 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1885-02-28)February 28, 1885 Sugar Branch, Indiana, U.S. |
| Died | November 19, 1982(1982-11-19) (aged 97) Miami Springs, Florida, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1908–1911 | Vanderbilt |
| Position(s) | Quarterback (football) Catcher,Outfielder (baseball) |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1915–1916 | SMU |
| 1918 | Vanderbilt |
| 1921 | SMU (assistant) |
| 1922–1934 | SMU |
| 1935–1939 | Vanderbilt |
| 1940–1948 | Temple |
| 1949–1952 | Austin |
| Basketball | |
| 1918–1920 | Vanderbilt |
| Baseball | |
| 1919 | Vanderbilt |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 155–130–33 (football) 8–2 (basketball) 3–3 (baseball) |
| Bowls | 0–1 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Football As coach, 3SWC (1923, 1926, 1931) As player, 2SIAA (1910, 1911) Baseball As player, 2 SIAA (1910, 1912) | |
| Awards | |
| 2xAll-Southern (1910,1911) AP Southeast All-Time team (1869-1919) 1934 All-time Vandy team SEC Coach of the Year (1937) | |
| College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 1954 (profile) | |
Jesse Raymond Morrison (February 28, 1885 – November 19, 1982) was anAmerican football andbaseball player and a coach of football,basketball, and baseball.[1] He served as the head football coach atSouthern Methodist University (1915–1916, 1922–1934),Vanderbilt University (1918, 1935–1939),Temple University (1940–1948), andAustin College (1949–1952), compiling a careercollege football record of 155–130–33. He was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1954.
As a player, he was one of the greatestquarterbacks in the history ofVanderbilt Commodores football. Morrison was selected as the quarterback andkick returner for anAssociated PressSoutheast Area All-Time football team 1869–1919 era. He piloted the team to twoSouthern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) titles in1910 and1911. The 1910 team fought defending national championYale to ascoreless tie. Yale coachTed Coy called Morrison "the greatest player I have seen in years." In 1911, Coy selected MorrisonAll-American and theAtlanta Constitution voted Vanderbilt the bestbackfield in the South.
He took over as coach at hisalma mater Vanderbilt after the retirement of legendary coachDan McGugin. Morrison was theSoutheastern Conference (SEC) Coach of the Year in 1937. He was also the first head coach in the history ofSMU Mustangs football, and helped popularize theforward pass in theSouthwest with his "Flying Circus" teams, most notably when led byGerald Mann.
Ray Morrison was born on February 28, 1885, inSugar Branch, Indiana. Soon after the family moved toMcKenzie, Tennessee, where Morrison attended school. He also spent a year atMcTyeire School for Boys.
To achieve funds for college, Morrison worked on a dredge boat on theMississippi River for a year.[2] Morrison wonBachelor of Ugliness for the class of 1912. He played on the football andbaseball teams with his brother Kent.[3]
He played football as a prominent quarterback andhalfback for Dan McGugin's Vanderbilt football teams from1908 to 1911.[4] He is considered one of the best quarterbacks in Vanderbilt's long history.[2] The team posted a 30–6–2 record during his four years.[5] He was selected for an all-time Vanderbilt team in 1934. Morrison was selected as the quarterback and kick returner for anAssociated Press Southeast Area All-Time football team 1869–1919 era.[6] In 1915, John Heisman selected his 30 greatest Southern football players, and Morrison was one of two quarterbacks selected.[7] He weighed some 155 to 159 pounds.[2]
The 1908 squad was hampered by a wealth ofsophomores, which McGugin with the help of halfback Morrison led to a 7–2–1 campaign,[8] including a loss torivalSewanee. In a 16–9 defeat ofTennessee, widely considered their greatest team at that point,[9]Walker Leach got loose for a 60-yard run on a fake kick, tracked down by Morrison and stopped short of the goal.[10]
The1909 team lost to SIAA championSewanee, its first loss to a Southern team in six years.
