Jim Morris spent 41 years as a collegiate head coach, racking up over 1,700 career wins while setting multiple NCAA coaching records with the University of Miami and Georgia Tech. For his success, the 49-year Lifetime ABCA Member was honored with induction into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2020.
Morris was the head baseball coach at Miami from 1994-2018, where he led the Hurricanes to two national titles. Under Morris, the Hurricanes combined for a 1,090- 472-3 (.696) record, earning him National Coach of the Year honors three times and Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Coach of the Year honors in 2008.
Morris set an NCAA record by taking the Hurricanes to the College World Series in each of his first six seasons and his Hurricanes advanced to the College World Series a total of 13 times, the most appearances by any coach during that period.
In 2016, Morris reached the 1,500-win plateau, becoming only the sixth NCAA Div. I coach in history to do so. His career NCAA Div. I record finished at 1,590-715-4 (.689).
Prior to his successes at Miami, Morris spent 12 seasons (1982-93) as the head baseball coach at Georgia Tech, where he guided the program to new heights. His Yellow Jackets claimed four straight ACC championships from 1985-88 and set a school-record with 51 wins in 1987. Morris left Georgia Tech as the school’s all-time leader in coaching victories in any sport with a 500-243-1 (.672) mark. Combined with his final nine seasons at Georgia Tech, his teams qualified for 32-consecutive NCAA Regionals from 1985-2016.
Internationally, Morris served as head coach of the USA Baseball team that won a Silver Medal in the 1989 Presidential Cup (Taiwan), Bronze Medal at the Goodwill Games and the 1990 International Baseball Association (IBA) World All-Star Game in Atlanta. At the Goodwill Games, his USA squad won two of three games against Cuba, marking the first time in history a senior-level team won a series with Cuba. Morris also served as pitching coach under ABCA Hall of Fame coach Ron Fraser that led the U.S. team to a Silver Medal at the 1987 Pan American Games.
Morris began his coaching career as an assistant at Appalachian State University in 1975 and his first head coaching job came when he started the baseball program at Atlanta’s DeKalb Community College’s South Campus in 1976. Morris quickly found success, leading the Eagles to the Junior College World Series in 1977.
After four seasons at DeKalb, Morris joined the coaching staff at Florida State, serving as an assistant for two seasons under ABCA Hall of Fame head coach Mike Martin before departing for Georgia Tech.
Over the course of his illustrious career, Morris mentored over 150 professional players at Miami, Georgia Tech and DeKalb.
