Arab morns the passing of former football and baseball coach Bill Morgan
Arab, AL – Former players, fans and alumni of Arab High School are morning the passing of longtime Knights football and baseball coach Bill Morgan. The Hall of Fame coach passed away Sunday in Arab.
Before entering the coaching ranks, Morgan was a four-year letterman in football, baseball and basketball at both Mortimer Jordan and West Jefferson High Schools. After graduating from West Jefferson High he served in the United States Air Force during the Korean Conflict before retiring to the gridiron at the University of Memphis, Holmes Junior College and Louisiana College. During his senior year at Louisiana College, the Kimberly, AL native, helped lead the Wildcats to their first and only bowl game in school history.
Morgan began his coaching career as an assistant at Louisiana’s Leesville High School before returning to Alabama to become the head football, baseball and basketball coach at Kennedy High School in Lamar County. While at Kennedy, Morgan lead the basketball squad to a 27-5 record and notched county championships on the hardwood and the baseball diamond. He was named the head coach of the Alabama East-West baseball all-star game in his final season in Lamar County.
In 1964 he moved on to accept the head football, baseball and basketball coaching positions at St. Clair County’s Ragland High School. During his tenure with the Purple Devils his teams claimed district and county championships and made a trip to the state basketball Elite Eight in his first season.
After a pair of seasons in east Alabama he began his first stint at Arab, joining legendary Arabian Knights head football coach Buster Gross as defensive coordinator. In 1970 he was tapped to reinstitute the dormant Knights baseball program.
Following eight years on Brindlee Mountain, Morgan followed Gross to Gadsden powerhouse Emma Samson High School where he again served as defensive coordinator and the Rebels head baseball coach. In addition to success on the gridiron and the baseball diamond, Morgan was named finalist for Alabama Teacher of the Year during his tenure at ESHS.
He returned for his second stint at Arab in 1977 again serving as the Knights defensive coordinator and head baseball coach. From 1978 to 1984 Morgan’s baseball teams claimed six Marshall County championships. He was named head coach of the North-South all-star team in 1984 leading the north squad to a win over the south for the first time ever.
Morgan was inducted into the Marshall County Sports Hall of Fame in 2008 and was named county baseball coach of the year a record six times. His coaching career includes a 140-48 record on the basketball court and 11 county baseball championships in addition to directing a number of stifling defenses on the gridiron.
Following his retirement from Arab High School in 1993, he continued to volunteer with the successful Arabian Knight baseball program and managed the 500 member City of Arab Little League Baseball program.
