 | | Guy Morriss will stop by for a live chat Tuesday, Feb. 22 at 12 p.m. CST. |
Guy Morriss led the Baylor football to a 3-8 record in his second season as head coach, including a thrilling 35-34 overtime victory over No. 16 Texas A&M. Under Morriss' guidance, five players were named to both the 2004 AP and Coaches' All-Big 12 Conference teams and nine players earned all-academic honors. Sophomore Daniel Sepulveda also earned the Ray Guy Award as the nation's top punter. Morriss came 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 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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 |  | Guy Morriss: Good morning everyone, let's get started. |
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| JD (Waco): I've heard comments from you about moving some players around to different positions.... any specifics on who might be moving, and where? Also, is Julian Hill going to be a DT or a DE? |
| | Guy Morriss: At this time, I don't specifically know who is going to move. We try to move the offensive line around to find the right combinations and we will look at Julian Hill at DE. When we start spring practice, all 24 jobs are up for grabs. That's the only way I know how to do it. |
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| Brian Ligon (Oklahoma City): If only ONE big thing could happen with the Bears this season, what would you want it to be? |
| | Guy Morriss: Go to a bowl game. That would just energize this program to no end. |
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| Paul R. (Denver): Coach Morriss, What redshirt freshmen and sophomores do you see having the biggest impact this upcoming season? |
| | Guy Morriss: Jason Smith at TE, Nate Cook at WR, Trey Payne at WR and Vincent Rhodes at DL. |
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| Trent, Waco: can you talk a bit about redshirting and your approach to it. I am in the camp that says redshirt everyone you can. what is your litmus test for redshirt decisions? Also, do you regret not redshirting James Francis last year? |
| | Guy Morriss: I agree with you, we try to redshirt as many as possible. When you look at the Big 12, the teams that have the greatest success are those that are top heavy with fifth and fourth year players. Those guys know your system inside and out and are more mature and have had the time to develop in the weight room. We had no choice with James, we just didn't have any depth at that position. |
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| Trent, Waco: Has there been any thought placed into moving Jason Lamb to the defensive side of the ball. I believe he was 2nd team all state defensive end this past season and could help us fill a perceived need. |
| | Guy Morriss: We are certainly considering that at this time, but we feel we're in pretty good shape at that position. |
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| Ryan (Tyler): Coach Morriss, you were an offensive lineman during your career, How is the line for next year shaping up? |
| | Guy Morriss: We should be much better up front. With the return of Nick Pace, with the addition of William Blaylock and the signing of JC All-American Matt Lott, there's going to be a lot of competition between that group. No one's job is safe. |
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| Chris (Houston): Congratulations on beating A&M! When you compare the caliber of your players against teams like Texas and A&M what real differences do you see? Please also comment on the mental state of the program when you took the job and what impact it had on Baylor's lack of success in the past (at least your perceptions upon taking the job). |
| | Guy Morriss: When you look at Texas, they don't have any holes on their roster at all. They have great depth at every position, we're trying to build our depth through the redshirt process as we rebuild the program. A&M is just a notch or two below Texas - they've averaged about nine wins a year for about the last 20 years, so they're doing something right. |
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| Chris (Houston): Who will start at QB next year and how is Terrance Parks' quickness? |
| | Guy Morriss: Who will start remains to be seen. Shawn Bell will take the first snap of the spring, but after that it's anybody's job. Terrance is getting quicker because he's lost some weight through our off-season workout program. |
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| CR (Dallas): now that you have been at Baylor for a little while, what are your thoughts of the university? |
| | Guy Morriss: From a football standpoint my thoughts are we've kind of gotten by on our academic reputation and we've got a ways to go to catch up football-wise. We've got to complete the Student-Athlete Success Center for the benefit of all of our student-athletes and getting this capital campaign off the ground is critical to the development of our football program from a facilities standpoint. As we move forward, we also need to take a look at improving Floyd Casey Stadium. The longer we wait to invest will only cause the gap to grow wider. |
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| Aaron (Dallas): Congratulations on the great class of young men coming in. What are the key position battles you project in the Spring? Also, who do you see as needing to step forward and lead the defense this next year? Thank you |
| | Guy Morriss: Obviously QB and OL will be key position battles. DL and LB will also see some intense competition. Montez Murphy, Colin Allred, Jamal Harper, Maurice Lane and Willie Andrews will be our defensive leaders. |
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| Nolan (Waco): Of those players that redshirted or sat out last year because they transferred, which will have an immediate impact? |
| | Guy Morriss: Will Blaylock, Nick Moore, Alton Wideman, Jordan Adams and Matt Lott will all have an impact this year. The good thing is they're all on campus and will go through spring ball and be ready to go this fall. |
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| BT (San Antone): What is your opinion of the plans for the on-campus practice facility and please explain the importance of having an indoor practice facility. |
