080: Eric Morley

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