If you haven’t seen him on the sidelines at football games, you’re sure to have seen his work. For the past four years Assistant Head Coach Dan Morrison has played an influential role in the SMU football program.

Morrison is a born educator with a tremendous amount of passion. After a back injury ended his football career at UCLA, he discovered that coaching was where he was going to find happiness.

“I’m an educator first and foremost, but I found I had a real passion for coaching when I started doing it,” Morrison said.

After graduating from UCLA with a degree in education, Morrison began teaching and coaching for his hometown high school in Santa Monica, Calif. His love of coaching led him to the University of Hawaii where he became the quarterback’s coach.

Morrison had a nine-season stint as the quarterback’s coach for the Warriors before helping Head Coach June Jones bring the “Run-and-Shoot” offense to Ford Stadium in 2008. When he got to SMU, Morrison didn’t waste anytime before guiding a pair of freshmen quarterbacks to a record breaking season. The Mustang offense ended the 2008 season ranked 17th in the nation in passing offense.

During the 2009 season, Morrison began training then freshman Kyle Padron when SMU’s starting quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell suffered from a shoulder injury. With the help of Morrison, Padron had an MVP earning performance during the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl and finished fifth in the nation for a 159.9 passer rating.

Before Morrison had even begun coaching for the Mustangs, he was already familiar with the campus. Nikki Mitchell, Morrison’s daughter, graduated from SMU and married former SMU standout and Dallas Cowboys player, Donald Mitchell.

“I spent some time talking to the coaches about the offense,” Morrison said, “Ironically I was doing it in the same office I’m sitting in now.”

In those offices is where Morrison began with the “Run-and-Shoot” offense.

Starting a new job with a new program is never an easy task, but Morrison enjoyed joining a new program and said, “it was really fun.”

One of his favorite moments while starting his new job include working with players such as Emmanuel Sanders, who is currently a wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

This season, Morrison is working closely with SMU’s starting quarterback J.J. McDermott.

“I think he has a dimension that is really special,” Morrison said in reference to McDermott.

When it comes to his goals for the season, Morrison is not concerned with focusing on the number of wins the Mustangs earn.

To Morrison, victory is obtained by focusing on the smaller things and by doing so, he is confident “the wins will take care of themselves.”