We're hearing Guy Morriss (former Head Coach at Kentucky/Baylor) may be the next Head Coach at A&M-Commerce.
Stay tuned for more info.
17 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Congrats to the Lions. Guy seems awfully similar to Coach Conley to me. Is that a wrong perception? Interesting hire nonetheless. You can tell folks you hired a former SEC and Big 12 head coach and people will be impressed. Or you can tell folks you hired the OL coach at Kentucky State and people would be like what the heck?
Kentucky to Baylor to Kentucky State is about the strangest career path you could imagine. The good thing is Commerce, regardless of the recent struggles, is a big step up from Kentucky State. Going from UK to Baylor and going from Baylor to Kentucky State were both big steps down.
things aren't as great in 'ol Commerce as everyone thinks they are. without the athletic fee/full schollies, it won't matter who the coach is. that is the main reason that they can't compete now. granted they lucked out when they got in the north or they would be a lot worse off...now that pres. macfarland is gone and his horrible job in respect to athletics, they might actually get the fee within a year or two but until then nothing changes...it may never pass because it is a commuter school and most professors hate and despise athletics...watch and see
clearly his consideration for this job is to be able to coach football without any major college stresses. He's got all the money he needs, he probably just wants to be a head coach! And he won't be focusing TOO much on recruiting.
If you remember, he almost took a high school job not too long ago! So clearly this is just a way to get back on teh sideline.
Commerce has as much scholarship money as West Texas, so I'm not sure why that keeps coming up as an excuse. I know someone who has coached at both schools recently and that is truth. Now, facilities, recruiting budget, coaching salaries, etc., might be different but scholarship money isn't the problem at Commerce.
Am I missing something here? Fired a guy that was .500 and hired a guy who has a 24-47 record as a head coach. WOW! So he coached in the league, in DI and DII - but that record speaks for itself. He must of really blown some serious smoke up Cooper's skirt.
Commerce is not fully funded for schollies. they were at 26 when Conley took over, and were only at 30 when he left. I do believe they were going to be at 35.5 going into this spring.
Interesting comments but Coach Morriss left Baylor in a lot better shape then when he got there. Baylor won more games in Morriss' five years then in their previous decade and he was instrumental in finally moving Baylor forward to making facility upgrades to be able to compete for recruits with the rest of the Big 12. Not having on-campus football facilities really didn't draw well for recruiting, but now with the opening of the Highers Athletic Complex they have one of the premier football complexes in the Big 12. Morriss was successful at KY...that led him to take a job in a BCS conference. Morriss' recruits are definitely a step up from previous years is now paying great dividends at Baylor.
IMO Morriss is a great hire for the Lions. I look forward to seeing who he keeps on staff and brings in. I know he has a love of Ranching and I'm sure the community will support him.
Coach Conley is a great man as well. He did some great things in improving facilites for football and moved the program forward, but let's face it, five years and only reaching a 5-5 record after starting the season as a National Top-20 team. I'm sorry but in any college athletic program you must also win to draw fans as well as top recruits. Change was needed.
As far as scholarships and funding. West Texas just passed their athletic referendum a couple months back at $6 a SH. Our first attempt was narrowly voted down by 83 votes and was a $10 a SH referendum. I hope the next attempt (with a lower $$ amount) will pass as it will free up academic money from the current fee structure for academics, but the athletic referendum will provide much needed funds to expand Lion Athletics and improve facilites. Having a viable Athletic program supported by the surrounding communities, alumni, and students brings not only additional funding to the campus for academics, it also instills Pride in the School. Just take a look at the top tier D2 schools in the Nation and see how they are funded and supported....they have seperate athletic and student fee structures.
Dr. Jones and Mr. Cooper recognize what needs to happen for the Lions to become a National D2 Power. They and are not just talking the talk, they are walking the walk. Coach Morriss is a move in the reight direction. GO LIONS
Hmmm...only 30 schollies to the 36 that other top programs have...seems to me to be the big difference don't you think? Schollies are just the tip of the iceberg. Crappy college town, mold-infested dorms, one-sided stadium, commuter school with hardly any tradition, crappy treatment of athletic alumni. I could keep going on...more of the same for 'ol ET.
