Derek Morris, the only girls’ basketball coach in East Hamilton’s six-year history, has resigned.
Morris enjoyed a wildly successful four-year run in District 6-AA, but struggled mightily when the program moved up in classification to District 5-AAA.
Morris’ Lady Hurricanes went 8-23 this past season. They defeated McMinn County’s girls 46-42 in overtime in the District 5-AAA tournament, but lost to No. 3 seed Cleveland, 36-25, the following day.
East Hamilton was the tournament’s No. 7 seed.
In a text message Thursday morning, Morris said he had “officially resigned” and the school administration expressed an interest in him remaining at East Hamilton as a technology teacher.
“While I have officially resigned,” Morris wrote, “my teaching job is still here. I have no plans at this moment to change teaching positions. This change was not necessarily something I have been planning, so only God knows what the future holds.”
The 39-year-old coach said he met with East Hamilton principal Gail Chuy after the 2013-14 season and discussed “specific things she wanted to see” happen with the girls’ program. Morris, in a later telephone interview, said he felt the team “did a lot of those things.”
“At the time, she didn’t give me an ultimatum, but talked about improvement she would like to sii,” he said. “So this didn’t completely catch me off guard. At the same time I was not necessarily expecting it. But that’s coaching, the nature of the beast.”
Chuy and Morris met again on Tuesday, the decision was reached, Morris talked with his wife, Amber, and decided to resign. He met with his players Wednesday morning.
“The meeting was a little awkward,” Morris later said in a telephone interview. “The players were supportive of me and I challenged them to keep the bond they’ve established over the last few years, lean on each other, get better in the off-season and continue to grow as a team.
“We’ve had real team leadership take place in the last 18 months and those leaders stepped up at the meeting. I think the players are going to be all right.”
Chuy, responding to an e-mail asking for confirmation that Morris had either been fired or resigned, wrote: "He was not fired. He resigned."
As for his immediate plans, Morris will fulfill his obligations as a well-respected teacher and finish out the 2014-15 school year.
“I’m not jumping ship by any means because of what has happened,” he said. “I love the people I work with, the student body and I’ve enjoyed tremendously all six years at East Hamilton. But sometimes doors close and others open for you. I’ll just see what happens.”
In the school’s inaugural basketball season, the Lady Hurricanes went 14-11 and lost in the first round of the District 6-AA tournament.
Then the Morris-led Lady Hurricanes ran off three consecutive highly successful seasons with a combined record of 71-32, according to the coachT.com web site.
In 2010-11, East Hamilton won the district regular season and tournament titles, finished second in the Region 3-AA tournament and lost to Cannon County in the sectionals. The team finished 24-11.
The following year, the Lady Hurricanes went 23-10 and again claimed the district regular season and tourney crowns, but lost to McMinn Central in the regional championship game before losing to Livingston Academy in the sectionals.
In 2012-13, Morris guided the Lady Hurricanes to a 24-11 record, won the district tournament title, lost again to McMinn Central in the regional final and dropped another loss to Livingston Academy in the sectionals, one game shy of the state tournament in Murfreesboro.
East Hamilton then moved into District 5-AAA and found the going rough.
In two years, the Lady Hurricanes posted a combined 12-46 record. This past season they beat McMinn County, 46-42, in overtime in the district tournament, but lost to No. 3 seed Cleveland, 36-25, and ended with an 8-23 record.
The previous season saw the Lady Hurricanes go 4-23 with a first-round district tourney loss to McMinn County.
In two 5-AAA campaigns, the Lady Hurricanes were 3-20 in regular season district play. Conversely, they went 48-8 in four years of District 6-AA competition.
“From a won-loss standpoint, we’ve struggled over the last couple of years, for sure,” Morris said. “A lot of programs have ups and downs and you have to live with what you have in the building. These kids worked extremely hard and we have a good base going forward. Hopefully, that will stay in place for whoever comes in and together they can take the next step.
“I would love to see that. This was Mrs. Chuy’s decision to make and she’s ultimately the person in charge who has to make that decision. I respect her in that regard. For the sake of the kids, I hope it’s the right decision.”
Morris has also taught and coached at Cleveland Middle School, taught one year at Tyner and three years at Ooltewah Middle School prior to moving to East Hamilton when it opened for the 2009-10 school year. In total, he’s been with the Hamilton County Schools for 10 years.
After the 2013-14 basketball season, Chuy dismissed boys coach Michael Stone and hired Rodney English to take over the program. The Hurricanes finished the 2014-15 season with a 14-16 record after losing to rival Ooltewah, 42-35, in the district tournament.
(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)