Jesse Raymond Morrison (February 28, 1885 – November 19, 1982) was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player and a coach of football,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, and baseball. He served as the head football coach at

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

(1915–1916, 1922–1934),

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

(1918, 1935–1939),

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

(1940–1948), and Austin College (1949–1952), compiling a career

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

record of 155–130–33. He was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...

as a coach in 1954. As a player, he was one of the greatest

quarterbacks The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

in the history of Vanderbilt Commodores football. Morrison was selected as the quarterback and

kick returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

for an ''

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

'' Southeast Area All-Time football team 1869–1919 era. He piloted the team to two

Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) was one of the first collegiate athletic conferences in the United States. Twenty-seven of the current Division I FBS (formerly Division I-A) football programs were members of this conferen ...

(SIAA) titles in

1910 Events January * January 6 – Abé people in the French West Africa colony of Côte d'Ivoire rise against the colonial administration; the rebellion is brutally suppressed by the military. * January 8 – By the Treaty of Punakha, t ...

and

1911 Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are added to the Commonwealth of Australia. * January 3 ** 1911 Kebin earthquake: An earthquake of 7.7 m ...

. The 1910 team fought defending national champion

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

to a scoreless tie. Yale coach Ted Coy called Morrison "the greatest player I have seen in years." In 1911, Coy selected Morrison

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

and the ''

Atlanta Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' (''AJC'') is an American daily newspaper based in Atlanta metropolitan area, metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Jo ...

'' voted Vanderbilt the best

backfield The offensive backfield is the area of an American football field behind the line of scrimmage, and players positioned there on offense who begin plays behind the line, typically including the quarterback and running backs ( halfbacks and full ...

in the South. He took over as coach at his ''

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

'' Vanderbilt after the retirement of legendary coach Dan McGugin. Morrison was the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC) Coach of the Year in 1937. He was also the first head coach in the history of

SMU Mustangs football The SMU Mustangs football team is a college football team representing Southern Methodist University (SMU) in University Park, Texas, University Park, Dallas County, Texas. The Mustangs compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, NC ...

, and helped popularize the

forward pass In several forms of football, a forward pass is the throwing of the ball in the direction in which the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line. The legal and widespread use of the forward pass distinguishes grid ...

in the

Southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

with his "Flying Circus" teams, most notably when led by Gerald Mann.

Early years

Ray Morrison was born on February 28, 1885, in Sugar Branch, Indiana. Soon after the family moved to McKenzie, Tennessee, where Morrison attended school. He also spent a year at McTyeire School for Boys.

Vanderbilt University

To achieve funds for college, Morrison worked on a dredge boat on the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

for a year. Morrison won Bachelor of Ugliness for the class of 1912. He played on the football and

teams with his brother Kent.

Football

He played football as a prominent quarterback and halfback for Dan McGugin's Vanderbilt football teams from 1908 to 1911. He is considered one of the best quarterbacks in Vanderbilt's long history. The team posted a 30–6–2 record during his four years. He was selected for an all-time Vanderbilt team in 1934. Morrison was selected as the quarterback and kick returner for an ''Associated Press'' Southeast Area All-Time football team 1869–1919 era. In 1915, John Heisman selected his 30 greatest Southern football players, and Morrison was one of two quarterbacks selected. He weighed some 155 to 159 pounds.

1908

The 1908 squad was hampered by a wealth of

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...

s, which McGugin with the help of halfback Morrison led to a 7–2–1 campaign, including a loss to

rival A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

Sewanee. In a 16–9 defeat of

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, widely considered their greatest team at that point, Walker Leach got loose for a 60-yard run on a fake kick, tracked down by Morrison and stopped short of the goal.

1909

The 1909 team lost to SIAA champion Sewanee, its first loss to a Southern team in six years.

1910

The 1910 team won the SIAA title and fought defending national champion

to a scoreless tie on

Yale Field George H. W. Bush Field (commonly known as Bush Field, originally Yale Field) is a stadium in West Haven, Connecticut, just across the city line with New Haven, Connecticut. It is primarily used for the Yale University baseball team, the Bulldogs ...

. Yale coach Ted Coy called Morrison "the greatest player I have seen in years." He was selected All-Southern by several writers. Vanderbilt won a close game over

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

9–2. Late in the first quarter, Morrison returned a punt 90 yards for Vanderbilt's

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

John Heisman John William Heisman ( ; October 23, 1869 – October 3, 1936) was a player and coach of American football, baseball, and basketball, as well as a sportswriter and actor. He served as the head football coach at Oberlin College, Buchtel College ...

was the game's field judge, and McGugin did not want to show too much, playing Heisman's

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

in two weeks. Morrison was the star of the Georgia Tech game, scoring two touchdowns.

1911

Edwin Pope's ''Football's Greatest Coaches'' on the 1911 team reads "A lightning-swift backfield of Lew Hardage, Wilson Collins, Ammie Sikes, and Ray Morrison pushed Vandy through 1911 with only a 9–8 loss to

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

." The ''Atlanta Constitution'' voted it the best backfield in the South. Ted Coy selected Morrison All-American. He was unanimously selected All-Southern. Morrison, Hardage and Rabbi Robins had two touchdowns each in a 45–0 win over Central. Morrison had two short touchdown runs in a 17–0 win over

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, and had a 22-yard run on a fake punt. In "easily the greatest southern game of the season", Vanderbilt claimed the SIAA title by beating

21–0. Morrison had a 70-yard run, and on a fake punt out of his own

end zone The end zone is the scoring area on the field, according to gridiron-based codes of football. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on the opposite side of the field ...

ran for 75 yards. Against Sewanee, Morrison threw a touchdown pass to Hardage, as well as had a short touchdown run.

