Context Matters

Former NC State Quarterback MJ Morris was live, in person, on 247Sports’ Transfer Portal Palooza to talk about what led him to ultimately enter the Transfer Portal.

You can watch the clip below, or read the transcript underneath.

“They told me they wanted to take different ways, go get a different quarterback, go get a starting quarterback.”

Former NC State QB MJ Morris explains why he decided to enter the transfer portal 🗣️

WATCH📺: https://t.co/HZQdMMBhOu pic.twitter.com/YTAZrk7SD8

— 247Sports (@247Sports) December 4, 2023

After the UNC game, of course we had a talk. They asked me if I was going to leave or not. I told them like I said, I still want to be here. This is the place I want to be. It’s the place I committed to and said I wanted to be here for the next 4 to 5 years of my life.

When asked if when he decided to redshirt, if it was his intention to stay at NC State, and not enter the Transfer Portal? Morris said ‘Yes sir.’

“A week later, we had another talk. They called me into the office. It was mutual. We didn’t leave on any bad blood. I still have good relationships with all of them. We left on good terms. They just told me they wanted to take different ways, go get a different Quarterback, go get a starting Quarterback. I was like, ‘I really do wish y’all the best. Whoever comes in here, I hope he succeeds here, and he’s going to love this place as much as I loved it. I knew right then at the end of that conversation that it was time to explore my options, and take my talents elsewhere, and follow wherever God takes me next.”

The quote used in the tweet are Morris’ words, but they lack context.

When did they tell Morris those words? After the UNC game. They didn’t have this conversation with him after the Miami game, after he had helped lead the Wolfpack to wins over Clemson and the Hurricanes in back-to-back weeks. No, it was Morris, after that Miami game that decided to stop playing, so that he could maintain his redshirt.

I’m not without empathy. I know that Morris wasn’t expected to play last year, but when Devin Leary was injured, and Jack Chambers didn’t pan out, his name was called. As a result, he played in 5 games, burning his redshirt. I’m sure he was hopeful NC State would waltz into 2023, with him as their starting Quarterback, but they went out and picked up Brennan Armstrong in the Transfer Portal, and awarded him the starting job in the Spring.

Doeren was outspoken in the preseason, and even after the VMI game, that the plan was to redshirt Morris this season. Deja Vu struck, and Morris’ name was called when Armstrong struggled mightily in the Wolfpack’s first 5 games.

Two years in a row Morris expected to redshirt. Two years didn’t go according to plan.

But this was an opportunity to make lemonade out of lemons.

Heading into the Wake Forest game, NC State still technically wasn’t eliminated from the ACC Championship game. They still had a chance at 10 wins (and still do). To be honest, statistically, Morris’ numbers in 4 games in 2023 were a step backwards in comparison with his 2022 numbers. He had a chance to finish the season strong, and prove to his coaches that he was in fact their Quarterback of the future.

Despite what he could help his team accomplish, he decided to stop running a race in which he was in the lead. I’m not saying MJ Morris is a ‘quitter,’ but I don’t know what else to call what he did.

The NC State coaches might have in fact told Morris they wanted to go in a different direction, and find a different starting Quarterback (we are only hearing his quotes), but that was only after he said he no longer wanted to be their starting Quarterback midseason.

Context matters.

You can’t fault the coaches. I’m not saying what Morris did was wrong. He has every right to make the decision that he thinks is best for him. While it might not have been wrong, it forced the hand of the coaches.

To be honest, I don’t think the coaches needed to make any promises to Morris about the future based on the way he played this year, but to do so after pulling the emergency brake midseason, with so much on the line, would have been unthinkable in my book.

In the same way that Morris wishes NC State and their next Quarterback the best, I wish him the best as well, but this was the only way this saga was going to end after the midseason plot twist.