After 25 years as its wrestling coach, Jim Morgan has resigned at Baylor.
Only four people knew back in early December as the season was cranking up what the legendary coach planned to do. One was his wife, Sis, and the others his assistant coaches, Schaack Van Deusen and Ben Nelson.
“He said down with Ben and me at the Knoxville Catholic tournament and told us what his intentions were,” said longtime Baylor assistant Schaack Van Deusen. “He didn’t want anyone to know because he didn’t want to affect the kids or their performance, and that’s just another reason why this season is so special.”
Baylor came from behind Saturday to win the Division II state championship in the next to last match of the tournament, and the Red Raiders had to overcome a determined effort by rival McCallie.
“Jim is an icon of the sport, that’s for sure,” McCallie coach Gordon Connell said. “As a young high school coach, I was always struck by Jim’s thoughtfulness, and I’m sure all people who have crossed his path have been similar recipients. He has such a caring nature and the kids love him, and I admire him for that. His wrestlers were more than athletes to him. He is a wonderful person but also a very competitive coach, and Baylor has been fortunate to have him.”
Morgan left the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 1985 after 16 years with the school and 15 of those as the Mocs’ wrestling coach. He left a legacy at Maclellan Gym and has now left a similar legacy at Baylor.
“If it weren’t for Coach Morgan I wouldn’t be where I am,” said Bradley Central athletic director and former Bears wrestling coach Turner Jackson. “He had the patience to stay with me when maybe I wasn’t doing the things I was supposed to do. He taught me more than wrestling.”
Jackson was a two-time national champion for Morgan and the Mocs but the national championships paled in Jackson’s memory when compared with Morgan’s peanut butter-and-jelly lifestyle.
“He’s a family guy, and I think that’s why all of these guys in the old-timer’s club still come around the program. He always made them feel like family,” Jackson said.
At Baylor, Morgan’s teams won five state duals championships and 9 traditional championships. He had produced 55 state champions — one for each year he’d been involved with the sport — until this past weekend when six more were added to the roll.
But he felt it was time.
“I’m 72 years old and I explained to the kids that I’m worn out,” said Morgan, who told the team only after all awards presentations had been concluded Saturday night. “When you come into the wrestling room you want to be pepped up and ready to go. But I have traveled so much over these past 55 years, and I think it’s time to be home a little bit. I still want, though, to be the best I can be every day.”
Said Baylor athletic director Thad Lepcio: “I couldn’t be happier for the way the tournament ended up for Jim’s sake. When you look back on his entire career he has to be considered one of the top coaches in Chattanooga and in the Southeast.”
Lepcio said, it is his actions as both teacher and coach that endeared him to Baylor students.
“He became one of those legendary teacher/coach figures that students will always remember. Those who wrestled and those who didn’t think the world of him,” Lepcio said. “I couldn’t ask for a better colleague, and I consider myself fortunate that he was the wrestling coach when I took over as athletic director.”
No one other than Sis Morgan knows the coach better than Van Deusen, who also coached with and for Major Luke Worsham, a legend at Baylor, in Chattanooga, in the state and in national wrestling circles.
“I got to stand on the shoulders of two giants and it has been an amazing ride. My relationship with Jim has been one of brothers. He has been my spiritual leader, and he was always so generous to allow me to do the things I do well,” Van Deusen said.
“Jim has always been a leader in the sense of integrity and family, and he has been amazing in creating a family environment at Baylor. This year was special because I knew what he was doing and why he didn’t want anyone to know until after the season. He is ego-less. He never wanted the focus on him, and even after it was over Saturday night he wanted to make sure the first people that knew were the kids.”