The Green Bay Packers have announced that Steve Morris of Bradford High School in Kenosha, Wis., has been named the Packers High School Coach of the Week.
In his first season as head coach of Bradford, Morris has led the Red Devils to a 7-1 record with one game remaining before the WIAA Football Playoffs. This marks Bradford's first season with at least seven wins since 2012. Coach Morris's emphasis on building a renewed culture and instilling strong values within Kenosha Bradford Football has sparked a program-wide turnaround, with the Red Devils fully embracing their "All In" mentality.
"Top to bottom, our mantra is 'All In,'" said Morris. "Our culture is everything. We say discipline, integrity and hard work. With that comes mental toughness and grit, which I think you have to have. I preach the importance of doing your job, knowing your job and getting your job done to our guys. You can see it in their eyes; they want to achieve more and sitting at 7-1 is a testament to where they are at with their mental toughness, discipline and process-driven mindset."
Beyond being "All In" on the field, Coach Morris encourages his players to live out that same mantra off the field.
"We spend a lot of time volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club, we've built beds for underprivileged youth and spent time at the fire department helping burn victims and hearing their stories. Those moments are such huge character-building moments," Morris said. "I really preach to the kids that the game of football does set us up for life but the challenges that they are facing in football are nothing compared to the challenges some people face in life. Without the exposure to these volunteer moments, these guys wouldn't have the opportunity to be in a setting that helps them understand there are bigger things than football."
Coach Morris grew up in Racine, Wis., and graduated from Racine Horlick High School in 2009. As Horlick's quarterback under Wisconsin Football Coaches Association Hall of Famer George Machado, Morris earned All-State honors and was named the 2008 Wisconsin Offensive Player of the Year. He continued his football career at the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater, where he transitioned to wide receiver and helped lead the Warhawks to three NCAA Division III National Championships under head coach Lance Leipold. After graduating in 2015, Morris began coaching strength and conditioning and offensive skill positions at both Racine Horlick and Racine St. Catherine's before becoming the head coach of Kenosha Bradford this season.
Morris is honored to win the Coach of the Week award but is quick to give credit to those in the program.
"To me it's the team of the week award," he said. "We always say, 'It's WE not ME at the B.' Everyone here plays a pivotal part in our success, so I was really happy to share this with not only our coaches and players but our AD and administration as well. It's a full circle moment for our program to see where we were in December to now, knowing that we are on the right track and getting recognized for that."
Morris and his staff oversee a program of 98 players with approximately 55 of them suiting up for varsity games. His assistant staff includes Brian Mosley, Kyle LaMay, Fitzel Ross, Bruce Marshall, Jacob Perotto, Nasier Santoya, LaRyan Johnson, Shawnelle Gross, Kyle Pollock, CJ Wilson, Barett Innes and Tanner Saarnio. In addition to coaching, Morris is a special education teacher at Bradford High School. Morris and his wife, Leah, have two sons, Leonidas and Odin, and one daughter, Nova.
About the Green Bay Packers High School Coach of the Week Program:
The Packers will recognize one outstanding high school coach as their 'Coach of the Week' winner during the 2025 high school football season. Winners are awarded several items and privileges, including a $1,000 donation to the school's football program from the Green Bay Packers and the NFL Foundation, as well as recognition of the award on Packers.com, boundwisconsin.com and Wifca.org.
Nominations for Coach of the Week should be submitted by 10 a.m. every Monday to Jake Krueger, Football Outreach Coordinator, at coachoftheweek@packers.com. Please include the nominee's name, address, school, phone number and reason he/she is deserving of the award.
