Becoming MJ Morris: Inside the sophomore’s path to NC State starting quarterback

As Carrollton (Ga.) High School’s football offices were being renovated ahead of the 2021 season, coach Joey King and his staff utilized the press box as a place to work. On one summer afternoon, King was the only person up there when he noticed a player walking out onto the field in the pouring rain. King watched as the player set some cones down onto the ground and he began to stretch as the clouds opened up above him. The coach continued to observe and soon realized who that player was: his new quarterback, MJ Morris. Morris had transferred back to Carrollton for his senior season after he spent his junior year at Pace Academy — where he went to middle school — but King wasn’t his coach during his first stint with the Trojans. So this was a new relationship for the coach, who was aware of Morris’ talent when he arrived back to the place he started his high school career at.