University of South Carolina Libraries
After Morrison played his temporary position with the defense, Sherman thought he'd shake up Morrison and the rest of the Giants. ,4I thought I'd scare him one day after, I think, the first time he played defense for us. The following week I said, 'Well, the only thing I can tell you that's new fellas, is that Joe Morrison is going to play offensive guard next week.' "I Ruess that's the onlv nlare we couldn't use him," he said. STROUD AGREES that "he was an extremely versatile football player" for having played both offense and defense. "When you're coaching," Sherman said, "if you have 40 people and you have about 10 of those (Joe Morrisons), ? ui M? the Hurt nf nerson all coaches J1"" ?V 5" l 11W piwuicilis. lit vraj mv .... i want on their team." Said Andy Robustelli, a Giants' defensive end from 1956 to 1964: "Joey was not a great football player. Joey was a consistant, methodical, smart ball player and he put his nose to the grind and he worked like heck." The Giants teams Morrison played with were made up of hard workers. "I DON'T think we had the abundance of talent," Robustelli added. "Y.A. Tittle had talent, Frank Gifford had talent. But for the most part, we were a hard-working group of people that needed and depended on each other, not one above the other. We needed each other and consequently we had a hell of a good mold." Tl"> ho Vi n A to r-?l n; ii/oll r-am/i thmnoh in all (hp tllinp*; 1 III* ai/IIil/ I IV I1UU IV/ piUJ TTVII VUBIIV llll X/V40ll ... ?... he did. The skill he exhibited while playing came through hard work and experience. "Joe was always, as a player, never the big star," said Y.A. Tittle, the Giants' one-time quarterback whose season touchdown passing record was surpassed recently by Miami Dolphins' Dan Marino. "He was always playing in the shadow of a Frank Gifford or a Del Shofner. He always played because he was always able to play every position. "He was a star player, but he was never an all-pro player." "HIl'S ONF of the great players," Huff said. "Joe was not the greatest football talent in the world. He knows that. "He had the best head. You had to study the game," he said. "He knew how to play the game, he liked to play the game, he had a lot of heart." Tittle said the thing that impressed him about Morrison was the fact that he was able to learn the different positions, "which was always a feat in itself, I thought." MORRISON RETIRED after fourteen seasons with the Giants. He left his mark with his teammates, coaches, and the organization. His name still dots the pages of the Giants' record book. The contacts with the Giants' are deep. More than ten years after his retirement, Morrison still feels the ties. "1 think there was a great deal of loyalty. Even now, to Wellington Mara (the owner), the New York Giants ? the great organization," he said. "I think mainly because of the people that they had as part of that organization." After he retired, the opportunity to coach in the National Football League presented itself to Morrison. Then Giants' r-Sr::w 4M \ mmm mm? m. "He's straightforward. He doesn't waste any words, he means every one of them he says. He's not a bullshitter. He's very unusual for a successful college coach, I think, because most of them are real flamboyant, or * vocal, or have some sort ot weira characteristic. He doesn't." ? Eranlf HiffnrH ? i uain wiaiwi w ex-receiver head coach Alex Webster, under whom Morrison finished his career, asked him to be his assistant. THE TWO talked but it was a timing thing that kept Morrison out of the pro ranks. He said he had talked to the University of Tennessee-Chatanooga in December and January and then left for Thailand with the USO. While there, "they appointed me the coach at the University of Tennessee at Chatanooga. It was just a timing factor." Webster said Morrison turned down the offer because of his nhlioafinn fr? 1 JT.f^ "Prnm fhaf nnint on. F knew damn well Joe was going to make it big in college. The job at the University of Tennessee-Chatanooga came to Joe Morrison because of a recommendation by a good friend, Sam Huff. "1 know a winner when 1 see one," Huff said. BESIDES BEING a winner himself, "Coach Joe" has the ability to create winners wherever he goes. He turned the foot\ ( ball programs around at / I the University of " I Tpnnpscpp.rhatannncfl | | \/ J Within four years of takflfij Hm ing charge, both schools Mg li 9k had winning football mm M| seasons. But the quickest /8yvJ^)0^i^ | trans^ormal'on ^as oc_ ?J record equals Mor11| ljj| HM m rison's best season mark ||J^P |p| while at New Mexico in X/ I I Lobos did not see any * L 1 post-season action. Later this month, Morrison and his Gamecocks arc going to the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla. to face the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Morrison said he was excited. "It's going to be my first experience going to a bowl game.