Morris promoted to head football coach

Minuteman offensive coordinator Kevin Morris was promoted Jan. 19 to replace head coach Don Brown, who resigned earlier this month to take over as defensive coordinator at the University of Maryland.

“We are thrilled to have Kevin Morris leading our football program into the future,” said athletic director John McCutcheon. “Kevin has been an integral part of our success over the last five years. He will lead the program with the integrity and class that we expect at UMass. He will be a fine representative of the department and the University. Kevin will bring an energy and new vision to the program that will reenergize it and put us in great position for years to come.”

“I am very excited for the chance to lead an outstanding program that has such a rich winning tradition,” said Morris. “We have had great success under Don Brown for the last five years and I look forward to continuing the winning ways.”

Over the last five years, UMass has posted a 43-19 overall record for a 69.3 winning percentage. The Minutemen have won 30 of 40 conference games, including winning two conference championships, the 2006 Atlantic 10 title and the 2007 Colonial Athletic Association crown. Both squads advanced to the NCAA tournament, reaching the 2006 title game and 2007 quarterfinals. With Morris running the offense, the Minutemen have set more than 40 school and individual records on offense. In each of the last four seasons, Morris worked directly with Walter Payton Award candidates Liam Coen at quarterback and tailback Steve Baylark.

Under Morris, the Minutemen developed a high-powered offense averaging nearly 30 points and 400 yards of total offense per game.
In 2008, the Minutemen posted a 7-5 record, the fifth time in five years they posted a winning record and finished among the top 40 in the NCAA in total offense (385.4), passing offense (242.6) and scoring offense (28.8). UMass scored more than 40 points on three occasions. The Minutemen finished second in the NCAA in fewest sacks allowed.

Morris came from Northeastern University, where he was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for four seasons (2000-03), making the move with Brown to UMass in 2004.

During his time on Brown’s staff at Northeastern, Morris directed one of the most explosive offensive attacks in the Atlantic 10 Conference, breaking 24 school offensive records in four years. During the 2003 season, the Huskies led the Atlantic 10 Conference in total offense with an average of 431.8 yards per game, while ranking second in scoring offense with an average of 34.5 points per contest and posting an overall record of 8-4.

Prior to his time at Northeastern, Morris served as the offensive coordinator at Stony Brook in 1999, helping the Seawolves to a 5-5 record in their inaugural season of competition at the Division I-AA level. He was also the head coach at Worcester Polytechnic Institute from 1993-1998, leading the team to a 24-32 overall record. Morris’ 1993 team won the Freedom Football Conference title with a perfect 5-0 mark in league games. He guided the Engineers to two winning seasons in his six years as head coach.


During the 1991 and 1992 seasons, Morris worked at Union College, where he served as the defensive coordinator in 1992 and the secondary coach in 1991. Morris was also the head coach of the Union lacrosse team in 1991, guiding the team to an 8-5 record and a berth in the ECAC playoffs. He was previously the defensive coordinator at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1990, helping lead the team to an 8-0-1 record. Morris also served as the quarterbacks and wide receivers coach at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1988 and 1989, while spending two seasons as the running backs and quarterbacks coach at Albany (1986-1987).

A 1986 graduate of Williams College, Morris played quarterback in addition to pitching on the baseball team.

January 20, 2009.

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