The 1910 team won the SIAA title and fought defendingnational championYale to ascoreless tie onYale Field. Yale coachTed Coy called Morrison "the greatest player I have seen in years."[2] He was selectedAll-Southern by several writers.[11]
Vanderbilt won a close game overMississippi 9–2. Late in the first quarter, Morrison returned apunt 90 yards for Vanderbilt'stouchdown.[12][13]John Heisman was the game'sfield judge, and McGugin did not want to show too much, playing Heisman'sGeorgia Tech in two weeks.[14] Morrison was the star of the Georgia Tech game, scoring two touchdowns.[15]
Edwin Pope'sFootball's Greatest Coaches on the 1911 team reads "A lightning-swift backfield ofLew Hardage,Wilson Collins,Ammie Sikes, and Ray Morrison pushed Vandy through 1911 with only a 9–8 loss toMichigan." TheAtlanta Constitution voted it the best backfield in the South.[16] Ted Coy selected Morrison All-American.[17] He was unanimously selected All-Southern.[18]
Morrison, Hardage andRabbi Robins had two touchdowns each in a 45–0 win overCentral.[19] Morrison had two short touchdown runs in a 17–0 win overGeorgia, and had a 22-yard run on a fake punt.[20] In "easily the greatest southern game of the season", Vanderbilt claimed the SIAA title by beatingMississippi 21–0. Morrison had a 70-yard run, and on a fake punt out of his ownend zone ran for 75 yards.[21][22] AgainstSewanee, Morrison threw atouchdown pass to Hardage, as well as had a short touchdown run.[23]
Morrison also played on the baseball team, moved to theoutfield fromcatcher in his junior year, and back to catcher as a senior. The1910 and1912 teams won the SIAA. Morrison wascaptain of the 1912 team.
Morrison first taught and was athletics director at Branham & Hughes Military Academy inSpring Hill.[5] UponAmerican entry into World War I, Morrison went toFort Oglethorpe. In 1919, Morrison spent a year atGulf Coast Military Academy as athletics director and teacher.[24]
Ray Morrison was the first head coach in the history of SMU Mustangs football.[25] He won just two games in two years from 1915 to 1916.[5]
In 1920, Morrison returned to SMU. He notably brought the forward pass to the southwest during his time at SMU.[26] Morrison was one of the first to pass not just onfirst down, but on first and second down too.[24] His teams earned the nickname the "Flying Circus".[27]
They won the1923,1926, and1931Southwest Conference (SWC) titles. An 18-game unbeaten streak was ended in the1925 Dixie Classic, with a touchdown off a tipped pass forWest Virginia Wesleyan'sGale Bullman, and a 30-yardfield goal missed in the final minute. Morrison's best passer, Hall of Fame quarterbackGerald Mann, led the team to the 1926 title. The1929 team was undefeated, but with four ties, including one with undefeatedTCU to close the season.
He coached Vanderbilt in1918 when McGugin left for the military, and led the Vanderbilt team to a 4–2 record. The team beatTennessee 76–0, the largest margin of victory in the history of therivalry. FormerNashville Banner sportswriterFred Russell's bookFifty Years of Vanderbilt Football published in 1938, wrote:
"Salient after salient was wiped out by Gen. Morrison's forces and Tennessee's reinforcements could not check the tide. The retreat turned into a bloody, hopeless rout.Berryhill was cited for bravery for his wonderful outflanking the enemy, by which he took six positions (touchdowns) single-handedly. The result was 76−0."
Morrison was also the headbasketball coach at Vanderbilt for one season in 1918–19, tallying a mark of 8–2, and the head baseball coach at the school in 1919, notching a record of 3–3.
Upon the retirement of the legendary McGugin, Morrison was hand-picked as successor at hisalma mater.[28] Morrison brought his own staff from SMU and neglected the retainedJosh Cody's coaching abilities.[29]
Fred Russell offered this description of Morrison upon his arrival as coach of Vanderbilt:[4]
A gentle, soft-spoken person who talks out of the side of his mouth with convincing firmness. Eyes with a permanent twinkle, tiny wrinkles about them when he smiles, but a set jaw that seems to enclose teeth constantly gritted tighter. A happy combination that blends austerity and affability into well-nigh perfect personality--that's the Ray Morrison of today who was known to Nashvillians twenty-five years ago as Vanderbilt's whirling quarterback.