*' The fact that he has been as successful a coach as he was a player has not surprised anyone that he played with. "I FOR one, fell that he would always be an outstanding coach," Tittle said. "He was destined to be a coach from the very first day he started professional football. He had a good knowledge of the game and always wanted to learn more.'' But what's the cause of him being a successful coach? Attitude. "In coaching you have to have a positive attitude. You've got to have the ability to make people believe," Robustelli said. "But first you've got to be believable. As a person you need to be consistent. "JOE IS a believable guy and that has to translate to his players and that's fifty percent of the battle. "When you yourself can be believable and honest and peo pic sec you as you arc, in all kinds of situations, they have a confidence," he said. Making the game fun. "The one ingrediant he has that makes him a little different than other football coaches, probably," said Tittle, "is because he always made football fun. "JOK RKALLY loved the game of football. 1 would guess he makes the game an awful lot of fun for his players." Communicator. "As far as his leadership is concerned, he has a great ability to communicate with people," Tittle added. Stroud added, "Joe's smart enough to give a guy a pat on the back when he needs it and a kick in the rear when he needs it and that's important." "HE CERTAINLY understands the football players," Stroud said. "When he talks to a kid and says something, he means it," Frederickson said. "Some coaches, will say something to get something or get the kid to come to the school. And as soon as he signs up, it doesn't really means that much any more. "I think Joe cares about people and says something and means it," he said. "HE'S VERY straightforward,"said Gifford. "He doesn't waste any words, he means everyone of them he says. He's no bull-shitter." Rather a quiet individual, Morrison coaches in the same quiet style. Gifford added, "He's very unusual for a successful college coach, 1 think, because most of them are real flamboyant, or vocal, or have some sort of weird characteristics. He doesn't." That quiet style does set him apart from other college coaches. Dressed in his black outfit, Morrison blends into the sidelines and is often viewed in a calm, almost unattached manner. "If you look at Joe Morrison on the sidelines," Robustelli said, "you don't see a frantic coach. You don't see a coach involved in anything because the work has been done in advance." ORGANIZATION. "He has a good sense of organization, he has a good sense of communication; of teaching," said Sherman. "You could tell a well-coached team by the way they play, they play with ? am in." nj. And Morrison's teams play with authority. Robustelli said, "When you look at him, you believe thai what he's doing is right. If it doesn't work and everybody gives it the best effort, then you just weren't good enough. "YOU KNOW that when you put him in there, unless th< odds are so over balanced against him, you know he is goinj ?.'i f .i * <'<'}* /\| ivj'j/yj'i it' \f *(i i ?they knew him when? "He's one of the great players. He knew how _ l&Bk to play the game, he lik- x JBZZl "Joey was a consisf tant' met^?^ca'' smart iwS^' ?V ^a" P'aYer and he put his nose to the grind dent of the game. Joe - Tucker Frederickson to be successful," he said. Morrison's teammates could see aspects of the three coaches hp r>iav^H nnrirr while with the Giants. "He must have learned a lot up there," with the Giants said Lynch, he played under three different types of coaches. "Jim Lee Howell's style was to let the assistants do the work, and I think Joe sort of follows that. "JOE WAS bright on offense," Lynch said. "He knew what would work and 1 think he learned that from both Alex and Allie. I think he learned a lot from watching Alex." With a laugh, Frederickson said Morrison should show a lit ' -- ? ? u. ? r^niinac 1 Tr?l 1 him tn tt:iri i'n:ii'hinp lie more cmouun uu mt i*,.. ...... 0 instead of just standing on the sidelines." As for his own thoughts about his coaching talents, "Coach Joe" said that he didn't think he follows any one coach. "1 think you've got to be yourself." "I think Jim Lee Howell was an organizational-minded individual. 1 think Allie Sherman had a great football mind ? the Xs and Os." ALEX WEBSTER'S relationship with the staff and players Wct> dl^U 1 I I I I Ullll ISJ 1VIUI 1 As for the success of this year's team, in the visual Morrison style, he spread the credit around to the players and staff for the way they handled their new-found fame. Morrison said the credit goes 4,to our young men. They i handled the tension and pressure they had through the football season very, very well. t "I think the belief and the confidence that they started to ! develop during the course of the season last year" is a reason for the success this year, Morrison said. 4'All of them have worked very hard to accomplish what s they have accomplished." I A class guy. A winner. Joe Morrison. ftjj i t??11>,,?>i ;v.? j>> . > .?. ,?_v> / < hnu <4 .,?