He taught ‘game of life’ to over 500 Columbus boys. World Series winning coach is retiring
In two decades of coaching, he has won more than 400 games, including 11 state titles. Two of his teams have played in the Little League World Series, and one brought the 2006 championship home to Columbus.
But the number that most impresses folks who know what matters most to Northern Little League All-Stars manager Randy Morris is 550 — how many players he has coached.
And that’s how many boys he considers to be his sons, former Northern president Will Thompson told the crowd attending Morris’ retirement ceremony Wednesday night. Northern conducted the ceremony before its final regular-season game.
“It’s really not teaching the game of baseball,” Thompson said. “It’s teaching the game of life.”
Life has caught up with Morris. He told the Ledger-Enquirer he still will run his four Little Debbie distributorships, but he is retiring from coaching to watch his grandson play T-ball in Harris County.
Morris’ pitching coach since 2008, Donnie Coulter, also was honored. Coulter plans to retire from coaching after this season, his 41st in youth baseball.
Morris and Coulter left open the possibility they could lead the all-star team one last time this summer.
“I don’t know about all-stars yet,” Morris told the L-E. “… But no matter what, this is our last go-around, whenever it does end.”
‘Randy Morris Day’
During the ceremony, District 6 Columbus Councilor Gary Allen, the mayor pro tem, recalled the classy way Morris’ players conducted themselves at the World Series.
“They represented Columbus well,” he said.
Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson, before he read a proclamation declaring it “Randy Morris Day” in the city, asserted, “Even had y’all not gone to the World Series, you still would have left an incredible mark in the 20 years of pouring into young people, and I swear to you there’s no better calling.”
Morris told the crowd, “I’ll try to make it through this.”
Then he started choking up.
Morris thanked his family and all the others who have supported him.
“Randy Morris couldn’t be standing here without so many of you people out there,” he said. “… I’ve had so many great players and great parents that have meant so much to me through the years.”
He also thanked the coaches who helped lead his teams, including Coulter and Richard Carter. Morris called Coulter the best pitching coach he has seen.
“He’s meant so much to every team we’ve ever had,” Morris said.
‘Kept us on the right path’
After the ceremony, Morris reflected on influencing players.
“If we had some kind of positive impact on their life, then I feel like our job’s done,” he said. “I mean, that’s the No. 1 goal: Not only make them a better player but a better person.”
Morris described his coaching philosophy this way: “It’s just hard work, believing in the kids, staying positive, and you’ve got to make it a little fun too. You can’t browbeat them all the time.”
Just ask Brady Hamilton, who played on Northern’s 2006 world championship team. Despite still recovering from a broken neck suffered in a car wreck last year, he drove to the retirement ceremony from Atlanta, where he lives with his wife and 10-month-old son and worked in construction until the accident.
“He kept us on the right path,” Hamilton told the L-E. “He kept us away from trouble by keeping us on the field and practicing every day, talking to us, telling us stories about his past. I’ve heard a lot of stories from that man. He’s just been a great person to me and all my buddies growing up.”
Hamilton summarized the life lessons he learned from Morris: “How to be a man. Take responsibility for your own actions and don’t blame anybody else.”
If a player made a bad decision, Hamilton recalled, Morris often would chew him out but also show compassion.
“He’d get on to you, but then he’d sit you down and say, ‘Look, I’m not mad at you, but you just need to do this or that,’” Hamilton said. “There was a lot of pain, sweat and tears on this field, but it was a fun ride.”
This story was originally published April 29, 2021 at 4:23 PM.
