Seasons with UBC: 9
Overall record: 51-18-1 (.729)
Canada West conference record: 27-10-1 (.711)
- 2 U SPORTS Championships (2024, '25)
- 5 Canada West Championships (2019, '21, '22, '23, '24)
- Canada West Bronze (2018)
- Canada West Coach of the Year (2019, 2021, 2022, 2023)
- Assistant Coach for UBC women’s rugby for 4 seasons
- Director of Rugby for UBC Old Boy Ravens
- Senior manager for Growth and Development for BC Rugby for four-and-a-half years
- Significant time as Head Coach of Canada’s Under 17, 18 & 19 rugby programs.
*As of November, 2025
Dean Murten has overseen a strong progression of the program since taking the reins in 2018 following a four-and-a-half-year stint as the senior manager for Growth and Development for BC Rugby. He previously served as the interim head coach of the Thunderbirds in the 2016-17 season.
2025-26:
The T-Birds enjoyed a magical national championship run at home to conclude the 2025-26 campaign. After a 3-2 regular season and a loss in the Canada West Final to UVic, the Thunderbirds entered nationals as the No. 6 seed and faced the hardest possible path to get the gold, with No. 3 Laval, No. 2 Queen's and No. 1 Victoria standing in the way, all of whom entered the tournament undefeated. First, the T-Birds beat the Rouge et Or 32-10, before then defeating the Gaels 20-14 with a last-second defensive goal line stand. In the final against their archrivals, UBC beat the Vikes 15-13 off a try by Adia Pye on the final play of the match. With the win, the Thunderbirds became just the second team in the last 15 years to win back-to-back national titles.
It was a banner year for the Thunderbirds in 2024-25, as the program won its first-ever U SPORTS national championship. The season may have started with a 22-17 loss on the road to UVic, but UBC did not lose another match the rest of the season, outscoring their opponents by a combined score of 483-85 over the nine wins across the regular season and playoffs. After defeating the Vikes 51-22 in the Canada West Final, the T-Birds started out their nationals quest with a 72-7 victory over UPEI. A 47-17 win over Ottawa set up another rematch against UVic for U SPORTS gold, which UBC took in a defensive-minded 8-3 win.
Dean Murten guided the T-Birds to an unprecedented perfect Canada West season in 2023-24, culminating in the program's fourth consecutive conference championship. UBC went 5-0 in the regular season, outscoring their opponents by a combined 288-19. The 'Birds dispatched the Lethbridge Pronghorns in the semifinal before earning a hard-fought 10-0 victory over the Victoria Vikes in the Canada West championship match. Murten was also named the conference's Coach of the Year for a fourth straight time.
UBC ended their season with a third consecutive fifth place finish at the U SPORTS National Championship.
During the 2022-23 Canada West season, Murten helped guide the UBC Thunderbirds to an impressive 4-0-1 record. The 'Birds continued their momentum into the playoffs as they secured a semifinal victory against Alberta, followed by a 24-12 championship victory over Victoria, giving Murten his third Canada West championship victory. Entering the nationals as the top seed, UBC lost to Guelph in heart-breaking fashion by a 26-25 score, eliminating them from national championship contention. UBC ended up finishing fifth after posting victories against Acadia and Victoria.
Murten led his program to a strong 9-1 record in the 2021-22 season, capturing a Canada West Championship after defeating the Victoria Vikes 47-13 in Calgary. After suffering an opening loss to the Queens Gaels 26-33, the T-Birds rallied back to defeat Acadia 64-17, and Guelph 57-19.
Murten was born in Holmirth, West Yorkshire, England and after completing 24 years in the British Army where he coached and played rugby, Murten decided to continue his journey in Canada. Murten moved to Lloydminster, Alberta in 2007 and quickly devoted his time to coaching both male and female rugby teams in the area. A move one province east to take a role as the technical director for Saskatchewan rugby pre-dated him landing in British Columbia in 2013 where he signed on as the director of rugby for the UBC Old Boys Ravens rugby club.
While fulfilling the above roles over the years, Murten has continued coaching at high levels that has included among other stops, significant time as head coach of Canada's under 17, 18 and 19 rugby programs.
Coaching the UBC women to Canada West bronze in his first season as permanent head coach of the T-Birds, Murten led the blue and gold to their first conference title in 2019, a feat they repeated in 2021 as part of their undefeated Canada West campaign.
