Guy Morriss

Guy W. Morriss (born May 13, 1951) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the Special Assistant to the Athletic Director at Texas A&M University–Commerce. Prior to this position, Morriss served as head football coach at A&M-Commerce for four seasons (2009–2012). Morriss served as the head football coach at the University of Kentucky for two seasons (2001–2002) and at Baylor University for five seasons (2003–2007). He played college football at Texas Christian University and spent 15 seasons as an offensive lineman in NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles (1973–1983) and the New England Patriots (1984–1987). Morris played in over 200 regular season games during his NFL career and started at center for the Eagles in Super Bowl XV.

Playing career
Morriss attended Sam Houston High School in Arlington, Texas and later Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. A second round selection in the 1973 NFL Draft, he was a Pro Bowl center in the National Football League, where he played with the Philadelphia Eagles from 1973 to 1983, and the New England Patriots from 1984 to 1987.

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
Morriss took over a Baylor program that had hit the skids. The Bears hadn't had a winning season since 1995, 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 an 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 produced a 5–6 record (BU's best since 1995) and featured BU's first ever road win over a Big 12 Conference opponent, a 23–13 victory 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, was part of the blame for the poor season. In the season opener, Baylor was shut out by TCU, 27–0, 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. On November 28, 2007, former University of Houston head coach Art Briles replaced Morriss.

Kentucky State
In March 2008, Morriss accepted a job as a position coach at Kentucky State University. Morriss was the first person with coaching experience in a BCS conference to go to work in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (a division II league consisting of historically black colleges and universities).

Texas A&M University-Commerce
On November 12, 2012, after leading the A&M-Commerce football program for four seasons, Morriss stepped down as head football coach. He now serves as the A&M-Commerce Special Assistant to the Athletic Director. His duties include fundraising, teaching, and oversight of athletic facilities and special projects.

On January 7, 2009, Morriss took the job as head football coach at A&M–Commerce.

After Morriss's first season, players from his football team coordinated an effort to illegally remove all copies of a student newspaper from campus because it contained an unfavorable article about a teammate who had been arrested on drug charges. Morriss said that he was "proud" of his players for taking the newspapers. He also referred to the theft as "the best team building exercise we have ever done." Morriss was subsequently disciplined by the school administration over the incident.

Personal
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 of Danville, Kentucky, prior to taking the offensive line coach job at Kentucky State, Morriss was in talks with Boyle County High School for the head coaching job there but decided not to take it.