 | | Head football coach Guy Morriss will talk Bear football on Thursday morning. |
Guy Morriss Chat WrapGuy Morriss took the reins of the Baylor football program on Dec. 11, 2002, when he was introduced as the Bears' new head coach. Morriss comes to Baylor with 14 years of experience as a coach at the high school, collegiate and professional levels. He spent 18 years in the National Football League, where he was an All-Pro player, played in two Super Bowls and coached for three seasons. Morriss arrived in Waco from Lexington, Ky., where he spent six seasons helping to turn around the Wildcat football program - the last two as head coach. In his 2002, Kentucky turned some heads with a 7-5 record, including wins over Mississippi State, eventual SEC West Division champion Arkansas and 17th-ranked Louisville. The seven-win season in 2002 was only the fifth since 1955 for Kentucky, which received votes in the AP Top 25 poll. UK's defeats included a four-point setback vs. South Carolina, a seven-point loss at then-No. 7 Florida and an unbelievable three-point defeat on the final play vs. then-No. 17 LSU. In Morriss' two seasons as head coach at Kentucky, 10 Wildcat players earned All-SEC recognition and two were named All-American. In his six seasons, four UK offensive linemen were selected first-team All-SEC and three earned freshman All-America honors. |
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| Kevin (Orlando, FL): Coach Morriss, First of all, welcome to Bear Country! What do you see as the strengths and weaknesses on offense and defense? Best of luck this upcoming season. |
 |  | Guy Morriss: We have not had enough time yet to assess talent level. I think we've got a good corps of receivers, a decent offensive line if we can get a little weight off of them. Fullback is a concern. I think the big question is the trigger man -- do we have one? We won't know that til after spring. Defensively, secondary-wise we are in pretty good shape based on what we know about those kids. We have a decent group of linebackers; at least we have numbers there in that position group. Our biggest concern is in the defensive line, especially at defensive tackle. Spring training will provide answers. Thank you very much. |
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| Les Brown - Austin, TX: Hey Coach...Welcome to the Baylor Family. Now that you've been around for a couple of months to see how things operate, how would you compare and contrast the inner workings of Baylor's athletic department to other's that you've been a part of? |
| | Guy Morriss: The inner workings here need to be a little more connected. This will help speed up the response time and smooth out the transition. |
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| Jonathan (Tyler): Hi Coach! You've heard it before, but I want to say again how glad all of us Baylor fans are that you are here. My question is, how would you describe your defensive philosophy, and how much do you tailor it to fit your personnel? |
| | Guy Morriss: We'll play an eight-man front, designed to stop the run first. We want to be very aggressive. We'll play with five DBs, and a lot of man coverage. Because of a lack of depth at the d-line position, we may have to play a three-man front. |
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| Baton Rouge: Why was the South FL game canceled |
| | Guy Morriss: It was a road trip we didn't need to make. I wanted to play a seventh home game because of our conference schedule being so tough. I wanted our kids to experience a little success and gain some confidence. |
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| Marvin Free (Ft. Atkinson, WI): Welcome to Baylor. My question involves Spring Training. What do you feel you can reasonably accomplish during the Spring Training period? |
| | Guy Morriss: It's a time to find out who can play and who can't, how personnel fits into our scheme and get the schemes taught. |
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| Rick (Portland, Oregon): I am excited for the upcoming season with you at the helm. Could you comment on some players you think are going to perform well next season and specific recruits that stand out. go bears! |
| | Guy Morriss: It's difficult to comment on who will stand out because we spent most of the last few weeks recruiting; we don't know our players very well yet. As far as our recruits go, I think John Mahaffey and Kellen Taylor could possibly help us. CJ Wilson and Braelon Davis could help us in the secondary and Derrick Jones could possibly help us on offense. |
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| Frank, Bakersfield,CA: I am so excited that you're our coach. My only concern is the DL situation. Are you still trying to sign any DL's and have you considered any other options once practices begin? Thanks and "Go Bears!" |
| | Guy Morriss: We are still looking for defensive lineman, yeah. We could possibly take some defensive ends and move them inside, and there's a possibility of playing a three-man front. |
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| Jimbo (baltimore): Why grey shirt Chris Evans, how about playing him as a Jerry Ball, Ted Washington, Gilbert Brown type NT? He is huge and we need DL help. |
| | Guy Morriss: I don't think he runs quite well enough for him to work in that sort of deal. He needs to redshirt, get stronger and mature. |
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| Rufus Watkins-San Francisco: How do you think the team will do, next year: What kind of Morale will the team have after 4 straight losing seasons. Who will be the quarterback, next year. Who will be the Middle linebacker next year? Class 1987 |
| | Guy Morriss: I have absolutely no idea how the team will do this year. Morale will be great. We won't know about the QB or the MLB til we go through spring; all positions are open. Competition brings out the best in all of us. |
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| Doug - Bedford: Could you please elaborate on your short term plans to address the lack of depth at the "skill" positions on offense? We seem to be lacking playmakers on that side of the ball...thanks |
| | Guy Morriss: Again, it's hard to comment on that til we go through spring training. That'll give us the opportunity to address the problem, if we have one. |
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| Dean(DeSoto): Have you figured out who Lorenzo Davis and Michael Gary are yet? Unless both of these 2 guys can't be counted on, why are you stating we have NO DT's on campus? |
