TCU’s Morris rolls with new responsibilities as starting center

When TCU looked around for a backup center, Patrick Morris fit the job description.

“Smart. Tough,” coach Gary Patterson said.

Tested in his first start at center against Oklahoma last week, Morris helped the offense produce six touchdowns and 514 yards. Now the job is his, at least until starter Austin Schlottmann can return from a foot injury.

But ... #nbd

“It’s not a big deal since at guard, I kind of knew everything that was going on, too,” he said Tuesday in an interview with reporters. “With Schlott in there, I kind of knew what he was going to call before he called it. So it’s not a big deal to me.”

Morris started the first four games at left guard. He slid over to center when Schlottmann left the game against SMU.

Now he’s in charge of everything Schlottmann was — line calls, protections, snaps, accountability for his position group.

Not bad for a guy who wasn’t sure he was a fit at TCU. The transition to the Air Raid offense in 2014 had challenged the 6-foot-3, 300-pound junior from Denton Guyer more than expected, and he wound up redshirting his second year on campus despite playing as a freshman.

“Yeah, I had my doubts there, but I kind of trusted the system, eventually got to know it,” Morris said. “I knew a better work ethic would overcome a lot of things. The first offense we had here was the same as I had in high school. It was real easy for me to pick up. I had never run a zone spread offense before, so it took me a while to understand everything.”

Last season, Morris built on his understanding and played in 10 games. Then he won the starting job at left guard in spring practice. By then, his development was evident enough that he was being trained for center, also.

“I’d go back and forth, center-guard, center-guard,” he said. “The only difference is snapping the ball and making the calls. But I think every offensive lineman should know what calls are going to be made before they’re made so we’re all on the same page.”

Morris knows that he is in charge of accountability for the offensive line, but he said that job is made easier because each member has shown self-accountability.

“Everybody cares about football enough to where they hold themselves accountable or when they know something’s wrong, they’re going to go on their own and fix it,” he said. “I don’t necessarily have to be the bad guy.”

What he’s working on now is incorporating new left guard Cordel Iwuagwu, a redshirt freshman, into the mix.

“With everybody in there that’s been playing together since the spring, we almost have non-verbal communication between each other since we’ve been doing it for so long,” Morris said. “But with him in there, I need to make a better effort of being more vocal, and I think we all need to, until he plays with us long enough to where he can look at us and see our face, what’s going on, before it even happens.”

Also on Morris’ to-do list: emphasizing attention to detail.

“Not only football, but off the field,” he said. “Just pay attention to detail in every aspect of life that we have. Paying attention to detail, doing the little things right, will lead to the bigger things falling into place.”

Maybe Morris is the very example of that. Two years ago, he was redshirting, unfamiliar with a new offense.

But hey ... #nbd, right?

“Yeah, I know, it’s not a big deal to me,” he said, and his interview session ended. “I’m going to go play football.”

This story was originally published October 5, 2016 at 12:47 PM with the headline "TCU’s Morris rolls with new responsibilities as starting center."