080: Eric Morley
Episode notes
Eric Morley didn't grow up as a wrestling phenom.
In fact, he didn't start wrestling until high school.
His freshman record?
0-8.
Today, he's the head wrestling coach at Middletown North and has helped build a program producing state champions, state qualifiers and wrestlers who have gone on to succeed at the Division I level.
But Morley's definition of successful coaching goes well beyond wins.
In this episode of New Jersey Mat Chat: Coach's Corner, Morley gets into the realities of building a high school wrestling program in one of the toughest wrestling areas in the country.
00:00 The Godfather of MMA
01:07 Meet Middletown North Coach Eric Morley
01:20 How He Became Middletown North’s Head Coach
02:18 Going 0-8 in His First Year Wrestling
03:28 Coaching Soccer AND Wrestling
04:07 Why Wrestling Never Really Turns Off
05:12 Coaching Soccer Players vs. Wrestlers
06:05 Why Wrestling Builds Something Bigger
07:05 The Middletown North Wrestling Culture
08:12 Coach Morley’s Wrestling Philosophy
09:18 Breaking Opponents Mentally
09:50 Are High School Wrestlers Competing Too Much?
11:02 Why Kids Need More Time in the Wrestling Room
12:26 What Makes the Shore Conference Different
13:21 Building an Atmosphere at Middletown North
14:14 Why Teams Avoid Wrestling Each Other
14:37 Taking Middletown North to Beast of the East
15:14 The Brotherhood Between Wrestling Coaches
16:03 When Should Coaches Start Thinking About Weight?
17:38 Team Season vs. Individual Season
18:24 Developing State Champions — and Everyone Else
19:42 Wrestling Has Very Little to Do With Wrestling
20:42 Tyler Klinsky’s Journey to NCAA All-American
23:20 The Problems With NJ Wrestling’s Constant Changes
25:00 Scheduling Around Districts & Regions
26:32 Why Coaches Avoid Tough Competition
26:41 Are 100 Career Wins What They Used to Be?
27:02 Why Middletown North Schedules Tough
28:31 Sometimes You Need to Get Your Butt Kicked
29:17 Coaching Two Sports With a Growing Family
31:12 The Best Wrestling Gyms in New Jersey
32:15 How Many Weight Classes Should Wrestling Have?
33:52 Stop Avoiding the Big Matchups
34:36 Why Losing Before States Can Make You Better
36:44 Finding Tough Matches Within Dual Meets
38:13 Why Eric Morley Wouldn’t Let Jackson Fearon Quit
40:18 The Victories Nobody Sees
42:07 Could Eric Morley Become a Wrestling Official?
44:05 Greatest NJ High School Wrestler Ever?
45:03 What Actually Makes a Wrestler Great?
46:33 New Jersey Mat Chat Outro