Morriss Comments Upon Coming to Baylor
12/11/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 11, 2002
"What an exciting day for me. It's good to be back in the Lone Star State."
On what he will say to the Baylor players
"Get ready to go to work. I believe that we can win here at Baylor, and they're going to have to be committed to that. We're going to demand high effort. They've got to decide if they want to be a part of this. They need to understand that wearing the Green and Gold is going to take on a whole new meaning. It's going to be important that they want to be a part of this program, and we're going to put some accountability and some pride in this program. It's going to start this afternoon. I want to get to know them a little bit - introduce my three coaches and myself - and try to get a feel for our players. I've always had a great relationship with my players, and I intend to do that here. We don't just talk about Xs and Os. Players don't care about how much you know until they find out how much you care. That's the attitude that we're going to bring forward. I believe that if you can establish that kind of rapport and that level of trust with your players, they'll run through a wall for you. That's the first thing we're going to talk to them about this afternoon."
On his key factors to leave Kentucky and come to Baylor
"It was an opportunity to come home and be closer to my family. I'm a guy that likes competition. Obviously, Baylor is in one of the toughest conferences in America; it is very competitive. I'd say the Big 12 and the SEC are the two best conferences in America. There may be one conference better, and that's the NFL. To return to Texas and compete in an extremely competitive conference at a university with the academic tradition that obviously Baylor has, we think that is very unique and should be a strong selling point as far as our recruiting. There's a tremendous recruiting base here in Texas. There's probably 350 to 375 Division I prospects every year that come out of the state of Texas. If we can't sign 20 to 25 of them every year then something's wrong. We have five coaches on our staff that have strong Texas ties and that have been actively involved in recruiting Texas, so we have a good relationship with Texas high school coaches. We want to continue those relationships with the coaches that we know and start establishing relationships with the ones we don't know. Obviously high school coaches are probably the most important link in funneling kids to us. So we're going to open our doors to Texas high school coaches, and anytime we can have them on our campus is a plus for us."
On the challenges that lay ahead
"I'm one that has never run away from a challenge. As far as the past - the past is the past and we can't do anything about it. One of my biggest deals is we're not going to worry about what we can't control. All I'm worried about is from this point forward. That's where we're going to channel all of our energy, to get this program back to where the Baylor family wants it to be, where I as head coach wants it to be. I just firmly believe that Baylor can be a winner. And it's my job to make sure it happens."
On indications of a timetable to turn the program around
"After I had a series of conversations with the administration and Dr. (Robert B.) Sloan, Drayton (McLane), Jim Turner, Tom Stanton ... I think I'm a pretty good judge of character. I think that I can trust them. The commitment is there. You see a lot of dirt being moved on this campus. They're improving facilities. They want to take Baylor to the next level, and they want football to go along with it. It was just a trust factor that was established early on in our meetings. I feel good about it in my heart, that they're willing to be patient. It's going to take some time to fix, and I think they understand that. We're going to make this work together. It's really all about a partnership between our football staff and the administration and our fan base. It is a challenge; but I don't see any reason why we can't be winners here and be a competitive football team immediately, or else I wouldn't be here."
On the challenges of recruiting against other Big 12 coaches
"Well, I've got a hard head; I like butting heads. I did that in the NFL for 15 years. It's a challenge, but recruiting is an extension of competition as far as I'm concerned. We've been competing against Steve Spurrier and Philip Fulmer and the likes of those folks. My philosophy is that if you want to land the big guys, you've got to go head-to-head with the big guys. We're not going back off of a recruit because Texas and A&M and Colorado and Nebraska, those types of people are on him. We're going to get in there and out-hustle them, out-work them, and I think we have a unique university to sell them. Like I said, there are a lot of players in the state of Texas. Surely we can find 20 to 25 every year that want to come to Baylor. You just have to go after them. We're not going to sign them all, but we'll sign our share of them."
On what it says for the Big 12 that two SEC coaches left for the Big 12 this year
"No disrespect to anybody else, but if Baylor was in Conference USA, I wouldn't be standing here. I think we all like to compete against the best players in the country and be a part of the most exciting and high level competition we can be in."
On how much Kentucky's probation played a factor in his decision to come to Baylor
"That didn't even enter into my decision to come to Baylor. We felt comfortable with the situation; we had it managed and had the program headed where it needed to go. That was not part of the equation."
On plans to run the same offensive and defensive schemes he used at Kentucky
"Our philosophy is not going to change. We may have to make a few adjustments depending on the athletes we have, and that's the process we're going to start this afternoon to decide what we have and who best fits where. But our philosophy and the style are probably not going to change much at all. I'm a high-effort coach. Our staff is that way and they coach that way. We believe in getting our work done. We're not going to waste time. We probably only practice for about an hour and 50 minutes, but for that hour and 50 minutes we're moving. I believe that you have to create a practice environment that's as close to game environment as you possibly can so our kids take the field on Saturday and are not in shock by the speed of the game. The tempo is going to be up; the kids (at Kentucky) enjoyed how we practiced, and they looked forward to coming to practice. In an ideal world, I'd like to throw the ball about 60 percent and run it about 40, depending on our talent and what we're working with. That particular balance is what I'm striving for. We like to spread the field. We throw the ball a lot, but I also believe in a strong running game - coming off red zone, short yardage; we want to be very efficient in our running game. Defensively, we run an eight-man front. The closest thing I could compare us to is like Joe Lee Dunn's defense over at Mississippi State with the two outside safeties, the two inside linebackers, the four down linemen and a three-deep shell. We're not a soft, sit back and read, soft cover two, or anything like that and watch people snitch down the field on us. We're going to be more of an aggressive style of defense. We'll blitz a little bit. I think recruits enjoy playing that kind of game: offensively wide open and defensively very aggressive. That's what we'll sell them."
On why the Baylor job was able to pull him away from Kentucky
"It's going to be a lot easier to go out and recruit here because of the tremendous talent pool. That would be a key factor in being successful here. Facilities here, from what I've seen, are just as good if not better than Kentucky. Again, it gives me a chance to be at home. It's just the uniqueness of Baylor itself. It's a private school in the Big 12 Conference, and there are kids out there that are looking for that kind of environment. I know that's why I went to TCU. I didn't want to sit in a classroom with 600 kids around me. I wanted a little more one-on-one attention: smaller classroom, smaller environment. That's what makes Baylor unique, and I think we can sell that."
