Oct. 29, 2002
by Ray Burns * Host Communications
Morris Lane has patiently waited his turn to shine for the Kentucky defense.Now his time has arrived and he’s making the most of it.
Lane came to UK in 1998 as a defensive back hoping to contribute any way hecould in building the Cats into a Southeastern Conference power. Aftermoving to linebacker in 1999, he played on special teams and in a reserverole until this year. This season, he earned the starting nod at insidelinebacker and his coaches and teammates look to him to provide leadershipto the younger Wildcats.
“I’m just trying to have fun out there,” Lane said. “My first couple of yearswere a rough time for me because I wasn’t playing as much as I wanted toplay. I just tried to keep a good attitude and I think that’s carried overto now. I still try to stay positive no matter what happens.”
Lane’s time at Kentucky has been nothing short of a roller coaster ride. Hewent from back-to-back bowl teams in 1998 and a 1999 to a pair of 2-9seasons in 2000 and 2001 to a team that has shown it can play with anyonethis season. He’s been through a coaching change and seen the team placed onprobation. It was definitely not easy standing on the sideline a large partof that time, waiting his turn, but he’s glad he stuck it out and now hisand the team’s hard work is paying dividends.
“I tried to make the most of my opportunities,” Lane said, thinking back onhis first couple years at UK. “Now that I’m playing the bulk of the minutes,it’s just really exciting – something I’ve been waiting for.”
When Lane was asked to make the switch from defensive back to linebacker, headmitted that it took him a while to catch on and feel comfortable.
“It was kind of tough at first,” Lane said. “But there were older guysplaying linebacker that really helped me out.”
One of those guys was Marlon McCree, now a member of the National FootballLeagues’ Jacksonville Jaguars. McCree was a big influence on Lane – and notjust on the football field.
“I learned so much from Marlon,” Lane said. “I couldn’t even begin to tellyou everything I learned from him. He is kind of undersized for alinebacker, like me, so I could learn so much from him about playing theposition. But I learned a lot from Marlon off the field too. He reallyhelped me out when I needed it.”
While Lane has shown he has what it takes to succeed on the football field,football is certainly not the only area in his life where he has beensuccessful. He was named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll in 1999 and 2000 andalready has earned bachelor’s degrees in decision science and informationsystems and business management.
“I’m currently working on a master’s degree in sport management,” said Lane.”It’s tough sometimes to juggle schoolwork and football and be successful atboth. I think sometimes people just think we show up on Saturday and playand that’s it. I have a very busy life but it’s all about time management.You just have to sit down and schedule what you have to do.”
With such a demanding schedule, it’s amazing that Lane can stay as focused ashe has on improving as a player. Lane knows his improvement and that of thedefense as a whole is a result of hard work and a group that is gettingaccustomed to the system in which they play.
“I agree that the defense has improved,” Lane said. “I don’t know if it’s asmuch us improving as it is us just getting more comfortable with the systemand each other. Last year was our first year really implementing thedefense. We were still kind of learning. This year, we have almost two yearsin the system and everybody trusts the guy beside him.”
A big key to the steady play of the defense is defensive coordinator JohnGoodner – a man who shares Lane’s positive outlook and upbeat attitude.
“Coach Goodner is a great guy,” Lane said. “He’s a ball of energy out there.He comes to work every day with the same attitude. He always stays sopositive and keeps the other guys up. He’s great to play for.”
The defense’s improvement is a big reason for Kentucky’s strong performanceso far this year and, even though the team is not eligible to compete inpost-season play, Lane and his teammates see every game as a chance to provethey are for real.
“We’re going to put a little more emphasis on every game,” Lane said. “Everygame is kind of like a bowl game to us. We play a tough schedule and we doplay on TV, so that helps. It’s a negative but we’ve turned it into apositive.”
Lane hasn’t put much thought into what it will be like to put on theKentucky Blue and White for the last time but he’s sure it will bring back alot of memories.
“I guess I’ll reflect back on all the good times I have had here,” Lane said.”We’ve gone through some tough times too as a team but I’ll have some reallyfond memories of this place.”
Lane’s positive attitude and strong work ethic have already carried him along way in life. He’s been successful on the football field and in theclassroom. There are numerous places his education and experiences couldlead him after his time at UK is complete.
“I’m not a hundred percent sure right now what I’m going to do when I’mfinished here,” Lane said. “I wouldn’t mind getting into coaching.”
Whether he gets into coaching or not, there’s little doubt that Lane willachieve success at whatever he does.
