The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Rangers hire Morgan as coach
North Ridgeville has found its new head football coach.
The Rangers didn’t have to look very far as head boys basketball coach Bryan Morgan has been tapped as the new head football coach. He takes over for Luke Durbin, who stepped down in November after leading the program for seven years.
“I am really excited,” Morgan told The Morning Journal. “I think that the community in itself is a great community. There’s some great people here, people that I got to meet in my time as basketball coach. I think that with the right combination of staff and support, it can be a great football school. It’s time for us to go back to work and get it back to where it should be.”
Morgan will continue as the head boys basketball coach for the remainder of this season, his ninth as the head man. It will be his final season as head coach, however, as Morgan looks to direct all of his attention toward the football program.
Morgan has a lengthy career as a football player and coach. He played football for Baldwin Wallace before taking over as the JV offensive coordinator at BW for one season.
In the high school coaching realm, Morgan coached at Black River High School for five seasons where he was the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, special teams coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Morgan also spent one season as the offensive coordinator at Brooklyn High School. He is familiar with the North Ridgeville football program after coaching wide receivers for the varsity team for one season.
“After evaluating candidates for the head coaching position, Bryan met the qualities we were seeking,” North Ridgeville athletic director Don Sparks said in a release. “I look forward to the 2021 football season.”
Morgan is familiar with the community as he currently teaches physical education and health at North Ridgeville High School. He has been working for the North Ridgeville City Schools for 11 years.
“I’m looking forward to being able to work with more people in the community,” Morgan said. “To be able to work with more kids, to reach more people in the community and try to make it a great culture here and a positive culture. We’re going to do it with enthusiastic, positive coaches and guys that really want to and love to work with kids.”
The football program at North Ridgeville has had its ups and downs recently as Durbin compiled a 2744 record with the Rangers in his seven seasons.
In his first season at the helm in 2014, Durbin guided the team to a 5-5 record. In his second year, the program took off as Durbin led the Rangers to a 7-3 regular season record and the team made the playoffs for the second time in program history.
Following the 2015 season, the team didn’t finish above .500 in any of the remaining five seasons under Durbin. The Rangers finished with a 2-8 record in 2020.
Morgan is eager to get to work and is determined to get the program headed in the right direction. One of the ways he plans to do that is by having a strong presence in the youth football community.
“(We need to) have a strong high school influence on the youth program,” Morgan said. “Trying to make sure that the kids in that program know me, know the coaching staff, know the kids that are playing at the high school and have pride in their community.
“We have to get guys from our eighth grade class to come to North Ridgeville and retain those players. We’re going to put a lot of work into them throughout their career here at North Ridgeville . ... We need them to stick around and commit to us because we’re going to show them by committing ourselves to them and putting the effort and time into them.”
Morgan is pleased with the coaching staff he has put together so far and wants to comprise a staff “full of strong individuals.”
“I think we’ve done that so far so that’s our first big victory for us,” Morgan said. “Getting guys on staff that have some experience and at the same time, are going to be ready to get kids to love football again.”
Morgan also wants to put a “quality product on the field every Friday night.”
“We need to try to make sure we limit mistakes and (make sure) guys are where they are supposed to be,” Morgan said. “If a team beats us, it’s not because we’re the one’s making the mistakes.”