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Ray Morrison

Coach

Inducted 1954

Date of Birth

2/28/1885

Birthplace

Sugar Branch, IN

Schools

Southern Methodist University (1915-1916)

Austin College (1949-1951)

Temple University (1940-1948)

Vanderbilt University (1935-1939)

Southern Methodist University (1922-1934)

Vanderbilt University (1918-1918)

Bio

Ray Morrison was a leader, a characteristic which was apparent from the very first days of his collegiate career. As an All-Southern Conference quarterback at Vanderbilt (1908-1911), Morrison helped Vandy log a 30-6-2 record. He was head coach at Southern Methodist (1915-1916, 1922-1934), Vanderbilt (1918, 1935-1939), Temple (1940-1948) and Austin (1949-1951). Morrison's coaching star reached its zenith in the mid-1920s at SMU, as his 1923 Mustangs finished 9-0-0 and his 1926 edition finished at 8-0-1. His best Temple teams went 7-2 in 1941 and 7-1 in 1945. At Southern Methodist 1922-1934, he had a record of 82-31-20 and was known as the author of the "aerial circus." His teams broke tradition by using the forward pass on any down and from any field position. As a player, he was named quarterback on the all-time Southeastern area team for the pre-1920 period. As a coach, he was elected president of the American Football Coaches Association and served on the rules committee. After his coaching career ended, he served 11 years as Southern Methodist Vice-President for Development.