Craig McMurtry is entering his nineteenth year as the head baseball coach and third year as the Director of Athletics at Temple College. McMurtry was born and raised in central Texas in the small town of Troy. He attended Troy High School and graduated from there in 1978 where he played football, basketball, baseball, and ran track. After high school he attended McLennan Community College where he was awarded 1^st Team All-American as a pitcher and led the Highlanders to their first JUCO World Series appearance in 1980. McMurtry was signed immediately after the JUCO World Series by the Atlanta Braves as a 1^st round pick in the supplemental draft and went to Savannah, GA for the remainder of the 1980 season where he went 7-4. In 1981 he spent a full season in Savannah and posted a 15-11 record and was named to the AA All-Star team. In 1982 McMurtry was promoted to AAA Richmond, VA where he was part of the Richmond Braves Championship team. He amassed a 17-9 record, made the All-Star team, and was voted International League Pitcher of the Year. McMurtry made the Atlanta Braves club out of spring training in 1983 and posted a 15-9 record in his rookie season in the Major Leagues and was named The Sporting News Rookie Pitcher of the Year. He also finished 7^th in the Cy Young Voting that year. McMurtry spent the next three seasons with the Braves before being traded to the Toronto Blue Jays. After one season in the Blue Jays organization he opted for free agency and signed with the Texas Rangers. He was with the Rangers from 1988 through 1990. He then spent the next five seasons in AAA with the Giants, Pirates, and Astro’s organizations before being called up to the Astro’s parent club at the end of the 1995 season when he retired from playing. The Astros hired him as a pitching coach for their Rookie club in 1996 and he was promoted to AAA New Orleans as the pitching coach in 1997. He retired from coaching at the professional level after that season and was hired by Temple College as the head baseball coach in 1998 when Temple College revived their baseball program. He has a career coaching record of 578 wins and 417 losses including two NTJCAC Conference Championships in 2009 and 2010 and two trips to the JUCO World Series in 2006 and 2010 where the Leopards finished 8^th and 5^th in the nation respectively.

During his tenure at Temple College there have been 144 players continue their baseball careers at the university level and 33 former players have gone on to play professionally.

He still resides in Troy with his wife of 36 years, Jo Anna, and they have three children and four grandchildren.