MERIDIAN – Returning to his Bosque County roots, Wade Morton steps into his first head coaching opportunity with the Meridian Yellowjackets this season.
With 14 years of coaching experience and stints at Riesel, Waco Connally, Clifton, China Spring and Normangee as an assistant football coach, Morton takes over for former MHS graduate Stony Coffman, who decided to retire after just one season in Meridian.
“We are excited about being involved with the community,” said Morton, who graduated from Clifton High School in 1995 before attending Tarleton State University and graduating in 2000. “We’re looking forward to having relationships and building a program full of students with high character.”
Coach Morton will be joined by his wife Lindsay, who is from Meridian, and their three children, Hannah (16), Noah (10) and Ellie(6).
“We have family in Meridian and Clifton, so we’re very excited to be here,” said Morton, who inherits a team that finished 1-9 in 2018. “We chose Meridian because we believe we can win here at every level. We chose Meridian for the community and the great kids we have here from elementary to high school. We chose Meridian because we have the best staff in the state. We chose Meridian because the community and the school district need the best, and I believe we can give that to them. We chose Meridian because we want to be here and build young women and men to be great wives, fathers, sons and daughters.”
Morton understands that he takes over an athletic program that will be in the rebuilding stage across the board.
“Everything is going to be a challenge,” Morton said. “We have to be consistent all the way from the top and let it trickle from there. We as coaches have to hold ourselves accountable and practice what we always preach — be where your feet are
“We believe in building relationships with kids. We want to be there for them and support the kids in everything they do and give them all the tools necessary to be successful. Our goal is to have everyone in the junior and high school involved in athletics.”
Photos by BRETT VOSS
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