Milan "Mimi" Bolden-Morris is a former basketball player for the
Boston College Eagles
The Boston College Eagles are the athletic teams that represent Boston College, located in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivisio ...
and
Georgetown Hoyas
The Georgetown Hoyas are the collegiate athletics teams that officially represent Georgetown University, located in Washington, D.C. Georgetown's athletics department fields 23 men's and women's varsity level teams and competes at the National C ...
, and a former graduate assistant football coach for the
Michigan Wolverines
The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisio ...
.
Early life and education
Bolden-Morris is from
Belle Glade, Florida
Belle Glade is a city in south-central Florida and it is the far western part of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States, on the southeastern shore of Lake Okeechobee. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 17,467.
Bel ...
, and attended
Cardinal Newman High School.
Bolden-Morris's father, Michael, is a policeman and her mother, Melanie, is a high school principal.
In high school, she was the president of her school's
National Honor Society
The National Honor Society (NHS) is a nationwide organization for high school students in the United States and outlying territories, which consists of many chapters in high schools. Selection is based on four criteria: scholarship (academic achi ...
.
Growing up, she played baseball, softball, and flag football.
In April 2017, as a senior in high school, she wore a prom dress printed with faces from the
Black Lives Matter movement
Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police br ...
, including
Sandra Bland, Trayvon Martin,
Tamir Rice
On November 22, 2014, Tamir E. Rice, a 12-year-old African-American boy, was killed in Cleveland, Ohio, by Timothy Loehmann, a 26-year-old white police officer. Rice was carrying a replica toy gun; Loehmann shot him almost immediately upon arri ...
, and
Michael Brown.
The dress was designed by Terrence Torrence.
College
Bolden-Morris attended
Boston College
Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...
for three and a half years, where she played basketball and earned a bachelor's degree in communication.
She then spent a year and a half at
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...
, where she continued to play basketball in the latter half of the 2020-2021 season and the entire 2021-2022 season.
As a guard, she led the
Georgetown women's basketball team in scoring with 12.6 points per game, and made 83 three-point shots. At Georgetown, she won the Most Outstanding Student Award.
She earned a master's degree from Georgetown in
sports industry management.
At the University of Michigan, she is pursuing a second master's degree, in
public policy
Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...
.
Coaching career
In March 2022, the Michigan Wolverines football team hired Bolden-Morris as a graduate assistant coach who would work with quarterbacks.
Michigan football coach
Jim Harbaugh
James Joseph Harbaugh (; born December 23, 1963) is an American football coach and former quarterback, who is the current and 20th head football coach of the Michigan Wolverines. He played college football at Michigan from 1983 to 1986. He play ...
reportedly described Bolden-Morris as a “bright, intelligent and competitive young woman who will be a great addition to our program and offensive coaching staff,"
and noted that he has "always believed in providing opportunities for individuals who are passionate about football, and Mimi is someone who has shown that drive to become a football coach."
She started the job in June 2022.
On her hiring, Bolden-Morris said, "The opportunity to be the first female GA in the
Power Five
The Power Five conferences are the five most prominent and highest-earning athletic conferences in college football in the United States. They are part of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of NCAA Division I, the highest level of collegiate ...
, especially the
Big Ten
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
, is an absolute honor. It speaks volumes to the efforts that Coach Harbaugh has made to create an environment of inclusion. These opportunities have been an anomaly for a black woman until recently. Growing up watching my dad coach my brother, it has always been my dream to be a part of a football team in some form, so this opportunity is allowing me to live out a dream of mine, especially working with quarterbacks. Coming from the basketball world, guards and quarterbacks are one in the same. Both have the ability to make decisions under duress, read defenses, take care of the ball, and execute with precision and accuracy."
Bolden-Morris's first game as an assistant was when Michigan beat the
Colorado State Rams
The Colorado State Rams are the athletic teams that represent Colorado State University (CSU). Colorado State's athletic teams compete along with 8 other institutions in the Mountain West Conference, which is an NCAA Division I conference and sp ...
(51-7) on September 3, 2022.
Her younger brother, Mike Morris, is a senior defensive end on the
2022 team.
Per the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
, Bolden-Morris is believed to be the first female graduate assistant football coach at a Power Five school since Carol White worked as a kicking assistant at
Georgia Tech in the 1980s,
and the first ever in the Big Ten.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolden-Morris, Milan
Michigan Wolverines football coaches
Georgetown Hoyas women's basketball players
Georgetown University alumni
Sportspeople from Florida
Sportspeople from Belle Glade, Florida
Female coaches of American football
Boston College Eagles women's basketball players
Basketball players from Florida
African-American sportswomen
Living people
Year of birth uncertain
African-American coaches of American football
Year of birth missing (living people)
Coaches of American football from Florida