Morrison, Ray (Jesse Ray)
Football
b. Feb. 28, 1885, Switzerland County, IN
d. Nov. 19, 1982
The coach who created college football's first "aerial circus" at Southern Methodist University, Morrison played football at Vanderbilt from 1908 through 1911, then became a high school math teacher and coach.
When SMU opened in 1915, Morrison was the school's first football coach. His first stint wasn't successful. SMU won just 2 games while losing 13 and tying 2. After serving in the Army and filling in at Vanderbilt in 1918, Morrison returned to SMU as freshman coach in 1920 and became varsity coach again in 1922.
After a 6-3-1 record in his first season, SMU won all 9 of its games in 1923, outscoring the opposition 207 to 9. His 1926 team was also undefeated, winning 8 and tying 1, and his 1929 team won only 6 games but tied 4 without losing.
SMU astounded the East on October 6, 1928, by completing 16 of 30 passes in a 14-13 loss to Army. Army attempted only 4. On the last play of the game, SMU's Redman Hume threw a completion to a wide open Sammy Reed, but Reed fell down and didn't score. Despite the loss, Morrison's team had demonstrated that the pass could be an effective offensive weapon rather than a desperate tactic.
Morrison left SMU for Vanderbilt in 1935. He had three winning seasons in his first four years, but resigned after a 2-7-1 record in 1939 and went to Temple, where he had just one winning season in five. Morrison finished his coaching career at Austin College from 1946 through 1950. His overall record was 143-108-27.