A Memorable Career
By Tom Symonds
HurricaneSports.com
Jim Morris has been a Division I head coach for 36 years, but what might be even more impressive is that the North Carolina native has owned 41 houses over the course of his life.
Needless to say, Morris has always had an interest in houses, which might explain why he always wanted to be an architect.
Although he never took the reigns of a lead architect job, Morris did establish the blueprint that built Georgia Tech into a national baseball power before going on to follow a legend at the University of Miami where he would elevate the Hurricanes to even greater heights.
FOLLOWING A LEGEND
At the conclusion of the 1993 season, Morris had just completed his 12th year at Georgia Tech where he had begun to build a legacy of his own. The Yellow Jackets had just won 40-or-more games for the fourth consecutive season and had qualified for the NCAA Regional for the ninth straight year.
“I didn’t really expect to leave Georgia Tech,” Morris said.
And why would he?
In 1994, Georgia Tech entered the year as the undisputed No. 1 team in college baseball. The team was loaded with future major league talent, but the Yellow Jackets would start the year without their head coach, who had elevated the program from a bottom dweller of the ACC to a national title contender.
Prior to the 1994 season, Morris left Atlanta to come down South and begin his coaching career at Miami.
Before his career as a Hurricane, Morris quickly realized on his interview that expectations at Miami were significantly higher.
“I knew the expectations,” Morris said. “The expectations were easily explained when (then Miami Athletics Director) Paul Dee brought me down for the interview and I saw a national runner-up trophy in the bathroom being used as a door stop.”
Morris had the unenviable task of following legendary bench boss Ron Fraser, who just two years prior to Morris’ arrival had retired from college baseball with one of the most impressive resumes the game had ever seen, winning two national championships, over 1,200 games and earning a bid to the College World Series 12 times throughout his career in Coral Gables.
“If Coach Fraser hadn’t told me that he wanted me to follow him and be the coach then I wouldn’t have come because I had every reason to stay at Georgia Tech,” Morris said. “Georgia Tech had offered me a lifetime contract to stay. The day I took the job at job at Georgia Tech, they had never finished above last in the conference, so it was a pretty unique situation.”
Morris knew that coming to Miami would be a career-defining move.
“I knew that Miami had every advantage to win,” Morris said. “I didn’t know exactly what was going on down here, but I knew that nobody was beating them.”
Following a legend like Fraser would be a task many may have shied away from. Morris however embraced the challenge and welcomed Fraser into his program as if he was a member of his staff, giving his predecessor a key to his office so he could feel like he never left the program.
“He’s the man in my opinion,” Morris said. “I’ve never seen anybody out there that doesn’t like him. To me, he is the most influential man in the history of college baseball because he won and he put baseball on the map, so that was the guy that I was trying to follow.”
When Morris came to Miami in 1994, the Hurricanes were not ranked in the top 25, but finished the year in the College World Series and, oddly enough, stayed in the same hotel as Georgia Tech in Omaha.
Morris’ first trip to the College World Series in 1994 let fans know right away that the Hurricanes baseball program was in the hands of another future legend.
Following the 1994 campaign, Miami would go on to earn a spot in the College World Series in each of the next five seasons.
A NUMBERS GUY
Morris has always described himself as a numbers guy.
Through 24 years as the Hurricanes skipper, the numbers don’t lie.
Morris has directed the Hurricanes to 23 regional appearances, 17 regional championships, 13 trips to the College World Series and a pair of national championships.
He is a three-time national coach of the year and he is a four-time Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year. He also is one of just six coaches to win over 1,500 games.
The 2018 season will serve as the silver anniversary of Morris’ tenure in Coral Gables. It also will serve as his final year in Coral Gables.
Morris won the first ACC championship for any sport at Georgia Tech. He also directed Miami to its first ACC championship in any sport.
But, of all the wins, it was the Hurricanes’ third national championship in 1999 – Morris’ first – that serves as his most memorable.
The Hurricanes 1999 national championship came just three years after Morris had suffered one of the worst losses in his coaching career, falling to LSU in walk-off fashion, 8-7, in the 1996 national championship.
“I’ve never been so crushed in all my life,” Morris said. “I had nightmares about that game for an entire year, but to get past that and win a championship in 1999 was, without question, great.”
Morris’ 1999 team defeated Florida State, 6-5. Two years later, he would win his second national title – the program’s fourth.
A COMMITMENT TO ACADEMIC SUCCESS
Of all the numbers that Morris has posted throughout his career, one of his favorite numbers may be 100.
That’s the percentage of Miami’s graduation success rate in three of the last four years.
