Last week, Lee Hull was announced the new head football coach for the Morgan State Bears and TSL Sports Talk snagged an exclusive interview with the new head coach. Among his many career-building experiences and accomplishments, the former assistant coach at the University of Maryland also helped coach Darius Heywood-Bey and Torrey Smith to first and second round NFL draft picks, respectively, prior to coming to Morgan State.
TSL Sports Talk host Mark Gray, opened up the interview by asking Hull how the transition has been from the ACC to the MEAC and what compelled him to make the move:
Hull:
“Well, what attracted me [about making the move to Morgan State] was that they had a history of winning back in the ‘70s, and ’79, I think, was the last time [Morgan State] had won the conference, but [Morgan State] had won like five conferences in a row. So there’s a history. And looking to last year’s team, they were 5-3 in the league and came third in the league… They have a bunch of young players and a bunch of freshmen that were playing… So that attracted me also. When I talked to Dr. Wilson, Dr. Banks and Mr. Floyd, they all expressed how they were going to have a commitment to this football program, and they wanted a winner. Talking to some of the alums, they all wanted to bring that tradition back and they wanted to come back and be a part of the program again. So that got me real excited and I always wanted to be a head coach and I thought this was a great opportunity for me.”
Hull continued on, sharing what philosophies he’s taken from working with Maryland coaches, Ralph Friedgen Randy Edsall and how it's helped mold him into the leader he needs to be to restore the history of winning at Morgan State.
“Well, most people, when they see Ralph Friedgen, they don’t think he has a big heart. But he has a big heart. He cared about the players. He genuinely cared about the players. He would do anything for the players. He had a rough exterior, but deep down, the players knew that he had their best interest at heart… He had a great relationship with the players and that’s something that I want… Randy Edsall, he was a disciplinarian. He did it with tough love.”
Listen to the exclusive full interview below to hear what Hull learned from Edsall’s “tough love,” how long he thinks it’ll take to get Morgan State football to where they need to be, how he approaches the offense and defense from a philosophical standpoint, and much more.
TSL Sports Talk is on every Thursday, 3-5PM EST, on The Shadow League. Follow us on twitter: @tslsportstalk, find archives of full shows here, and write us: [email protected].
