Jim Bob Morris

Defensive Back (1978-79)

Jim Bob Morris grew up in Virgil, Kansas, population 60.  He attended Hamilton High where he was All-State in football, basketball, track and baseball.  Coaches Dick Foster and Gene Duke offered Jim Bob an opportunity to play both football and basketball at Coffeyville.

In 1978, Jim Bob's freshman year, he played on the 10-1 Red Raven football team that capped the year as Coca Cola Bowl Champions defeating Iowa Central, the number one ranked team in junior college, by a 38-6 margin.  He also played guard on the nationally-ranked basketball team, playing in the National Championship tournament, and he participated in track winning a spot to attend the Junior College National Track Championship as a triple jumper.

As a sophomore defensive back, Jim Bob contributed as one of the defensive leaders to the 1979 team that went 7-3.  He was selected to the All-Conference team and was All-American per the Grid Wire.  He was voted Student Body President in 1979 and won the President's Athlete Award.

After the 1979 football season, Jim Bob was offered several scholarships by Division I schools.  He chose Kansas State University and Coach Jim Dickey.  Jim Bob immediately started for Kansas State as the team's strong safety and led the Wildcats to their first post-season bowl appearance in 1982 at the Independence Bowl.

After graduation Jim Bob signed with the Kansas City Chiefs as a free agent.  He subsequently played in the USFL for the San Antonio Gunslingers (1984-86) and the Memphis Showboats (1986).  He completed his career with the Green Bay Packers in 1987-89.  In 1987, Jim Bob led the NFL in interception return yardage with 174 yards and was second on the team in quarterback sacks.  He held the record for the first-year player intercepts for Green Bay until 2001.

Upon completion of his professional football career Jim Bob worked for Lamar Hunt, owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, as a real estate developer.  Later he moved to Chicago to work for the Lincoln Property Company and Miglin Beitler real estate companies as an office and industrial building specialist.  He joined the family business in 1995, as vice president of commercial packaging and helped the company become one of the nation's premier leaders in packaging, garnering various honors such as Illinois Family Business of the Year, and recognition by USA Today as one of the top entrepreneurs in America with annual sales of $150 million.

Jim Bob married his wife Lori in 1995, and they have three children, Alexandra, Nicolas and James.

"Coffeyville was one of the greatest moments of my life.  It was a launching pad for me and a catalyst for my development as a player and a person.  I have the utmost respect for the Red Raven institution and an enduring appreciation for the coaches and players who have been life-long friends."