Move back home 'the right time' for Dixon football coach Chris Morris

Citing that it was best for his family, Chris Morris has stepped down as head football coach at Dixon High after eight seasons.

“It was a family decision. My mother-in-law in Kentucky in getting older and we decided that it was best to be closer to her so we can be a help there,” Morris said. “I knew that it might come down to this one day, but this was the right time to move back.”

The 48-year-old Morris met with players Friday to inform them that he was leaving. He will remain a physical education teacher at Dixon for the remainder of the school year.

“I hated telling the kids bye. It was not easy at all,” Morris said. “There are some kids I had to say bye to who are really special to me. And all of the coaches at Dixon, those guys aren’t just co-workers, they are really good friends to me.”

When Morris returns to Kentucky, he has an offensive coordinator and PE teaching position waiting at Owensboro Catholic, where his brother, Jason, is the head football coach and his son, Koert, is the defensive backs coach.

Morris had hoped to stay at Dixon longer and help the Bulldogs continue to build as several key players are expected to return next season.

“But staying would be really selfish,” he said. “We needed to do what we needed to do now. And one thing that was important to me was not dragging my decision on so that Dixon could find a replacement. I didn’t want to make this decision at the end of the school year or in the summer.”

Morris was 20-59 since he took over as the Bulldogs coach in 2015. Their best season came when they went 7-4 in 2019, but were not able to make the playoffs.

Dixon was 0-10 this past season in its second year in 3-A after several years in 2-A. One of the Bulldogs' best wins under Morris came in 2015 when they defeated Southwest 14-7 for their first victory over the Stallions since 1982.

“We felt like we were making improvements, even though they weren't always showing up in the win and loss records,” Morris said. “Then to have the year that we had this past year was not the way I wanted my last season to be. But 90% of our production came from underclassmen and we have guys who are two and three-year starters. We were looking forward to next season. I still want those guys to be successful. I will just be watching them from afar.”

Chris Miller can be contacted via email at cmiller@jdnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @jdnsports.

This article originally appeared on The Daily News: Dixon's Chris Morris steps down as football coach