| | Guy Morriss: We are well aware of who Lorenzo Davis and Michael Gary are. I am referring to numbers; we only have 3 scholarship DTs on campus, and only 5 scholarship DEs on campus. We would prefer to have a total of 16 defensive linemen on our roster at any given time, eight of them DTs and eight of them DEs. |
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| Dean(DeSoto): Do you feel that your first recruiting class is already better than the talent we have here at Baylor right now? Either way, WHY? |
| | Guy Morriss: Again, we're not familiar with the talent we have because we've been out recruiting and are just now getting a chance to assess their talent level. Recruiting classes -- who knows? We'll know in 2-3 years how good it is. |
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| Mike (Waco): Coach what kind of offense are we going to run |
| | Guy Morriss: The same system we ran at Kentucky -- 60-40 pass-run in a perfect world. A lot of motion, a lot of formations, tons of screens; that's been very productive from a scoring standpoint. |
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| James-Dallas: Whose responsibility is it for making sure the inner workings are better connected? Is this your job and if so how do you have the time to do this and COACH the team? |
| | Guy Morriss: Dr. Sloan asked me to fix the problems. It's my responsibility to point out the problems and hopefully we'll get them corrected. Coaching the team is my No. 1 job, obviously, but we'll get the problem solved. |
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| Jim (Dallas): What facilities upgrades would you like to see done at Floyd Casey? Has the administration committed to getting them done? |
| | Guy Morriss: Clean it up, brighten it up, make it more fan-friendly. Do some asphalt work in the concourses. Pave the parking lots. Mostly cosmetic stuff. And yes, the commitment is there. |
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| Wade (Dallas): Coach, it feels great to be excited about Baylor Football again. Question: Do you feel like the 20 or so players that are in jeopardy academically have responed to the problem? Is your staff satisfied with their effort? |
| | Guy Morriss: The majority of them are working hard and doing well. They are giving great effort; they just need to continue through the entire semester and finish strong. |
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| James (Dallas): Coach, I am thrilled with the addition of you and your staff. With that said, what do you believe is the biggest strength of the program left over from the previous coaching staff? |
| | Guy Morriss: Hard question. My gut feeling is that there is some degree of talent here. Kids want to win, have a great attitude and are learning how to work. That's the biggest positive I've seen -- their attitude. |
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| Dallas: How do you feel about walk-on players? Have you had some who helped your programs? |
| | Guy Morriss: We need all the walkons we can get. Absolutely; we actually put six players on scholarship at Kentucky in two years. |
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| pete Naranjo( san antonio): What is it like to be the new coach in baylor? |
| | Guy Morriss: It's an honor and a priviledge; I'm excited about the opportunity. It's fun coming to work everyday. |
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| Josh (Dallas): What do you think about Mitch Pruitt? Will he have any chance at seeing the field at all? |
| | Guy Morriss: He's got a pulled quad. He's a little inexperienced in the system right now; he's probably a few years of development away. |
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| Jim (Dallas): Coach, I've noticed the Floyd Casey field tears up easily when players make even routine cuts. The field is new (1998) but seems to have been a poor choice of surfaces. Is it a priority to have it replaced with a more durable surface? |
| | Guy Morriss: We're probably going to play with it as it is for now; it may be a question of money whether we can replace it right away. If you've got an extra half a million dollars laying around... |
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| Gary (Plano): Coach, Any plans for new uniforms, holmets or mascots so far? |
| | Guy Morriss: We're in the process of becoming a Nike team; Nike will have quite a bit of input into the uniforms. We try to make our kids happy with the uniforms. |
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| Grant in Gwinnett County, GA: Coach Morriss, Welcome aboard! As you know having coached in the SEC, there are many good players in Georgia especially in the metro Atlanta area. Do you have any plans to recruit in Georgia and/or this area of the country? |
| | Guy Morriss: Possibly; if we have a connection to a particular coach or school, or if a Georgia kid has relatives in Texas. |
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| Daniel Downey (Lorena): Do you consider yourself to be a good motivator? It seemed that one of the things lacking during the Steele era was an excitement to play and maybe a doubt that they could win a big ballgame. |
| | Guy Morriss: We wouldn't be here if we didn't feel that we could get them motivated. I've had no trouble in the past. Our kids will play hard. |
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| Waco: Coach, you mentioned that your goal will be to contend for and win the conference title every year. I?m not sure that we should EXPECT such greatness right away, so what do you consider reasonable in terms of immediate expectations from Baylor fans? |
| | Guy Morriss: Our first priority is to lay a long-term foundation. We will be competitive, play hard and aggressive. We want to put some discipline and accountibility back in the program. Unfortunately, these traits don't necessarily guarantee instant wins. |
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| harley spoon. palm springs, ca: Do you think Baylor football needs an on campus world class field house with an indoor turf practice field, lighted outdoor grass and turf practice fields, indoor/outdoor conditioning faciltiies. |
| | Guy Morriss: It would be nice to have a state-of-the-art practice facility on campus, but it's not a necessity. |
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| waco: DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE DONE A GOOD JOB THUS FAR IN YOUR RECRUITING FOR NEXT SEASON? WHAT KIND OF WALK-ON TALENT ARE YOU EXPECTING? |
