Assistant Coach Morris Watts<BR><font size=4>Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks</font>
 | PERSONAL |
| Born: January 26, 1938 Birthplace: Seneca, MO Married: former Marlene Kay Hughes Children: daughter, Charlavan; son, Danny College: Tulsa, 1961 |
| PLAYING CAREER | * Played five seasons (1956-60) at Tulsa * Was a running back |
| COACHING CAREER | * 1965-71: Offensive Coordinator, Drake University * 1972: Offensive Coordinator, University of Louisville * 1973-81: Quarterbacks/Wide Receivers, Indiana University * 1982: Offensive Coord./Quarterbacks Coach, University of Kansas * 1983: Quarterbacks Coach, Louisiana State University * 1984-85: Quarterbacks Coach, Birmingham Stallions [USFL] * 1986-90: Offensive Coord./Quarterbacks Coach, Michigan State University * 1991: Quarterbacks Coach, Tampa Bay Buccaneers [NFL] * 1992-94: Asst. Head Coach/Offensive Coord., Michigan State University * 1995-98: Offensive Coordinator, Louisiana State University * 1999-02: Offensive Coordinator, Michigan State University * 2003-present: Offensive Coord./Quarterbacks Coach, Mississippi State University |
| NOTABLE | Nominee for the 2001 Broyles Award, given annually to the nation's top assistant coach...Led Michigan State to the Big Ten total and passing offense titles that season...Led LSU to back-to-back SEC rushing titles in 1996-97...Tutored Vinny Testaverde in his one season in Tampa Bay. |
Veteran offensive mind Morris Watts enters his first season at Mississippi State, joining Jackie Sherrill's staff as offensive coordinator. Watts comes to MSU from Michigan State University, where he served as offensive coordinator for the past four seasons. He was the Spartans' interim head coach for the final three games of the 2002 season.
During this past football season, Michigan State averaged over 28 points per game and was a balanced offensive unit (384 rushes, 345 passes). Under Watts' direction, Spartan wide receiver Charles Rogers earned all-America recognition. He caught a school-record 68 passes in '02 and was presented the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the nation's premier pass catcher. Watts also oversaw the development of Spartan quarterback Jeff Smoker, who will enter his senior season in '03 with 40 career touchdown passes.
In 2001, Watts was nominated for the Broyles Award, given annually to the nation's top assistant coach. Michigan State led the Big Ten in passing offense (a school-record 292.5 yards per game) and total offense (447 yards per game), and was third in scoring offense (31.2 points per game) that year. That total offense mark was the second-best average in school history. Not only did Smoker throw for 2,579 yards, complete 63 percent of his passes and rank sixth nationally in pass efficiency, Spartan tailback T.J. Duckett rushed for 1,420 yards. That Spartan team finished the season with a 7-5 record, defeating Fresno State in the Silicon Valley Bowl, 44-35.
Under Watts' tutelage, Smoker became the first true freshman to start at quarterback at Michigan State since 1982 and Duckett eclipsed the 1,000-yard barrier for the first time in his career (1,353 yards) in 2000. Watts helped lead MSU to a 10-2 mark that year, a record that included a 37-34 win over Florida in Citrus Bowl.
In 1999, Watts' first year of his third stint in East Lansing, Michigan State gained an average of 368.2 yards per game in total offense and tallied 31.5 points per game.
Watts first went to Michigan State as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 1986. From '86 through '90, the Spartans compiled a 37-19-3 record, won two Big Ten titles and made four postseason bowl appearances.
His 1986 passing offense yardage total with Michigan State still ranks among the school's all-time best. The '87 Spartan squad were conference champions and beat Southern California 20-17 en route to a 9-2-1 overall mark. The following two seasons, Watts helped his team to a Gator Bowl postseason berth against Georgia and to a 33-13 victory over Hawaii in the Aloha Bowl. And in 1990, Michigan State was again Big Ten champions, posted an 8-3-1 mark, and beat Southern Cal in the John Hancock Bowl.
His tenure at Michigan State was interrupted by a one-year stay as quarterbacks coach of the National Football League's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he tutored Vinny Testaverde. Following that one year in the NFL, Watts was assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in East Lansing, Mich., from 1992-94. Watts' professional football experience also includes a stint as quarterbacks coach of the Birmingham Stallions of the USFL (1984-85),
Before his most recent stint at Michigan State, Watts spent four years at LSU, where he helped the Tigers to a combined 31-16 record from 1995-98, including a school-record three consecutive postseason bowl triumphs. Under his direction, the Tigers won back-to-back Southeastern Conference rushing titles (1996-97) and produced three of the highest-scoring teams in school history. The '95 LSU team beat Michigan State 45-26 in the Independence Bowl, the '96 squad capped a 10-2 season with a victory over Clemson in the Peach Bowl, and the '97 Tigers beat Notre Dame 27-9 in the Independence Bowl to culminate a nine-win campaign. He also worked with the quarterbacks in Baton Rouge in 1983.
Watts was offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Kansas in 1982, was quarterbacks and wide receivers coach at Indiana (1973-81), was offensive coordinator, quarterbacks and wide receivers coach at Louisville in 1972, and at Drake (1965-71). Watts helped Indiana to the 1979 Holiday Bowl, one of 11 postseason classics in which he has coached.
A 1961 graduate of the University of Tulsa, Watts played running back for the Golden Hurricane. He earned a master's degree from Pittsburg (Kan.) State in 1964.