Morris reunites with Kinne as new wide receivers coach

Texas High School coaching legend and former SMU Head Coach Chad Morris is back on the sidelines in the Lone Star State as the new wide receivers coach for the Texas State Bobcats.

“I’m extremely excited to be a part of what Coach Kinne is building,” Morris said. “Just building off the success from last year and being able to give back. I’m excited to be a part of it.”

Morris coached high school football from 1994-2009 and in 2021, winning 178 football games and three state championships, two of which came from Lake Travis High School in Austin.

After winning the state championship in 2009, Morris left the high school coaching ranks to become the new offensive coordinator for the Tulsa Golden Hurricane where Kinne was now the starting quarterback.

In 2010, Kinne under Morris’ offense passed for 3,650 yards and 31 touchdowns leading Tulsa to a 10-3 record including a road win over Notre Dame and a bowl game win in the Hawaii Bowl. Kinne was also named 2010 C-USA Offensive Player of the Year.

Even then, Morris knew Kinne would have a future in coaching.

“I knew as a player [he would have this type of success],” Morris said. “When he played for us at Tulsa, he had a great mind. He was always innovative and on point. He would see things and me and him would talk about things he wanted to do involved in the offense. … To watch his development, listen to him and his knowledge of the game, the things he picked up along the way, I knew he was going to be a tremendous mind.”

Morris left after one year to become the new offensive coordinator of the Clemson Tigers before becoming the new head coach for the SMU Mustangs in 2015. In 2017, Morris hired Kinne as a graduate assistant. Kinne followed Morris to Arkansas in 2018 where the latter became an offensive assistant.

Now under Kinne, Morris is happy to see the success his former quarterback is having.

“To watch his growth and development from a player to a coach, it makes you proud,” Morris said. “He called me when all of this was going down asking if I could help him, and I said absolutely. We think of the world of Coach Kinne and his family. To be able to help him and his growth, he is one of the young bright minds in college football and he has a tremendous career ahead of him. To help him out in any capacity is exciting.”

Morris inherits a talented Bobcat receiver core including receivers Joey Hobert and Kole Wilson.

Now in their third week of spring practice, Morris is happy to see the receivers progress.

“I’ve been very proud of them,” Morris said. “They come to work every day with a great attitude. I haven’t had a day where I had to motivate them. These guys come out here ready to work and get better. They have taken that approach everyday and have done a great job of treating it like a day one mentality.”

An element Morris wants to add to the receiver group is understanding procedure while taking it one step at a time.

“The biggest thing working with these guys is letting them understand the process,” Morris said. “This whole journey is a process. It’s not going to happen overnight. [It’s about] taking a small phase of their game and focusing on it each day. I try to bring that in meetings and pinpoint to these guys just to find one or two things that can make you better and let that be a focal point.”

One of the elements has been running routes on a consistent basis.

“We all have to be better in route running,” Morris said. “There is no wide receiver out there that has mastered route running so staying on top of that has been critical. The last thing is making sure they affect the game without the ball in their hands.”

Having helped craft spectacular offenses throughout his tenure, Morris can see the potential the Bobcats can bring this fall.

But Morris stressed the importance of continuing to take it one day at a time.

“Watching us going into our third week of spring ball, the focus has been getting a little better each day,” Morris said. “There is tremendous talent and potential. But that’s all it has potential right now. Spring ball is a phase of the game and the season. Spring ball gets us ready for summer which are going to be pivotal and vital for our success going into fall camp. We have a great baseline and we will keep building on that. The sky’s the limit on what we can do.”

Texas State Spring Practice will conclude with the annual Maroon-Gold spring game this Saturday at 11 a.m.

cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc