- Sep 8, 2014
- 25,449
- 59,472
This is great. I graduated HS in 1988....and other than Emmitt, UF football wasn't much fun to watch. Kyle looks rough for a guy about my age!!
http://floridagators.com/news/2017/8/31/chris-harry-catching-up-with-kyle-morris.aspx
CATCHING UP WITH ... KYLE MORRIS
Feleipe Franks is set to become the first freshman to start a season opener since this kid from Mississippi did so in 1988.
By Chris Harry, Senior Writer | Friday, September 1, 2017
* One in an occasional series profiling former Florida student-athletes.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A couple hours after Florida coach Jim McElwain announced Wednesday that redshirt freshman Feleipe Franks would be the starting quarterback when the No. 17 Gators face No. 11 Michigan in Saturday's 2017 season opener in Arlington, Texas, we at FloridaGators.com tweeted out that Franks would be the first redshirt freshman to start an opener since Kerwin Bell in 1984.
Wasn't long before that tweet was countered by this one.
Follow
Kyle Morris @kmorris7300
Except for 1988. #GoGators https://twitter.com/GatorsFB/status/903036563944337409 …
11:21 PM - Aug 30, 2017
"Me and my wife were at dinner when that popped up," Morris said. "I looked at it and said, 'Hold on! That's not right.' "
Consider this an apology.
Kyle Morris in 1989
It's a pretty well-timed one, also, with it being the debut of a series intended to update Florida fans on the whereabouts of some of the athletes they cheered in years past.
Indeed, Kyle Morris was a redshirt freshman when he set up under center on Sept. 3, 1988 when UF destroyed Montana State 69-0 at Florida Field. Morris went nine of 18 for 213 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions that day and helped the Gators open the season 5-0 before suffering a broken finger — the same day tailback Emmitt Smith went down with a knee injury — in a horrific 17-10 home loss to Memphis that started a three-game losing streak. Herbert Perry replaced Morris and the two took turns the rest of the season, as Florida finished 7-5.
Morris was the starting QB in 1989 as well before being suspended along with a handful of other players for betting on college football games. He won the starting job in the spring of 1990 under new coach Steve Spurrier, but a poor spring game reopened the competition. Of course, Shane Matthews eventually beat out Morris, Lex Smith, Brian Fox and Donald Douglas and went on to win the 1990 and '91 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and shatter every UF passing mark.
In 1991, Morris transferred to Division II Mississippi College in his hometown.
"No, I'm not bitter at all. Things happen. And I made some mistakes," said Morris, now 48. "My name came up in some things that were negative, but I still love the Gators. My dream growing up was to go to the University of Florida. So I not only got to be a Gator, I got to run through that tunnel, be the starting quarterback, hand the ball to Emmitt Smith and win some big games."
Kyle Morris (left) with sons Kade (middle) and Brock (right).
THE KYLE MORRIS FILE
UF YEARS: 1987-90
POSITION: Quarterback
HOMETOWN: Clinton, Miss.
UF CAREER: A hotshot football and baseball prospect at Clinton High, Morris chose the Gators over Mississippi State. UF was his dream school, with his father having grown up in Panama City, Fla., as a big-time UF fan. Morris believed he'd come to Florida, redshirt as a freshman while learning from Bell, then a senior, and then step into the QB spot for four years. He was on that track when he started the '88 opener, but injuries and a run of ineffective offensive coordinators (do the names Whitey Jordan and Lynn Amadee ring a bell?), an NCAA investigation and that gambling controversy combined to derail Morris' development. Enter Spurrier. And Matthews. When his UF career was done, Morris had started 12 games (six each in '88 and '89) and completed 158 of 318 passes (49.7 percent) for 2,436 yards, 12 touchdowns and 19 interceptions.
SINCE: In his final season of college eligibility, Morris helped lead Mississippi College to the D-II playoffs before losing to eventual national champion Jacksonville (Ala.) State. After graduating, he settled in Madison, Miss., became vice president of sales and marketing for Cal-Maine Foods, a national chain that supplied eggs to grocers across the country. Five years ago, Morris got out of the egg business and bought Live Oaks Golf Club in Jackson, Miss., the very same golf course he grew up playing. "Some days I pick up range balls, other days I work the cash register," Morris said. "I show up and do what needs to be done." Away from the course, Morris enjoys spending time with his two sons, Brock (15) and Kade (13).
IN HIS WORDS: On the famous quarterback battle of 1990: "Spurrier was so different than an other coach at that time. We were still in the day that if you were the starting quarterback then you were the starting quarterback. Nobody really benched guys unless they got hurt. Shane and I, to this day, are great friends. It was a battle and I was the best of them all for 20 days during spring practice, but Shane had a really good spring game and I threw some interceptions. After that, Coach said, 'OK, we're gonna battle this out in the fall.' Shane spent so much time in the coaches offices, watching film and building relationships, things he knew how to do because his father was a coach and grew up in that environment. I still remember when Coach Spurrier took Shane and me to the Jacksonville Gator Club, told us to stand up and then told the crowd, 'I don't know who's going to start for us, but whoever does is going to be MVP of the SEC.' He was right. To this day, I'm truly happy for Shane. He worked hard and deserved it."
http://floridagators.com/news/2017/8/31/chris-harry-catching-up-with-kyle-morris.aspx
CATCHING UP WITH ... KYLE MORRIS
Feleipe Franks is set to become the first freshman to start a season opener since this kid from Mississippi did so in 1988.