Baseball

Morrison also played on the baseball team, moved to the

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In bat and ball games ...

from

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

in his junior year, and back to catcher as a senior. The

and

1912 This year is notable for Sinking of the Titanic, the sinking of the ''Titanic'', which occurred on April 15. In Albania, this leap year runs with only 353 days as the country achieved switching from the Julian to Gregorian Calendar by skippin ...

teams won the SIAA. Morrison was

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of the 1912 team.

Coaching years

Morrison first taught and was athletics director at Branham & Hughes Military Academy in Spring Hill. Upon

American entry into World War I The United States entered into World War I on 6 April 1917, more than two and a half years after the war began in Europe. Apart from an Anglophile element urging early support for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British and an a ...

, Morrison went to Fort Oglethorpe. In 1919, Morrison spent a year at Gulf Coast Military Academy as athletics director and teacher.

SMU

Ray Morrison was the first head coach in the history of SMU Mustangs football. He won just two games in two years from 1915 to 1916.

Return

In 1920, Morrison returned to SMU. He notably brought the forward pass to the southwest during his time at SMU. Morrison was one of the first to pass not just on first down, but on first and second down too. His teams earned the nickname the "Flying Circus". They won the

1923 In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ' ...

1926 In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...

, and

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference also included schools from Oklaho ...

(SWC) titles. An 18-game unbeaten streak was ended in the 1925 Dixie Classic, with a touchdown off a tipped pass for West Virginia Wesleyan's Gale Bullman, and a 30-yard field goal missed in the final minute. Morrison's best passer, Hall of Fame quarterback Gerald Mann, led the team to the 1926 title. The 1929 team was undefeated, but with four ties, including one with undefeated

TCU TCU may stand for: Education * Tanzania Commission for Universities, regulatory body for Universities in Tanzania * Texas Christian University, a private university in Fort Worth, Texas ** TCU Horned Frogs, the athletic programs of the school * Tok ...

to close the season.

Vanderbilt

He coached Vanderbilt in

1918 The ceasefire that effectively ended the World War I, First World War took place on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of this year. Also in this year, the Spanish flu pandemic killed 50–100 million people wor ...

when McGugin left for the military, and led the Vanderbilt team to a 4–2 record. The team beat

76–0, the largest margin of victory in the history of the

rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

. Former ''

Nashville Banner The ''Nashville Banner'' is a defunct daily newspaper of Nashville, Tennessee, United States, which published from April 10, 1876 until February 20, 1998. The ''Banner'' was published each Monday through Friday afternoon (as well as Saturdays unt ...

'' sportswriter Fred Russell's book ''Fifty Years of Vanderbilt Football'' published in 1938, wrote: "Salient after salient was wiped out by Gen. Morrison's forces and Tennessee's reinforcements could not check the tide. The retreat turned into a bloody, hopeless rout. Berryhill was cited for bravery for his wonderful outflanking the enemy, by which he took six positions (touchdowns) single-handedly. The result was 76−0." Morrison was also the head

coach at Vanderbilt for one season in 1918–19, tallying a mark of 8–2, and the head baseball coach at the school in 1919, notching a record of 3–3.

Return

Upon the retirement of the legendary McGugin, Morrison was hand-picked as successor at his ''alma mater''. Morrison brought his own staff from SMU and neglected the retained

Josh Cody Joshua Crittenden Cody (June 11, 1892 – June 17, 1961) was an American college athlete, head coach, and athletics director. "Josh" Cody was a native of Tennessee and an alumnus of Vanderbilt University, where he earned 13 letters playing sev ...

's coaching abilities. Fred Russell offered this description of Morrison upon his arrival as coach of Vanderbilt: Morrison's first team in his second stint finished second place in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), led by captain and SEC player of the year Willie Geny. The 1936 team was captained by Dick Plasman, the last NFL player to play without a helmet. The 1937 team upset

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

on a hidden ball trick, the school's first-ever victory over a ranked opponent (the AP Poll began in 1936). The team's captain was SEC player of the year Carl Hinkle and also featured Baby Ray. Morrison was awarded SEC Coach of the Year in 1937.

Temple

After the 1939 season, Morrison resigned from his position at Vanderbilt to go to

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

, with Cody as his line coach. He resigned from Temple in 1949.

Austin College

He finished his career at Austin College. He quit to take over "development and public relations" at SMU, a post he held for eleven years.

Death

Morrison died at the home of his son in Miami Springs, Florida, at the age of 97.

Head coaching record

Football

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morrison, Ray 1885 births 1982 deaths American football quarterbacks Baseball catchers Baseball outfielders Austin Kangaroos football coaches SMU Mustangs football coaches Temple Owls football coaches Vanderbilt Commodores baseball coaches Vanderbilt Commodores baseball players Vanderbilt Commodores football coaches Vanderbilt Commodores football players Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball coaches All-Southern college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees College men's basketball head coaches in the United States People from McKenzie, Tennessee People from Switzerland County, Indiana Coaches of American football from Tennessee Players of American football from Tennessee Baseball coaches from Tennessee Baseball players from Tennessee Basketball coaches from Tennessee Presidents of the American Football Coaches Association 20th-century American sportsmen

Early years

Vanderbilt University

Football

1908

1909

1910

1911

Baseball

Coaching years

SMU

Return

Vanderbilt

Return

Temple

Austin College

Death

Head coaching record

Football

See also

References

Bibliography

External links