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For UNT coach Eric Morris, facing alma mater Texas Tech football can't be centered on him
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- For UNT coach Eric Morris, facing alma mater Texas Tech football can't be centered on him
It's a little bit of déjà vu for the Texas Tech football coaching staff to start the 2024 season.
The first two games of the campaign have seen Joey McGuire and staff going against former Red Raiders , colleagues and close friends. That will once again be the case on Saturday when North Texas pays a visit to Jones AT&T Stadium.
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The Mean Green are led by head coach Eric Morris, a former player under the late Mike Leach who later served as offensive coordinator during Kliff Kingsbury's tenure heading the Red Raiders.
Morris said Monday he gets back to his native Shallowater plenty, but hasn't had much chance to get to Lubbock since leaving in 2018 to become the head coach at Incarnate Word. A return to Washington State before heading off to Denton later, Morris is ready to make his return to the Hub City.
"Excited to get back and see everything that they've built there," Morris said. "Seen some of the pictures online, some of the videos and being my alma mater, super proud of the growth that they've made there."
New North Texas Mean Green head coach Eric Morris reacts on the sidelines during a game against the Boise State Broncos at Toyota Stadium.
Morris spent five seasons as Texas Tech 's OC. During that time he got to know many of Tech's current coaches. Zach Kittley served as a graduate assistant under Morris and McGuire said that the UNT coach was more than accomodating to him and his family while he was still a high school coach.
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"Eric Morris is one of my favorite people in the world," McGuire said. "He's a very good friend. I'll never forget when I moved my daughter in to school out here, it was during camp so I came and watched some practice and afterwards I came in, Kliff and Eric were in there and I said, 'Hey, look. Just dropped my baby girl off. Could you all take care of her if anything. ...' Eric said, 'Here's my number.'
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Morris held true to his word. As McGuire recalls, his daughter, Raegan, got into a fender-bender while attending the university. McGuire called Morris to ask for him to send a graduate assistant to help out. Morris went to Raegan instead, helping her get her car to the body shop and making sure everything was OK.
"That's just the kind of guy he is," McGuire said.
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Morris became even more helpful this past offseason when McGuire was looking for a new offensive line coach. As he zeroed in on Clay McGuire for the role, he called Morris for his input. Morris had worked with Clay at Washington State.
Familial connections will be apparent on Saturday. Aside from Morris, the Mean Green — much like Abilene Christian two weeks ago — feature former Red Raiders and Lubbock-area natives as well. Coronado alum Blair Conwright transferred to UNT from TCU prior to the 2023 season. Starting offensive linemen Landon Peterson and Larry Moore III are former Red Raiders, Peterson having spent five years at Tech with nine starts and 35 games played to his credit.
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Morris reflected fondly of his connections with the Tech staff and his time as a Red Raider, but isn't willing to make the game about himself.
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"There's going to try to be a story that it has something to do with me, when in reality it doesn't," Morris said. "This has everything to do with North Texas and our team here. The culture we built. The attitude, the effort that we're playing with right now.
"We've got to continue to get a week better and not let this stage be too big for us. Go out there and just execute at a high level."
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Déjà Vu as Texas Tech football hosts Red Raider Eric Morris' UNT squad
