Guy Morriss, former Kentucky football coach, dies at 71
Former Kentucky football coach Guy Morriss died Monday after battling Alzheimer’s. He was 71 years old.
Morriss, who coached Kentucky from 2001 to 2002, was diagnosed with the disease in 2016. In a 2017 interview with WKYT, Morriss acknowledged the disease would likely be fatal for him but reported positive strides after a new treatment regimen.
“Guy Morriss provided steady leadership for our football program at a time of significant uncertainty,” Kentucky Director of Athletics Mitch Barnhart said in a statement. “He was both liked and respected by the players, who responded to his fair, no-nonsense approach with their best efforts. His six years at UK feature some of the best players and most exciting moments in our history. He will be deeply missed and our condolences are with (wife) Jackie, their children, family and friends.”
A Texas native, Morriss first came to Kentucky as the offensive line coach and assistant head coach for Hal Mumme in 1997. Morriss was named interim head coach in 2001 after Mumme resigned amid a recruiting scandal. After Morriss coached Kentucky to a 2-9 record in 2001, the interim tag was removed from his title.
Morriss led Kentucky to a 7-5 record in 2002, but the Wildcats were ineligible for a bowl game due to NCAA probation. Even without a bowl game, that season saw several highlights thanks to an offense built around quarterback Jared Lorenzen, running back Artose Pinner and wide receiver Derek Abney. Pinner was named SEC Offensive Player of the Year. Abney and punter Glenn Pakulak were named first-team All-Americans. Abney set an NCAA record by returning six kicks or punts for touchdowns.
Prior to the season, Morriss talked Pinner, who had played sparingly in Mumme’s “Air Raid” offense, out of a possible transfer.
“Coach Morriss saw something in me that I’d never seen in myself,” Pinner told the Herald-Leader on Tuesday. “He used to always tell me, ‘The way you train, the way you work and the way you run, you can play on Sundays.’ Keep in mind, I hadn’t started at UK since I was there. The whole time he was just like I see it in you.”
The most lasting image of the 2002 season was one of heartbreak though as Lorenzen dumped a cooler of Gatorade over Morriss’s head when it appeared Kentucky had upset LSU only to be shocked on a last-second Hail Mary touchdown dubbed the “Bluegrass Miracle.”
Even in that moment, Morris remained the calming presence his players needed, Pinner said. While the Hail Mary was a result of a failure of execution on the field, Morriss never blamed his players for the heartbreaking defeat.
“The first year we didn’t win a lot of games under Coach Morriss but the games were closer, the effort was there,” Pinner said. “He had to change the whole program’s mindset. Then once we started to believe in ourselves, we started to win more games and started to compete more just because of him.”
Morriss left Kentucky for Baylor after the season but was unable to duplicate that success in Waco, failing to record a winning record in five seasons as coach. Morriss then coached four seasons at FCS Texas A&M-Commerce, ending his head coaching career with a 37-85 record.
When Morris left Kentucky for Baylor, he cited the more fertile recruiting territory in Texas and the appeal of moving back to his home state, but he also reportedly more than doubled his UK salary with the move. Barnhart drew criticism from a vocal portion of Wildcat fans for not matching the offer as the search for Morriss’s replacement stagnated.
A heated meeting with players to announce the move highlighted the loyalty the team felt to Morris and their displeasure at UK not matching the Baylor salary offer.
“He didn’t separate football from players,” Pinner said. “His wife Jackie, she was always a part of the program, always a part of our family. Coach Morriss and Miss Jackie, we were all together. We were their kids. Jackie would always show all the players love, give them hugs and also build them up any way she could. It was always a family environment. That’s why it kind of broke my heart when he left UK — well, when he was forced out at UK.”
Barnhart eventually hired Rich Brooks as Kentucky’s next coach. Brooks struggled early in his tenure as the effects of NCAA probation mounted but rallied to lead Kentucky to four straight bowl games before retiring.
Prior to his coaching career, Morriss spent 15 seasons in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots as an offensive lineman. He was named first-team all-conference by the UPI in 1981.
While Morriss frequently spoke of his Texas pride, he made the Bluegrass State home after his coaching career ended. He died in Danville.
Between stints at Baylor and Texas A&M-Commerce, Morriss briefly returned to Kentucky as the offensive line coach at Kentucky State. After leaving Texas A&M-Commerce, Morriss coached the offensive line at Warren Central High School and Lexington Christian Academy in Kentucky before retiring.
Morriss was welcomed back to UK for a preseason practice in August, posing for a picture with coach Mark Stoops that the school posted to Twitter.
“We fell in love with the people of Kentucky,” Morriss told WKYT in 2017. “We fell in love with the city of Lexington. Such a good feeling for us to be adopted by the people here in Kentucky.”
Morriss is survived by his wife, Jackie, their daughters, Colleen, Kerry, Savannah and Austin, and five grandchildren.
“It was the first time I saw a group of men who fought for somebody so hard,” Pinner said of his time playing for Morriss. “It was the first time I understood why teams like Alabama, teams like Georgia, all those great teams in the SEC were so great. Because they had a great staff. Coach Morriss developed a staff that really cared about their players.”
This story was originally published September 6, 2022 at 9:20 AM.