Guy Morriss

College coach infobox


Name = Guy Morriss
| Caption =
DateOfBirth = Birth date and age|1951|5|13|mf=y
Birthplace = Colorado City, TX
DateOfDeath =
Sport = Football
OverallRecord = 27–54
Awards =
Championships =
CFbDWID = 1675
Player = Y
Years = 1969-1972
1973-1983
1984-1987
Team = TCU
Philadelphia Eagles
New England Patriots
Position = C / G
Coach = Y
CoachYears = 2001-2002
2003-2007
2008-
CoachTeams = Kentucky
Baylor
Kentucky State (OL)
FootballHOF =
BBallHOF =

Guy W. Morriss (born May 13, 1951 at Colorado City, Texas) is the associate head coach at Kentucky State University. [ [http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8VFEJR80.html Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Texas/Southwest ] ] [ [http://www.kysu.edu/athletics/football/coachingStaff/Associate+Head+Coach.htm Guy Morriss bio at KSU] ] Morriss spent two seasons as the head football coach at the University of Kentucky and five seasons as head football coach at Baylor University.

Playing career

Morriss attended Sam Houston High School in Arlington, Texas and later Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. He was a Pro Bowl center in the NFL, where he played with the Philadelphia Eagles from 1973 to 1983, and the New England Patriots from 1984 to 1987.

Coaching career

Early career

Morriss got his coaching start in 1988 as the offensive line coach for the Patriots under Raymond Berry. In 1992, after a brief stint as the head coach of the Washington Marauders of the Professional Spring Football League, Morriss coached under Hal Mumme and alongside Mike Leach at Valdosta State University before re-joining Mumme at Kentucky in 1997, where he was the school's offensive line and assistant head coach.

Kentucky

After a recruiting scandal forced the resignation of Mumme at Kentucky, Morriss was named the school's interim head coach in 2001. After a 2-9 season, Kentucky named Morriss the school's permanent head coach, where he led the Wildcats to a 7-5 turnaround season in 2002.

Guy Morriss was the losing coach in the famed "Bluegrass Miracle" game at Commonwealth Stadium in 2002. Morriss' Kentucky Wildcats kicked a field goal to take the lead over LSU with 11 seconds left, only to lose on an 80 yard Hail Mary pass as time expired. Seconds before the Hail Mary, Morriss was doused with Gatorade by quarterback Jared Lorenzen in (what turned out to be) a premature "victory bath."

Baylor

Baylor's program had hit the skids and had posted only one conference victory in its previous 36 Big 12 contests. Morriss's first season in 2003 (3-9) was rough but was highlighted by a BU upset win over Colorado (CU was a 20 point favorite). Morriss's second season in 2004 again only led to three wins and one conference win, but Morriss gained fan and alumni support with the team's 35-34 overtime upset win over #16 Texas A&M (a 25 point favorite), in which Morriss made a gutsy call to "go for two" to win in the first overtime, instead of kicking the extra point and forcing a second overtime. It was BU's first win over the Aggies since 1985 (they tied in 1990). Morriss's third season in 2005 led to a 5-6 record (BU's best since 1995) and featured BU's first ever road win over a Big 12 Conference opponent (23-13 over Iowa State in Ames).

In 2006, the fourth year of the Morriss era, BU had a roller coaster season. After a disappointing 1-3 non-conference mark (including a loss at home to Army), BU rebounded with a 3-1 start in conference play. However, the momentum was stunted when quarterback Shawn Bell was injured in a loss to Texas A&M, and Baylor was subsequently blown out in their final three games by an average margin of 34 points, finishing the year at 4-8 (3-5 in the Big 12).

In 2007, Morriss failed again failed to produce a winning record for the Bears, as Baylor finished with a 3–9 record. The loss of a significant number of seniors, including Bell, were part of the blame for the poor season. In the season opener, Baylor was shutout by TCU 0–27, but managed to win the next three non-conference games. Afterwards, Baylor did not defeat any of its Big 12 opponents, their last defeat being the 12th consecutive loss in Big 12 play.

On November 18, 2007, Baylor fired Morriss. [cite press release|url=http://baylorbears.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/111807aab.html|title=Morriss Will Not Return as Football Coach|publisher=Baylor Athletics|accessdate=2007-11-19|date=2007-11-18] On November 28, 2007, former University of Houston head coach Art Briles replaced Morriss. [cite press release|url=http://baylorbears.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/112807aam.html|title=Art Briles Named Baylor's 25th Head Football Coach|publisher=Baylor Athletics|accessdate=2007-11-30|date=2007-11-28]

In March 2008 Morriss joined the coaching staff at Kentucky State University.

Head coaching record

CFB Yearly Record Subhead
name = Kentucky Wildcats
startyear = 2001
conf = Southeastern Conference
endyear = 2002CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 2001
name = Kentucky
overall = 2–9
conference = 1–7
confstanding = 5th (East)
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking = no
ranking2 = noCFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 2002
name = Kentucky
overall = 7–5
conference = 3–5
confstanding = T–4th (East)
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking = no
ranking2 = noCFB Yearly Record Subtotal
name=Kentucky
overall=9-14
confrecord=4–12CFB Yearly Record Subhead
name = Baylor Bears
startyear = 2003
conf = Big 12 Conference
endyear = 2007CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 2003
name = Baylor
overall = 3–9
conference = 1–7
confstanding = 6th (South)
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking = no
ranking2 = noCFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 2004
name = Baylor
overall = 3–8
conference = 1–7
confstanding = 6th (South)
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking = no
ranking2 = noCFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 2005
name = Baylor
overall = 5–6
conference = 2–6
confstanding = 5th (South)
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking = no
ranking2 = noCFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 2006
name = Baylor
overall = 4–8
conference = 3–5
confstanding = T–5th (South)
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking = no
ranking2 = noCFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 2007
name = Baylor
overall = 3–9
conference = 0–8
confstanding = 6th (South)
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking = no
ranking2 = noCFB Yearly Record Subtotal
name=Baylor
overall=18–40
confrecord=7–33CFB Yearly Record End
overall = 27–54
bcs = no
poll = no
polltype = no

Personal

Guy Morriss is known to be proud of his Texas heritage. His first comment to the press when accepting the Baylor job was yelling "It's good to be back in the Lone Star." Baylor even put that phrase on their pocket schedules for 2003. Also, Morriss told FOX Sports that when his future wife asked him what nationality he was, he replied "I'm a Texan."

According to news from The Advocate-Messenger (Danville, Kentucky), prior to taking the offensive line coach job at Kentucky State, Guy Morriss was in talks with Boyle County High School for the head coaching job there but decided not to take it.

References

*cite news|url=http://www.kentucky.com/295/story/478599.html|title=Ex-UK coach Morriss wants another shot

External links

* [http://baylorbears.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/morriss_guy00.html Guy Morriss Baylor Biography]