It is somewhat of a homecoming for Morris who cut his teeth as a coach with Essendon in the early 1980s. He coached the Bombers’ reserves’ side to a Premiership in 1983 and was assistant coach to Kevin Sheedy in Essendon’s 1984 and 1985 Premiership wins. At other times in the past 20 years Morris has returned to Windy Hill in assistant coach, recruiting and chairman of selector roles.
“Working with young players is very exciting and I’m really looking forward to getting back into it. I’ve had a lot of success at Essendon and been a part of three day Premierships, four night Premierships and two reserves Premierships – it feels like a real homecoming in terms of my coaching,” Morris said today.
During his VFL career Morris played 100 games with Richmond between 1971 and 1976 before heading to Collingwood and playing 71 games between 1978 and 1981. He played a key role in Richmond’s Premiership victories of 1973 and 1974 when he played alongside Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy. At Collingwood he played in losing Grand Final sides in 1979 and 1980.
Morris has also spent coaching stints at Richmond, St Kilda and West Adelaide in a coaching career spanning almost 30 years. He has also been the AIS Academy Coach and last year coached the Northern Territory Institute of Sport.
“He brings a great deal of experience to the club and his record with young players is second-to-none,” Essendon football manager Matthew Drain said. “It was a high-quality field of applicants we had for the job and it wasn’t an easy decision. In the end we felt Kevin had the experience to bring something to the whole playing group.”
