By RICHIE HALL
Reporter Sports Editor
It’s clear that with the hiring of Adam Morris as Hamilton Southeastern High School’s new head football coach, both the Royals and Morris got what they wanted.
Southeastern has itself an enthusiastic young man with a track record of success – both as a football player and a coach. And Morris has a place for he and his family to grow. Morris was officially hired by the Hamilton Southeastern school board at its first meeting of the year Wednesday evening.
“I have moved around a bunch prior to this, but it was all with the hope that it would put me in a position to end up at a place like this,” said Morris. “And I’m here with my wife and daughter now and we can make that happen.”
Southeastern athletic director Jim Self introduced Morris to the school board at the Wednesday meeting.
“I was with Adam today as we introduced him to our team, and it was about 10, 12 minutes that he spent with them,” Self told the board. “And I can assure you, we have found the right person to lead Hamilton Southeastern.”
The feeling was mutual, as Morris said that Southeastern has all the things a coach is looking for from a competitive standpoint.
“A great administration, great facilities, (Class) 6A, Hoosier Crossroads Conference,” said Morris. “And it also has the tradition for you to lean on as a new coach coming in.”
This will be Morris’ second job as a high school head football coach. Morris coached at Muncie Central during the 2015 and 2016 seasons. Morris led the Bearcats to a 6-4 record in his first year, then a 7-4 mark in his second year, including a post-season win, the first for Muncie Central in 10 years.
“I’ve been very fortunate to be around good people,” said Morris. “I think that’s what more important, necessarily, than the success that I’ve been a part of or the wins that I’ve been with at all levels, whether as a player in high school, a player in college or as an assistant or head coach since I’ve started my coaching career. I’ve been around really good people.”
This past fall, Morris was an assistant football coach at Noblesville. That served as his introduction to football in the Hoosier Crossroads Conference. The HCC features some tradition-laden programs: HSE, Noblesville, Fishers, Avon, Brownsburg, Westfield, Zionsville, and Franklin Central beginning next season.
“At the high school level, you’re not going to find a league that has better coaches or better programs,” said Morris. “I think that’s the thing that stands out to me when you look at this league is, every aspect of every program is top notch, whether it’s the youth league, the weight room, the Friday night adjustment. Every aspect of building a program is top notch.”
At age 27, Morris will be one of the younger head football coaches in the area. In fact, he’s not that far removed from his own playing days, at Ball State University and at Dublin (Ohio) Scioto High School.
“I definitely think the most important thing that any coach or teacher, educator can do is have a strong rapport with kids,” said Morris. “So I definitely think that my youth definitely allows me to do that.”
Morris will begin working at HSE next week. He will teach Physical Education and Health at the high school. And of course, he met with his new team on Wednesday.
“I’m really excited,” said Morris. “I think they’re anxious, as any high school kid would be as they’re meeting their new coach. I think I’m just excited. I think they’re excited just to get started. It’s probably been tough for them to go through the process, maybe as tough as it’s been for me. I’m sure they’re just anxious to get going.”
Adam Morris was officially hired as the new Hamilton Southeastern High School head football coach Wednesday at the HSE school board meeting. This is Morris’ second job as a high school head football coach; he previously coached at Muncie Central for two seasons. (Richie Hall)