“I’ve always been pretty academically oriented with the guys,” Morris said. “You have to go to class and you have to do what you are supposed to be doing academically or ultimately, I’m not going to let you play. I’ve always been a guy who looks at those percentages and 95 percent of players aren’t going to make it in the major leagues.”
The Hurricanes rarely miss class during the season – a feat Morris takes great pride in. Throughout this year’s 56-game season, the Miami baseball team will miss just three and a half days.
“It’s important that we fly on a charter so that we can get guys back, so they can get to class, it’s the difference from getting back at 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.,” Morris said. “It’s a commitment to academics and baseball.”
Morris is proud of his players for their strong academic record and the work they have put in to achieve their strong academic reputation.
“I’m proud of our guys that they go to school and graduate,” Morris said. “We don’t have anyone on our team with less than a 2.0 grade point average. Everybody is going toward graduation. My rule is to enforce the rule not to make the rules. Heather De La Osa does a tremendous job with our baseball players academically.”
Morris and De La Osa meet every Tuesday to discuss the players grades and make sure they are doing what they are supposed to be doing.
“When I first started as a college coach, I thought it was my job to develop guys for professional baseball and that is important, but I understand that 95 percent of those guys who sign professional contracts don’t make it,” Morris said.
Two years ago Miami had more players in the major leagues than anybody and the team posted a 100 percent graduation rate.
“I’m proud of the fact that we’ve developed a lot of professional players who have gone on to play in the minor leagues and in the major leagues and also that we are graduating our guys,” Morris said. “That, to me, says that we are doing things right.”
HIS NEW FAVORITE NUMBER
Throughout his 24-year career in Coral Gables, Morris has worn the number three on the back of his jersey. His friends, staff members and players even affectionately call Morris by the number on the back of his jersey – ‘three’.
He is the third Morris in his family’s history. To say the number three is his favorite number would be a gross understatement.
Recently however, it’s fair to say that the number 43 could be Morris’ new favorite number. After all, that is the number his son wears on the baseball field.
James William (Will) Morris IV wears the number 43 on his little league baseball team in honor of his father, Jim, because he is the fourth Morris and his father Jim wears the number three.
Will, like his father, has become a huge fan of the game, but that was not always the case.
When he was three years old, Jim put his son Will on the local tee-ball team. He then told his father, ‘Daddy, this is boring,’ before telling his father he didn’t want to go to practice. Finally, Will told his father that he hated baseball.
All of that changed last summer when Will came to his father’s baseball camp where he decided that he wanted to be a baseball player when he got older.
It doesn’t take long to see how proud Jim is of his son.
“The first time I walked in after a game the first thing my son said was ‘Daddy’ and he runs my way and all I could think was, ‘wow’,” Morris said. “I don’t remember if we won or lost that night, but it didn’t matter. He understands now because he will say to me, ‘Daddy, did we win or did we lose and are you going to be in a good mood or a bad mood?’ I don’t ever want to come home in a bad mood.”
Morris believes becoming a father has made him a better coach.
“It really made me understand what the parents are thinking with their kids,” Morris said. “My son is probably the best looking, smartest, most talented young athlete ever. That was the way I introduced him last year at the banquet and I guarantee that’s how every other parent feels about their kid that we sign, so it is a special feeling for every parent.”
THE UPCOMING SEASON AND THE FUTURE
As Morris enters his final season as the Canes skipper, expectations are once again high, even with a team that could feature an all-freshman infield for the first time in his coaching career at Miami.
“I like to feel like we have a chance to go to Omaha and that’s the pinnacle of college baseball,” Morris said. “We’re going to be very young, but we have some good returning players too. We also have some veterans coming back from our pitching staff. Our goal is always the same – Omaha.
“If you can get there, you’ve got a chance to win it and I think that this club – if they work hard and if they stay focused has a chance to get there – and that’s all I ask. We’re talented enough, but we’re very young and we’re going to have to overcome that by the time the tournament gets here.”
Morris isn’t exactly sure what he will be doing at this time next year, but he does know one thing for sure. He knows that he plans on spending more time with his family.
“I have mixed emotions, there’s no question,” Morris said. “I’ve been a baseball coach since the day after I finished playing professional baseball, so I’ve had a uniform on ever since I was eight years old. It’s going to be a different feel for me and I don’t expect to have a uniform on again after this year.
“I’m just indebted to everyone who gave me a chance to come here,” Morris said. “This is, without question the greatest move I have ever made as a college coach. They gave me an opportunity to win as much as we could.”
