College
Fists, Farms, and Football: Inside Eric Morris’ Wild Ride to the Top
Eric Morris was surrounded by great coaches his whole life, from Mike Leach at Texas Tech to his own dad, Ray, at Shallowater. With his North Texas Mean Green 5-0, Morris is staking his own claim as a winner.
Ray Morris farmed on the side while he was the head basketball coach and assistant football coach in Shallowater, Texas, population 2,084, back during the 2000 census. He’d take his three sons – Aaron, Eric, and Andrew – to the farm and put them to work as he drove the tractor.
One day on the farm, Ray looked behind him to check on his three sons and found the middle one, Eric, trying to kill the oldest, Aaron, with a hoe. The old ball coach jumped down from the trailer, snatched up his misbehaving kids, and drove straight home and told Eric to grab the paddle he kept behind the master bedroom’s door.
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