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 Subdivis ...
and
Georgetown Hoyas
The Georgetown Hoyas are the collegiate athletics teams that officially represent Georgetown University, located at Washington, D.C. The Georgetown's athletics department fields 24 men's and women's varsity level teams and competes at the Natio ...
, 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 National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except wo ...
.
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. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. According to th ...
, 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 one of the oldest, largest, and most widely recognized cocurricular student organizations in American high schools, with 1.4 million members.
The purpose of the NHS is to create enthusiasm for scholarship, to ...
.
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 (BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and racial inequality experienced by black people, and to promote anti-racism. Its primary concerns are police brutalit ...
, including
Sandra Bland, Trayvon Martin,
Tamir Rice
On November 22, 2014, Tamir E. Rice, a twelve year old African-American boy, was killed in Cleveland, Ohio, by Timothy Loehmann, a 26-year-old white patrolman with the Cleveland Division of Police (CDP). Rice was carrying a replica toy gun; Lo ...
, and
Michael Brown.
The dress was designed by Terrence Torrence.
College
Bolden-Morris attended
Boston College
Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...
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 Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...
, 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 Group decision-making, decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to Problem solving, solve or address relevant and problematic social issues, guided by a conceptio ...
.
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 professional football coach and former quarterback who is the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the head coach at ...
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 conferences are the most prominent athletic conferences in college football in the United States. They are part of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I, the highest level o ...
, especially the
Big Ten
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...
, 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 and 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 s ...
(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 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 ...
, 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
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 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
21st-century African-American sportswomen
21st-century 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