Do you remember exactly how your spent winter afternoons when you were 14 or 15 years old? I do.
My late afternoons-turned-evenings during the dreary, cold months of November, December and January of 1977-78 consisted of 2 to 3 hours a day in a steamy, immaculately-clean Maple Avenue gymnasium watching a living legend teach the game of basketball, and more importantly, lessons of life.
Meet Bob Morgan.
Some called him Mr. Bob. Others referred to him Coach Bob. His wife called him Bobby. Most everyone, including me, would agree he was larger than life.
Morgan, the longtime Churchill Junior High School basketball coach known as a supreme instructor of fundamentals and for an ever-burning passion for the game, is being remembered for his impact on thousands of former students and players.
Robert L. Morgan died Wednesday, Nov. 1, at a senior living center in Carmel, Indiana, after a two-year battle with dementia. He was 86.
A 1954 Galesburg High School graduate, Morgan lived most of his life in Galesburg before moving with his wife Alberta to Indianapolis in 2020 to be closer to their daughter Chris. Alberta and Chris still reside in Indianapolis.
Morgan started teaching and coaching at Churchill in 1962 and spent the better part of the next three decades molding basketball players and turning boys into men. And don’t underestimate the impact he had on his female students, who were just as fond of Coach Bob.
“He was a character, and as a lot of guys have said, he was iconic,” said Barry Swanson, a member of Morgan’s first team at Churchill in 1962-63 who went on to be a star player on the 1966 state runner-up Silver Streaks and later longtime successful head coach at Galesburg High School.
“Many of the lessons I learned from Coach Bob both as a player and a person remain etched in my being today. He left a mark on a lot of kids.”
‘He was a no-nonsense guy’
Eric Johnson, an all-stater for the 1982-83 Silver Streaks who had played for Morgan at Churchill four years prior, said it was attention to detail that made Morgan a great coach.
“He was a no-nonsense guy,” Johnson said. “He was a fair coach. He was a disciplinarian. And he taught fundamentals better than anyone.
“But he also taught you how to dress for a game. The right way to get on a bus, how to sit behind the team at the game before you watch the game. Those little things add up.”
Johnson added, “We respected him — kids would run through a wall for this man, whether you were on the first, second or third team. We loved wearing that Churchill Blue Streaks uniform and having matching shoes and socks. You knew you were part of a winning program.
“The guy could motivate and make you believe.”
Johnson made an emotional yet rewarding trip to visit Morgan in Indiana this past June.
“I wanted to see him one last time,” Johnson said. We knew the time was near. He was coming in and out at the time, but he recognized my voice and he would call me E.
“I just wanted to say goodbye. It was so hard to walk out of that place, knowing it would be the last time I’d see him.”
Morgan taught P.E. and health for 33 years at Churchill. His led Blue Streaks teams to three undefeated teams and a 304-81 record.
In 2010, the Churchill gymnasium was named Morgan Gym in honor of Bob and his brother Bill Morgan. Brother Bill died last July.
‘If you wanted to play ball, Churchill was the place’
Morgan helped facilitate the old adage that basketball players are made during the offseason, or away from regular practice and games. Many recall Coach Bob opening the Churchill gym year-around — including nights and weekends — to allow players to play the game.
“We used to badger him to open the gym on Saturdays and Sundays,” said Dave Wood, a former Blue Streak who went on to star for the 1968 state runner-up Streaks. “He’d always say, ‘How many ya got?’ I’d say we got four guys, and he’d say, ‘Oh, you gotta have more than that.’
“So we’d call around, and get back to him and say, we got eight. He’d say, ‘OK, I’ll see you there at 1.’
“If you wanted to play ball in Galesburg, Churchill was the place to go. If you had enough guys to play, he’d open up the gym. He just always wanted us to get better.”
Swanson added, “It was like a laboratory where we learned how to play the game of basketball, and play it the right way.”
And the right way started with fundamentals. Whether it was running the “3-man-weave,” practicing the “Cousy drill,” learning the “Davis move” or countless hours of working on ball handling and free throws, Coach Bob worked us until we got it right.
How did we know if we got it right? Don’t ask, just do it.
Morgan a master teaching fundamentals
“He always used to say, ‘There’s the right way, and the Morgan Way, and they’re both the same,’” Wood said. “And it usually was — especially when it came to basketball.
“If you wanted fundamentals, he was the best. It was all about repetition, but he made it fun.”
Except for a game during Wood’s ninth-grade season when he committed a key turnover late in the game at Canton.