Morrison'sfirst team in his second stint finished second place in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), led by captain and SEC player of the yearWillie Geny. The 1936 team was captained by Dick Plasman, the last NFL player to play without a helmet. The1937 team upsetLSU on ahidden ball trick, the school's first-ever victory over a ranked opponent (theAP Poll began in 1936).[30][31] The team's captain was SEC player of the yearCarl Hinkle and also featuredBaby Ray. Morrison was awarded SEC Coach of the Year in 1937.[32]
After the 1939 season, Morrison resigned from his position at Vanderbilt to go toTemple,[33] with Cody as his line coach. He resigned from Temple in 1949.[34]
He finished his career at Austin College. He quit to take over "development and public relations" at SMU,[27] a post he held for eleven years.
Morrison died at the home of his son inMiami Springs, Florida, at the age of 97.[25]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SMU Mustangs(Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association)(1915–1916) | |||||||||
| 1915 | SMU | 2–5 | |||||||
| 1916 | SMU | 0–8–2 | |||||||
| Vanderbilt Commodores(Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association)(1918) | |||||||||
| 1918 | Vanderbilt | 4–2 | 2–0 | T–2nd | |||||
| SMU Mustangs(Southwest Conference)(1922–1934) | |||||||||
| 1922 | SMU | 6–3–1 | 2–2 | T–3rd | |||||
| 1923 | SMU | 9–0 | 5–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1924 | SMU | 5–1–4 | 2–0–4 | 2nd | LDixie Classic | ||||
| 1925 | SMU | 5–2–2 | 1–1–2 | 4th | |||||
| 1926 | SMU | 8–0–1 | 5–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1927 | SMU | 7–2 | 4–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 1928 | SMU | 6–3–1 | 2–2–1 | 5th | |||||
| 1929 | SMU | 6–0–4 | 3–0–2 | 2nd | |||||
| 1930 | SMU | 6–3–1 | 2–2–1 | T–4th | |||||
| 1931 | SMU | 9–1–1 | 5–0–1 | 1st | |||||
| 1932 | SMU | 3–7–2 | 1–4–1 | T–5th | |||||
| 1933 | SMU | 4–7–1 | 2–4 | 6th | |||||
| 1934 | SMU | 8–2–2 | 3–2–1 | 3rd | |||||
| SMU: | 84–44–22 | ||||||||
| Vanderbilt Commodores(Southeastern Conference)(1935–1939) | |||||||||
| 1935 | Vanderbilt | 7–3 | 5–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 1936 | Vanderbilt | 3–5–1 | 1–3–1 | 9th | |||||
| 1937 | Vanderbilt | 7–2 | 4–2 | 4th | |||||
| 1938 | Vanderbilt | 6–3 | 4–3 | 6th | |||||
| 1939 | Vanderbilt | 2–7–1 | 1–6 | 11th | |||||
| Vanderbilt: | 29–22–2 | 17–15–1 | |||||||
| Temple Owls(Independent)(1940–1948) | |||||||||
| 1940 | Temple | 4–4–1 | |||||||
| 1941 | Temple | 7–2 | |||||||
| 1942 | Temple | 2–5–3 | |||||||
| 1943 | Temple | 2–6 | |||||||
| 1944 | Temple | 2–4–2 | |||||||
| 1945 | Temple | 7–1 | |||||||
| 1946 | Temple | 2–4–2 | |||||||
| 1947 | Temple | 3–6 | |||||||
| 1948 | Temple | 2–6–1 | |||||||
| Temple: | 31–38–9 | ||||||||
| Austin Kangaroos(Texas Conference)(1949–1952) | |||||||||
| 1949 | Austin | 5–5 | 3–2 | T–2nd | |||||
| 1950 | Austin | 2–7 | 0–5 | 6th | |||||
| 1951 | Austin | 2–7 | 0–4 | 5th | |||||
| 1952 | Austin | 2–7 | 1–3 | T–3rd | |||||
| Austin: | 11–26 | 4–14 | |||||||
| Total: | 155–130–33 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
"All S. I. A. A. Team".Times-Picayune. December 8, 1910.