FOREWORD

For the past 46 years it has been my good fortune to cover college football for newspapers, radio, television and the internet. It has been an incredible journey that has allowed me to make friends that will last a lifetime and stay close to a game that I fell in love with when I was 13 years old.

And here’s what I know: College football officials are the least understood and least appreciated people who work in the game.

Until now.

When Gus Morris shared with me his notes for this book I knew exactly what it was going to be. Like the man who wrote it, the book would be an inside look at college football officiating that pulled no punches. Gus was going to give it to us straight because that’s the only way he knows how to do it.

As he pulls back the curtain and lets us into his world, we learn that college football officiating isn’t a part-time job or a hobby. It is a lifestyle. And you choose this lifestyle knowing there will good times, not-so-good times and, yes, painful times along the way. The buy-in has to be complete.

This book will make you laugh:

**–Like the time a Coach from UT-Chattanooga pleaded for help when he was getting his brains kicked in by Auburn. Gus responded: “Coach, I’m helping you all I can but I need a little more effort from your guys.” Auburn won 62-24

**–Or the time that the head coach from Northeast Louisiana gave him a tip right before the opening kickoff.

“We’re going to onside kick.”

Gus made sure he was in perfect position for the onsides kick, which was recovered by Northeast Louisiana. Gus was right on top of the call and made it with enthusiasm. There was only one problem.

He pointed the wrong way.

**–Or the time that a smart-aleck lower-level assistant from LSU kept giving Gus a hard time. Gus asked for the guy’s name, explaining that when he threw the unsportsmanlike conduct flag, that was surely coming, he would be able to give head coach Les Miles the fellow’s name. Gus didn’t hear a peep from the guy the rest of the game.

But there are also moments in the book that pull on your heart strings:

 **–Gus is the son of the late George Morris, a Hall of Fame football player at Georgia Tech and himself a long-time college official. George did a lot of traveling when Gus was a boy so they didn’t spend a lot of time together. When Gus made it as an official in the SEC, the two had lunch. George gave Gus his SEC officiating ring and insisted that he wear it now.

“You’ve earned it,” said George.

When George Morris died on Dec. 10, 2007, Gus attended two funeral services—one in Atlanta and another in George’s native Vicksburg,  Mississippi, where he was laid to rest. Gus held it together emotionally until he arrived back at his home in Cumming, Ga. There near the driveway was a neat pile of firewood given to him by Chris Conley, one of his best friends in officiating. Attached was a note: “Careful. Wood soaked in kerosene. Love Santa.”

That’s when he lost it.

**–At the Alabama-Auburn game in 1996 in Tuscaloosa, Gus and Coach Gene Stallings attended to a member of the Alabama drill team who was accidently knocked to the ground by a member of the band. Coach Stallings held the girl’s hand, brushed away her tears, and assured her it was going to be okay. He and Gus did not allow the game to start until she was able to walk off the field.

“Gus, do you know how lucky we are to be doing this?” Coach Stallings asked.

As the final seconds of the game wound down, Gus passed by Coach Stallings one last time. The Alabama coach stuck out his hand.

“I’m done,” he said.

After the game—a 24-23 win by Alabama–Gene Stallings resigned as Alabama’s head coach after seven seasons.”

**–There is some pain. One night in Columbia, S.C., he took a direct hit from two players at once. He had to be removed from the field. He had  suffered a severe concussion.  It took him nine months to fully recover. More than once he found it difficult to get out of bed on Sunday morning  because of a hit he took the day before. It comes with the job.

And he had to be flexible. Once during a game fellow official Steve Shaw had the pocket ripped off of his officiating shirt after an on-field collision.  At halftime Gus managed to get his hands on a needle and some black thread. His great aunt taught him to sew as a boy. Problem solved.

There is so much more to be found within the covers of this book.

And when you finish I’ll make this one promise: You will never look at college football officials the same way again.

Will you still cuss their names when a call goes against your favorite team?

Of course.

Gus Morris wouldn’t have it any other way.

Tony Barnhart

Atlanta, GA.

Dec. 11, 2022