Interesting Bashing of the one school in the LSC that has invested over $100M towards upgrading the campus in recent years...almost half of the buildings on campus have either been upgraded or are new...Crappy dorms?? The new on-campus New Pride Apartment Complex is firt rate...and besides...how many incoming college fresh get to live in an on=campus apartment instead of a traditional dorm with community restrooms...Before anyone continues to bash the campus...please take the time to see how many changes have already been made. Upcoming...New Music Facility, new Football Locker Rooms, adding visitor seating, additional upgrades to the existing stadium, discussions of adding additional sports and even talk of a new sports complex. I'm sorry..quit living in the past and see the future...it's happening at Commerce....
To the guy who said Commerce s not fully funded for schollies: true. Not many LSC teams are. Saying somebody has 28 or 30 scholarships just shows you don't know squat about Division II financial aide. You could give a kid $12K and it might be a full ride or it might be a half ride, depending on if he is in or out of state. Therefore two D2 schools could both spend $400K on football schollies and one used 36 equivalencies while the other used 26. An equivalency is a moving target, differs based on the kid. Recruiting strategy is often times just as important as budget, and that's where Commerce has suffered. Commerce scholly budget is basically equal to West Texas right now, but that's not to say West Texas has the most scholarship funding in the LSC. Not at all. I know one LSC school that gives enough funding for 36 in-state full rides. But if they recruit out-state players then they could end up with 26 equivalents. Again this shows the amount of money doesnt tell the whole story. Some schools get the most out of their money and some don't. But money ain't much different between the LSC football teams. At least not for scholarships.
Breaking news was Dec. 29. It is now Jan. 6. Where is the press release? This Thursday will be a full two months since the Lions last game. The entire football season is barely longer than two full months.
17 comments:
Congrats to the Lions. Guy seems awfully similar to Coach Conley to me. Is that a wrong perception? Interesting hire nonetheless. You can tell folks you hired a former SEC and Big 12 head coach and people will be impressed. Or you can tell folks you hired the OL coach at Kentucky State and people would be like what the heck?
What's the deal? Are they going to announce it today? Maybe somebody changed their mind?
Kentucky to Baylor to Kentucky State is about the strangest career path you could imagine. The good thing is Commerce, regardless of the recent struggles, is a big step up from Kentucky State. Going from UK to Baylor and going from Baylor to Kentucky State were both big steps down.
things aren't as great in 'ol Commerce as everyone thinks they are. without the athletic fee/full schollies, it won't matter who the coach is. that is the main reason that they can't compete now. granted they lucked out when they got in the north or they would be a lot worse off...now that pres. macfarland is gone and his horrible job in respect to athletics, they might actually get the fee within a year or two but until then nothing changes...it may never pass because it is a commuter school and most professors hate and despise athletics...watch and see
clearly his consideration for this job is to be able to coach football without any major college stresses. He's got all the money he needs, he probably just wants to be a head coach! And he won't be focusing TOO much on recruiting.
If you remember, he almost took a high school job not too long ago! So clearly this is just a way to get back on teh sideline.
(See Schnellenberger)
The athletic fee will pass in a couple of months when they run it again. Nice try though.
Commerce has as much scholarship money as West Texas, so I'm not sure why that keeps coming up as an excuse. I know someone who has coached at both schools recently and that is truth. Now, facilities, recruiting budget, coaching salaries, etc., might be different but scholarship money isn't the problem at Commerce.
Am I missing something here? Fired a guy that was .500 and hired a guy who has a 24-47 record as a head coach. WOW! So he coached in the league, in DI and DII - but that record speaks for itself. He must of really blown some serious smoke up Cooper's skirt.
Commerce is not fully funded for schollies. they were at 26 when Conley took over, and were only at 30 when he left. I do believe they were going to be at 35.5 going into this spring.
correcting my last post; i believe they were bumped to 32 equivalents for the Fall '08 semester.