| | Guy Morriss: The plans are fine, the football staff has had input in its design and we feel the complex will go a long way in addressing our needs in getting us back on campus. As for the indoor building, we missed three days of practice last year because of lightning. That may not seem like much but when you're getting ready to play Oklahoma, you need all the time you can get. In addition, it can be multi-sport, multi-purpose and multi-functional for others to use. |
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| Will-Austin: Coach, What are the chances of having an ESPN televised game next year? It has been almost 6 years since the last one we had when we played Boston College. Could we play a Thursday night game ever? |
| | Guy Morriss: Since the Big 12's television contracts are with FSN, TBS and ABC, the only opportunity next year would be the games at Army or SMU. Since the Big 12 does not have a contract with ESPN, the only way we can get on is during the non-conference games. We would consider a Thursday night game if the opportunity presented itself. |
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| Don (Longview): Coach, congratulations on your recent recruiting class. However, those of us in East Texas still feel Baylor is not competing for the wealth of talent here. We regularly see the Bears playing against dozens of East Texas standouts and wonder if we will ever get our share in Waco? |
| | Guy Morriss: Right now it's a tough sell no matter what part of the state your in. We've got some guys from East Texas on our roster and will continue to travel the state to find the best players to help us win. Since I'm an Omaha, Texas, native myself we will always recruit East Texas. It takes time to build relationships, but we're working on it everyday. If you know of any players, contact Chris Lancaster. |
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| Justin (Cedar Park, Texas): What is the team's goal this upcoming season? What do you think your chances are in the bowl season? |
| | Guy Morriss: Our No. 1 goal is always to win the conference, but we'd settle for a bowl game. |
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| M Savage Tucson, AZ: Concerned about any of the players not making passable grades? |
| | Guy Morriss: I'm not too concerned right now. Everyone is working hard in the classroom and probably should be ok. |
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| Jermaine(San Marcos,Tx): Who will have the best chance to get the starting running back position?(and how is Brandon Whitaker doing this off-season? |
| | Guy Morriss: It depends on who wins the job in the spring. We should have great competition between Paul Mosley, Brandon Whitaker and Jacoby Jones. Brandon is ready to go. |
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| Todd (Ft. Worth): Coach, How much of a selling point is it to have kids such as Quieto Teasley, David Gettis, Dominique Zeigler compete both in the track program and football program? Do you know approximately what percentage of NCAA Div. I schools allow kids to do both sports? |
| | Guy Morriss: It's a great selling point for our program and we like for them to compete year-round as long as they're contributing. |
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| Jim Hancock, Lubbock Tx.: What do we have to do defensively to slow down an offense like Texas Tech? |
| | Guy Morriss: Get a better pass rush, mix coverages to keep them off-balance, blitz a little bit from all angles, work on our man-to-man coverages more and mix in a little zone. Very simple, right? |
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| Paul Finebaum (Birmingham, Al): How are off-season workouts going and which player/players seem to be benifiting from them the most? |
| | Guy Morriss: The off-season is going really well and everyone is working hard. I think the big guys are benefitting the most, they are learning to "push the envelope." They are finding out how far their minds and their bodies will take them. |
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| Aaron (Dallas): Coach, Now that you have been in Waco 3 years what would be the one resturant you could go and eat at if you had one choice? |
| | Guy Morriss: George's - a cold Dr Pepper and some crazy wings. |
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| RN (Waco): This question pertains to the off-season Strength and Conditioning program. If I am correct, both yourself and John Williams are big advocates of the training style of Louis Simmons (WSB). I know he has consulted with NCAA programs in the past, how is WSB powerlifting methodology adapted to meet the speed-strength requirements for the sport, which may be better served by olympic lifts? |
| | Guy Morriss: Yes, we are advocates of Louis Simmons. We're training football players, though, not power-lifters. It's based in theory on speed through the full range of motion as well as using rubber bands or chains attached to the bar through the upper half of the motion creating added resistance. |
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| SB (Dallas): Anyway we can get the Spring Practice times and dates posted on the BU Website? Will the Practices be open to the public again? Keep up the good work! Sic Em |
| | Guy Morriss: Yes, we will get them posted as we get closer to spring practice, which starts March 30. Other workouts are scheduled for April 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 12, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, with the Spring Game set for the 23rd. All of the practices are always open, so feel free to stop by. |
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| Ken (Dallas): Coach - Our Special Teams Coach is special. How did we acknowledge his accomplishments after D.Sepulveda and the entire Punt Team won National Punter of the Year Award? (Ray Guy) |
| | Guy Morriss: All of our coaches do a great job with their respective position groups. All of our coaches believe in special teams, which makes Mark Nelson's job easier. I'm sure he would appreciate a note or e-mail. You can e-mail any of our coaches at fb_recruiting@baylor.edu. |
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| | Guy Morriss: Great questions today. We're excited about getting the spring season underway next month. I'll be back at the end of spring ball to tackle some more questions. If you're in town, make it a point to stop by and watch us practice. |
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