| | Guy Morriss: Given the late start, we felt that it was a solid class. There are some good players in that group. It will be a couple of years down the road before we know. We're not sure what to expect about the walkons; tuition is a big issue here. We'd like as many as we can get. |
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| Mike (Carrollton): Based on what you have seen so far, are the returing players going to see a difference between the practices they are accustomed to and your practices? |
| | Guy Morriss: I don't know what they're accustomed to, but me and my staff are high-effort, high-energy coaches. Practices will be very demanding and high speed, fairly short and crisp. We try to create a gametime-type atmosphere as much as possible. |
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| Lee-Waco: Can Tom Stanton help you find the asphalt to fix the potholes around the stadium or is that not his job? |
| | Guy Morriss: I think that has already been taken care of; I'm not sure where we are at in terms of actually putting it down, but it's in the budget. |
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| Steve (Paris): Coach Morris,last year we suffered too many blow-out losses. How do you think things can be different this year under your leadership so that we are at least competitive in most games? |
| | Guy Morriss: I think confidence will be better. Our kids will play harder, be more competitive. A large part of that has to do with the relationship between our players and our staff. I think we do as good a job as anyone in the country at motivating them to go out and play. |
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| Dan Mullins (San Antonio): Coach Morriss, So glad you're at Baylor. Look me up if you ever want to do any duck hunting west of Houston. You, your family, friends, asst coaches, recruits, etc are welcome to come shoot ducks. |
| | Guy Morriss: Thanks for the invite; I'll pass it along to the staff. |
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| Ben(Los Angeles): Coach Morris, welcome to Baylor. What is the one thing that fans can do to make your job easier. |
| | Guy Morriss: Actually, there are two things. Simply be as positive as you possibly can, in regards to BU Football. Negative comments kill us when they are overheard by the public or possible recruits. Second, you see a player you think can help us, call the football office and let us know about him; give us a name and his school. |
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| Gary Don-Dallas: Coach Do you have plans to let some of us old greats come back and watch your team practices? Tree and I are ready! |
| | Guy Morriss: All our practices are open to our alumni and fans. We'd love to see you there. |
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| Harley-Milwaukee: Coach What type of HOG do you ride? |
| | Guy Morriss: A full dresser. I'm thinking about getting a road king. |
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| Jim (Dallas): Coach, I am thrilled that you and your staff have taken on the rebuilding challenge at Baylor. Who was most instrumental in getting you to come aboard? Pres. Sloan, yourself, Jim Turner, Tom Stanton or others? |
| | Guy Morriss: All of the above, plus Drayton McLane. |
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| Rufus Watkins: Do you think Baylor will be better this year: How, and Why. How are you going to generate fan support: community, and school. |
| | Guy Morriss: Yeah, I think we'll be better. We're going to compete harder, be better disciplined, execute better. We're going to try to get our students involved; we'll meet with the fraternities and sororities. Our practices will be open. The best thing we can do is win some games. |
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| Thomas Marchbanks: coach, how are you going to be able to sell Baylor to the type of kids it takes to win a big12 championship. we have not had a b-grade recruiting class since Chuck Reedy. |
| | Guy Morriss: I think there are 25 families out there every year looking for the kind of atmosphere Baylor provides. It's a wholesome feeling and place. Great academic reputation. Our relationship with our players and coaches. A chance to compete in one of the best football conferences in America. |
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| Brian (Shreveport): How do you rate your staff's ability to make halftime and in-game adjustments? |
| | Guy Morriss: I think they're pretty good. We have a lot of veteran coaches who have been at the highest level possible and been in a lot of bigtime games. |
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| Dallas: Have your used all of your scholarships for this year? |
| | Guy Morriss: We have two more to give. |
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| Shreveport,La.: Can we come and watch any spring scrimmages an if so when will they be played day and time.What date is set for the spring game? |
| | Guy Morriss: Practices are open. The spring game is set for April 12, probably at 5 p.m., but don't quote me on that just yet. |
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| Kris (Brenham, TX): I think you did a great job recruiting Coach Morriss. Can you explain the QB situation and who you believe will start? |
| | Guy Morriss: The quarterback position will be open to competition during spring training; hopefully we'll know at the end of that who will be our starter. |
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| Anchorage: Why did you screw USF like that?? |
| | Guy Morriss: South Florida agreed to the buyout clause when the contract was written. We simply exercised our option. |
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| A disappointed fan: Do you think that a team who signs a one of one series is under a moral obligation to fulfill that contract after it has already played the home portion? You should be ashamed at what you did to South Florida. |
| | Guy Morriss: Why should I be ashamed? South Florida agreed to the buyout clause when they signed the contract. We simply exercised our option. It happens every day. |
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| | Guy Morriss: Appreciate your interest in Baylor football. Our doors are always open. If you're in Waco, stop by and see us. |
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