By Chris Harry, Senior Writer | Friday, September 1, 2017
* One in an occasional series profiling former Florida student-athletes.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A couple hours after Florida coach Jim McElwain announced Wednesday that redshirt freshman Feleipe Franks would be the starting quarterback when the No. 17 Gators face No. 11 Michigan in Saturday's 2017 season opener in Arlington, Texas, we at FloridaGators.com tweeted out that Franks would be the first redshirt freshman to start an opener since Kerwin Bell in 1984.
Wasn't long before that tweet was countered by this one.
Follow
Kyle Morris @kmorris7300Except for 1988. #GoGators https://twitter.com/GatorsFB/status/903036563944337409 …
11:21 PM - Aug 30, 2017
"Me and my wife were at dinner when that popped up," Morris said. "I looked at it and said, 'Hold on! That's not right.' "
Consider this an apology.
Kyle Morris in 1989
It's a pretty well-timed one, also, with it being the debut of a series intended to update Florida fans on the whereabouts of some of the athletes they cheered in years past.
Indeed, Kyle Morris was a redshirt freshman when he set up under center on Sept. 3, 1988 when UF destroyed Montana State 69-0 at Florida Field. Morris went nine of 18 for 213 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions that day and helped the Gators open the season 5-0 before suffering a broken finger — the same day tailback Emmitt Smith went down with a knee injury — in a horrific 17-10 home loss to Memphis that started a three-game losing streak. Herbert Perry replaced Morris and the two took turns the rest of the season, as Florida finished 7-5.
Morris was the starting QB in 1989 as well before being suspended along with a handful of other players for betting on college football games. He won the starting job in the spring of 1990 under new coach Steve Spurrier, but a poor spring game reopened the competition. Of course, Shane Matthews eventually beat out Morris, Lex Smith, Brian Fox and Donald Douglas and went on to win the 1990 and '91 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and shatter every UF passing mark.
In 1991, Morris transferred to Division II Mississippi College in his hometown.
"No, I'm not bitter at all. Things happen. And I made some mistakes," said Morris, now 48. "My name came up in some things that were negative, but I still love the Gators. My dream growing up was to go to the University of Florida. So I not only got to be a Gator, I got to run through that tunnel, be the starting quarterback, hand the ball to Emmitt Smith and win some big games."
Kyle Morris (left) with sons Kade (middle) and Brock (right).
THE KYLE MORRIS FILE
UF YEARS: 1987-90
POSITION: Quarterback
HOMETOWN: Clinton, Miss.
UF CAREER: A hotshot football and baseball prospect at Clinton High, Morris chose the Gators over Mississippi State. UF was his dream school, with his father having grown up in Panama City, Fla., as a big-time UF fan. Morris believed he'd come to Florida, redshirt as a freshman while learning from Bell, then a senior, and then step into the QB spot for four years. He was on that track when he started the '88 opener, but injuries and a run of ineffective offensive coordinators (do the names Whitey Jordan and Lynn Amadee ring a bell?), an NCAA investigation and that gambling controversy combined to derail Morris' development. Enter Spurrier. And Matthews. When his UF career was done, Morris had started 12 games (six each in '88 and '89) and completed 158 of 318 passes (49.7 percent) for 2,436 yards, 12 touchdowns and 19 interceptions.
SINCE: In his final season of college eligibility, Morris helped lead Mississippi College to the D-II playoffs before losing to eventual national champion Jacksonville (Ala.) State. After graduating, he settled in Madison, Miss., became vice president of sales and marketing for Cal-Maine Foods, a national chain that supplied eggs to grocers across the country. Five years ago, Morris got out of the egg business and bought Live Oaks Golf Club in Jackson, Miss., the very same golf course he grew up playing. "Some days I pick up range balls, other days I work the cash register," Morris said. "I show up and do what needs to be done." Away from the course, Morris enjoys spending time with his two sons, Brock (15) and Kade (13).
IN HIS WORDS: On the famous quarterback battle of 1990: "Spurrier was so different than an other coach at that time. We were still in the day that if you were the starting quarterback then you were the starting quarterback. Nobody really benched guys unless they got hurt. Shane and I, to this day, are great friends. It was a battle and I was the best of them all for 20 days during spring practice, but Shane had a really good spring game and I threw some interceptions. After that, Coach said, 'OK, we're gonna battle this out in the fall.' Shane spent so much time in the coaches offices, watching film and building relationships, things he knew how to do because his father was a coach and grew up in that environment. I still remember when Coach Spurrier took Shane and me to the Jacksonville Gator Club, told us to stand up and then told the crowd, 'I don't know who's going to start for us, but whoever does is going to be MVP of the SEC.' He was right. To this day, I'm truly happy for Shane. He worked hard and deserved it."