Interesting comments but Coach Morriss left Baylor in a lot better shape then when he got there. Baylor won more games in Morriss' five years then in their previous decade and he was instrumental in finally moving Baylor forward to making facility upgrades to be able to compete for recruits with the rest of the Big 12. Not having on-campus football facilities really didn't draw well for recruiting, but now with the opening of the Highers Athletic Complex they have one of the premier football complexes in the Big 12. Morriss was successful at KY...that led him to take a job in a BCS conference. Morriss' recruits are definitely a step up from previous years is now paying great dividends at Baylor.
IMO Morriss is a great hire for the Lions. I look forward to seeing who he keeps on staff and brings in. I know he has a love of Ranching and I'm sure the community will support him.
Coach Conley is a great man as well. He did some great things in improving facilites for football and moved the program forward, but let's face it, five years and only reaching a 5-5 record after starting the season as a National Top-20 team. I'm sorry but in any college athletic program you must also win to draw fans as well as top recruits. Change was needed.
As far as scholarships and funding. West Texas just passed their athletic referendum a couple months back at $6 a SH. Our first attempt was narrowly voted down by 83 votes and was a $10 a SH referendum. I hope the next attempt (with a lower $$ amount) will pass as it will free up academic money from the current fee structure for academics, but the athletic referendum will provide much needed funds to expand Lion Athletics and improve facilites. Having a viable Athletic program supported by the surrounding communities, alumni, and students brings not only additional funding to the campus for academics, it also instills Pride in the School. Just take a look at the top tier D2 schools in the Nation and see how they are funded and supported....they have seperate athletic and student fee structures.
Dr. Jones and Mr. Cooper recognize what needs to happen for the Lions to become a National D2 Power. They and are not just talking the talk, they are walking the walk. Coach Morriss is a move in the reight direction. GO LIONS
Someone here is really bitter about Conley's firing LOL
Hmmm...only 30 schollies to the 36 that other top programs have...seems to me to be the big difference don't you think? Schollies are just the tip of the iceberg. Crappy college town, mold-infested dorms, one-sided stadium, commuter school with hardly any tradition, crappy treatment of athletic alumni. I could keep going on...more of the same for 'ol ET.
It's not any more than the other awful LSC North teams have that were beating Commerce on a regular basis.
Time for change.
Interesting Bashing of the one school in the LSC that has invested over $100M towards upgrading the campus in recent years...almost half of the buildings on campus have either been upgraded or are new...Crappy dorms?? The new on-campus New Pride Apartment Complex is firt rate...and besides...how many incoming college fresh get to live in an on=campus apartment instead of a traditional dorm with community restrooms...Before anyone continues to bash the campus...please take the time to see how many changes have already been made. Upcoming...New Music Facility, new Football Locker Rooms, adding visitor seating, additional upgrades to the existing stadium, discussions of adding additional sports and even talk of a new sports complex. I'm sorry..quit living in the past and see the future...it's happening at Commerce....
BTW - Coach Morris is a great hire..GO LIONS
To the guy who said Commerce s not fully funded for schollies: true. Not many LSC teams are. Saying somebody has 28 or 30 scholarships just shows you don't know squat about Division II financial aide. You could give a kid $12K and it might be a full ride or it might be a half ride, depending on if he is in or out of state. Therefore two D2 schools could both spend $400K on football schollies and one used 36 equivalencies while the other used 26. An equivalency is a moving target, differs based on the kid. Recruiting strategy is often times just as important as budget, and that's where Commerce has suffered. Commerce scholly budget is basically equal to West Texas right now, but that's not to say West Texas has the most scholarship funding in the LSC. Not at all. I know one LSC school that gives enough funding for 36 in-state full rides. But if they recruit out-state players then they could end up with 26 equivalents. Again this shows the amount of money doesnt tell the whole story. Some schools get the most out of their money and some don't. But money ain't much different between the LSC football teams. At least not for scholarships.
Breaking news was Dec. 29. It is now Jan. 6. Where is the press release? This Thursday will be a full two months since the Lions last game. The entire football season is barely longer than two full months.
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