“It was our first loss of the season,” Wood said. “I through the ball back into the wrong guy as I was falling out of bounds. The guy made a shot and we lost the game.
“Morgan threatened to have me run behind the bus all the way home from Canton. But you know what? I never did it again.”
Swanson credits Morgan talking him under his wing at an early age.
“Bob was probably the first real basketball coach I ever had, and he’s the one who really lit my fire,” Swanson said. “I was a tall, gangly kid who came to the game pretty late, and he took me under his wing.
“Things really began to click for me, and a lot of guys playing for him at Churchill. But Bob was more to me than than a coach. He was like a big brother. He really did a lot for me during my formative years.”
Lombard vs. Churchill always a highlight
A highlight of the season for Morgan — but only if the Blue Streaks came out on top — were the crosstown rivalry games between Churchill and Lombard junior highs.
“He was so into the Churchill-Lombard games,” Swanson said. “It’s crazy how invested he was in those.
“Back in those days, that was the only game in town. As much as the high school games, the Lombard-Churchill games were packed.”
Steve Cheesman played for, and later coached and taught with Morgan for many years at Churchill. For him, the loss of his former coach is monumental.
“I have heard time and time again, that includes me, that no person besides their parents has had a bigger and more positive influence on them than the Morgan brothers,” Cheesman said. “This is the ultimate compliment in my opinion. Their legacy is lasting and has had as much of an impact on our community as anyone that has ever lived here.
“The life skills that they taught have stayed with us all and have been passed down through generations. They were bigger than life. We won’t see their kind again. We all owe them a debt of gratitude.”
Looking back, were those nights of practice back in 1977-78 easy? Certainly not for a marginal athlete like me.
Would I trade them for anything? Not a chance.
With Wednesday’s passing of Bob Knight, Haven gained two Coach Bob’s on this week.
Rest in peace to Galesburg’s favorite Coach Bob. There will never be another one like you.
More on Morgan
Here are some of the other tributes pouring in for Bob Morgan:
Mark Wilson: I’ve always said Coach Bob was the best coach I ever had … and it came during those formulative years. 1970-71 (9th grade year at Churchill Jr High), I was part of his first undefeated basketball team. As time has marched on, that still stands out as a highlight. RIP, Coach Bob … you were a master at your craft and impacted more lives than you’ll ever know.
Clay Britton: Coach Bob was a great teacher and leader in the community. I always wondered how well he would’ve faired as a high school coach. He will be missed by many. RIP Sir
Mark Thiel: Such a HUGE impact on my life, his knowledge, intensity, compassion was there from day 1 for every team he coached, let alone, all the other people’s lives that he touched! R.I.Paradise Coach
Jamie Gladfelter: I remember Coach Bob and Bill taking over an entire Churchill 8th grade basketball practice to teach us how to do a “Cousy pass”. A bunch of 13 year old kids in 1994 spending a full hour trying to learn to do a half court overhand pass from the 50s. We loved it.
Bob Lindstrom: What a day. Coach Bob and The General pass on the same day in Indiana. Steve Marshall, Bob Jasperson, Barry Swanson, Ed Howard and I were the starters on Bob’s first team at CJHS. Great times. He pushed us relentlessly. We snuck into the gym on Sundays until Harry Garst ran us out. All of us but Ed were part of the 1966 Streaks. I was privileged to be his attorney later in life. Boy was I lucky. RIP.
Jim Reinebach: Bob Morgan and Bill were motivational coaches at Churchill for me in school years ending in 65 and 66. I had moved from an outstanding 7th grade 1964 team in Mt. Vernon to Galesburg Churchill. Coach Bob had high expectation- we could and should all do our best —toughness and the kindness that cares. He and Bill taught the Mike Davis turn around jump shot and other moves to me and John Shay. When I was a 67-69 Silver Streak Coach would sometimes drop in at practice and say REINEBACH where did all those beautiful moves go you used to have? As a 1969 Elite Eight Finalist Silver Streak, 4 of our starting players were Coach Bob’s kids. Mike Doyle, Zack Thiel, John Tuszinski and me.
Jeff Flater: Coach Bob is one of my major influences and reasons I got into teaching and coaching. He had a tremendous impact on so many and his legacy lives on for generations.
Teresa Powell: Coach Bob stayed after practice and taught me my first hook shot. Friday social dance where we lined up tallest to shortest. Better yet are the many sayings that most of the guys shared with me over the years. Always there for anyone, becoming a friend after being my teacher. So many stories from so many players.
