Murphy Football Camp adds former UNC coach Ken Browning to staff

ASHEBORO —The 2026 edition of the Coach Murphy Football & Cheer Camps will bring in another former college coach in Ken Browning.

The camp, which will be held June 12-13 at Eastside Park in Asheboro, honors the late Asheboro High School Coach Russell Murphy. It includes a cheerleading camp and a free adult health fair on June 13.

Browning spent a number of years coaching at UNC, twice under Mack Brown and also with Carl Torbush, John Bunting, Butch Davis and Everett Withers. He spent a year as defensive coordinator and also coached the defensive line. 

Browning was a high school coach for 26 years prior to joining UNC.

Browning has a strong connection to Asheboro having recruited Merceda Perry and Jocques Dumas from the Blue Comets. 

As a player at Guilford College, he was a teammate of Ronnie Winslow of Asheboro who, he called one of the best players he’d ever seen.

“I’m also good buddies with Darrell Moody,” who quarterbacked at Asheboro before playing at NC State and later joining Mack Brown at UNC.

Browning is now retired from full-time coaching. “I gave it up three or four years ago. I still work camps and clinics.”

Asked what he brings to a summer camp, he said, “I just enjoy coaching young people, helping them improve and see their improvement. I like to give them things to work on at home by themselves. It can make a big difference in their development.”

Browning said one factor in summer football camp is “it’s good for them to be around other young people and learn to compete.”

Also committed to the Murphy Camp is Andy Headen, a regular, who played at Eastern Randolph High School, won a national championship at Clemson and played alongside Lawrence Taylor with the New York Giants.

Robert Prunty, former head coach at Hampton University, will return for another summer camp. Browning said he and Prunty go back a long way.

“I’ve known Prunty a long time,” Browning said. “He’s great with young people. The impact coaches can have on young people is phenomenal.”

The schedule for the two-day affair is check-in from 8 to 8:45 a.m. and camps from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Lunch is provided both days. On Saturday, in addition to the health fair, there will be horseback riding and an Asheboro Fire Department water bath. 

Campers who attend both days will have a chance to win a video game of their choice and their parents could win a dinner for two at a local restaurant. Awards will be given out on Saturday.

For details, contact Willie Gladden at 336-706-0923 or the Rev. Dexter L. Trogdon Sr. at 336-633-1000.