Coach Ryne Morrison: 'Unsung Hero'

Coach Ryne Morrison: 'Unsung Hero'

After battling cancer in 2020, the wide receiver's coach still made an impact in Prep football's latest state championship.

By Alex Currie '21

In March 2020, Prep football coach Ryne Morrison felt uncertainty. The NBA had just shut down, COVID- 19 was beginning to disrupt life as we knew it, and the wide receiver's coach didn't know what his future might hold. Life for Coach Morrison seemed to come to a standstill. His uncertainty, however, was not only driven by the threat of coronavirus like that of many Americans at the time.

Rather, he had just heard the words no one ever wants to hear: "You have cancer."

Lifetimes before Coach Morrison found himself in that life-changing situation, he was a sports enthusiast growing up in Southern California outside of Los Angeles. Despite a love of both basketball and baseball, Morrison found his passion playing football. A consummate "coach's son," football was in his DNA. He remarked, "I was born in August so my first football game I was less than a month old."

Coach Morrison embraces Malik Cooper '21 after Prep football's 2019 state championship victory over Central Dauphin.

Morrison "always watched the game differently" and found a knack for, and a way to get on the field at, wide receiver.

"I love the skill behind the position," he said. "There's something about playing receiver, being able to run through traffic and get behind the defense."

When Morrison didn't get the ball, he was willing to throw a block if it meant it would help the team. He took this selfless teamsmanship to Division I Colgate University in Hamilton, New York where he played wide receiver, returner, and received snaps on special teams—anywhere he felt he could make a difference.

After graduation from Colgate with a degree in mathematics, he moved back to California to figure out his next steps. He decided to return to the East Coast to be closer to friends and opportunities, but even after finding a finance job in Philadelphia, something was missing in Morrison's life.

"It was the first time in my life that I didn't have football, that I wasn't part of a team that season. And something just didn't feel right. That football season I was miserable. I was trying to figure out ways to stay involved or get back in."

Morrison's opportunity came when his father, who was a high school football coach in California, became acquainted with former Prep football Coach Gabe Infante, who saw the potential in him and who Morrison saw as a perfect fit for his yearning to coach.

"He reminded me a lot of the values I was brought up on and what I believed in... the values and principles that Coach Infante really believed in and held true as core values of the program aligned with what I believed in and what my dad raised me on."

He began coaching at the Prep the 2016 season and instantly fell in love.

"It just wasn't enough for me. I wanted more out of my experience. The Prep really felt like home to me." So when a job in the finance office became available, he applied and received the job, enabling him to spend more time on the Prep's campus.

* * *

When life was turned upside down for virtually everyone in early 2020, Ryne Morrison had to contend with an extra battle. His Hodgkin's lymphoma diagnosis in March led to treatment that extended throughout the summer. The chemotherapy treatments—that ended in early September—took a physical toll, but was also emotionally and spiritually exacerbated by the circumstances of the past year.

"It was, to an extent, a little bit of a lonely summer for me because I wasn't able to be around the Prep, my family's on the West Coast, and then football- wise I wasn't able to be around anybody. That part of it was tough, and then obviously the physical toll that it took was not easy."

His diagnosis added to the pressure of the year, "Everybody going through quarantine and having this virus going around, I had to really make sure I protected myself from everything because my immune system was in such a weakened state from the chemotherapy."

But the Prep was there to support him.

"I'm very fortunate to have the people in my corner that I did that when there were those hard days that I had something to look forward to, something to get back to, and people to lean on for support ... I consider myself—it sounds kind of counterintuitive—but very lucky to be in the position I was, all things considered."

Ryne Morrison with his mother after finishing his last chemotherapy treatment.

Morrison was evidently able to keep his perspective even in the worst of times. "I give a lot of thanks to God for giving me the tools necessary to be able to fight through it and never have any doubt that I would come out on the other side better for it ... I really do believe there is a reason God put me in Philly, and I think this year really showed that."

Resoundingly admired and universally appreciated, Morrison's players offered nothing but effusive praise.

Wide receiver Marvin Harrison '21 said, "Coach Morrison is a very hard working man. He has definitely helped me get to where I am today not only as a player but as a person as well. I remember the day he called me and told me the news and how he was going to fight his battle with cancer. I didn't have any doubts in him."

Coach Morrison working with wide receiver Marvin Harrison '21 at practice.

He added, "He is definitely a special person to me, I couldn't thank him enough for all that he has done for me and my teammates. He's truly inspiring and I am very thankful that I was able to be coached by him."

Quarterback Kyle McCord '21 added to the enthusiastic endorsements, "The past 4 years working with Coach Morrison have been life changing. He's been a great influence on me and has really brought my game to the next level. He has a great football mind. And then to see what he did this year, beating cancer in the middle of a pandemic, was really motivating to the team. He is the true definition of a fighter."

The most recent state championship won by Prep football this past November undoubtedly carried more meaning for Ryne Morrison. Culminating an obstacle-filled year, he was able to watch his first freshman class as a full-time Prep employee finish their career with a championship. And thanks to his tenacity in his battle, he was able to be there on the sidelines.

Coach Roken said of his colleague, "Since his arrival in 2016, Coach Morrison has shown his passion for this great game in his coaching but more importantly his drive in developing hard working young men both on and off the field."

He continued, "In March of 2020, when many would crumble at the sound of a doctor explaining that the young men he cares for, the game he appreciates and his very own life itself was then at risk of being taken away from him, Coach Morrison didn't flinch. He understood it was not going to be an easy road but accepting defeat is not what he believes."

This year's team would've been missing a key part of their coaching staff without Ryne Morrison. His team- first approach, resilience, and values based philosophy has made him an important part of all teams he's been a part of. In fact, in his junior season at Colgate, Morrison won the team's Unsung Hero Award.

Coach Morrison humbly summed up the award as simply a culmination of a season of hard work, saying, "Whatever my role was I tried to take great pride in it." This year, it seems clear Ryne Morrison's humility in accepting his fight and returning to his team has made him Prep football's unsung hero.