before being promoted to Principal of the New Orleans school. In addition, he served as an assistant coach at Metairie Park Country Day School. He has spent a quarter century in education, earning Area II Principal of the Year (1997-98) of Orleans Public Schools as well as High School Principal of the Year for Orleans Parish (2001-02), as principal of Abramson High school. Joe is a graduate of St. Aloysius High School, New Orleans, earned his B.A. from the University of Southwestern Louisiana (presently ULL), a Masters from Southeastern Louisiana University, and his PhD from the University of New Orleans (1995).
Dr. Murry was the principal of Holy Cross High school in New Orleans from 2004-2018. He was part of the re-building process of the school following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. He has been part of a team of educators who not only rebuilt the physical plant of the school, but who added a successful Advanced Placement program and a rigorous and challenging curriculum. Because of his support to rebuilding successful academic programs, Dr. Murry was named the 2015 Principal of the Year by the National Speech and Debate Association. Additionally, Holy Cross athletic programs have flourished with state championships in swimming, cross country, wrestling and track since Katrina. Dr. Murry has strived to be the best in all that he has tackled and continues to spread that message to the students and teachers he has worked with and continues to work with throughout his career. Dr. Murry continues his work in education as part of the School Leadership Center of Greater New Orleans.
Additionally, this past summer Joe was inducted into the Buffalo Weightlifting Hall of Fame because of his work with the Buffalo Bills in the 70’s. Joe and his wife Jane have been married for 56 years and have two daughters Janine and Julie who both work in the education profession.