080: Eric Morley

Eric Morley didn't grow up as a wrestling phenom.

In fact, he didn't start wrestling until high school.

His freshman record?

0-8.

Today, he's the head wrestling coach at Middletown North and has helped build a program producing state champions, state qualifiers and wrestlers who have gone on to succeed at the Division I level.

But Morley's definition of successful coaching goes well beyond wins.

In this episode of New Jersey Mat Chat: Coach's Corner, Morley gets into the realities of building a high school wrestling program in one of the toughest wrestling areas in the country.

00:00 The Godfather of MMA

01:07 Meet Middletown North Coach Eric Morley

01:20 How He Became Middletown North’s Head Coach

02:18 Going 0-8 in His First Year Wrestling

03:28 Coaching Soccer AND Wrestling

04:07 Why Wrestling Never Really Turns Off

05:12 Coaching Soccer Players vs. Wrestlers

06:05 Why Wrestling Builds Something Bigger

07:05 The Middletown North Wrestling Culture

08:12 Coach Morley’s Wrestling Philosophy

09:18 Breaking Opponents Mentally

09:50 Are High School Wrestlers Competing Too Much?

11:02 Why Kids Need More Time in the Wrestling Room

12:26 What Makes the Shore Conference Different

13:21 Building an Atmosphere at Middletown North

14:14 Why Teams Avoid Wrestling Each Other

14:37 Taking Middletown North to Beast of the East

15:14 The Brotherhood Between Wrestling Coaches

16:03 When Should Coaches Start Thinking About Weight?

17:38 Team Season vs. Individual Season

18:24 Developing State Champions — and Everyone Else

19:42 Wrestling Has Very Little to Do With Wrestling

20:42 Tyler Klinsky’s Journey to NCAA All-American

23:20 The Problems With NJ Wrestling’s Constant Changes

25:00 Scheduling Around Districts & Regions

26:32 Why Coaches Avoid Tough Competition

26:41 Are 100 Career Wins What They Used to Be?

27:02 Why Middletown North Schedules Tough

28:31 Sometimes You Need to Get Your Butt Kicked

29:17 Coaching Two Sports With a Growing Family

31:12 The Best Wrestling Gyms in New Jersey

32:15 How Many Weight Classes Should Wrestling Have?

33:52 Stop Avoiding the Big Matchups

34:36 Why Losing Before States Can Make You Better

36:44 Finding Tough Matches Within Dual Meets

38:13 Why Eric Morley Wouldn’t Let Jackson Fearon Quit

40:18 The Victories Nobody Sees

42:07 Could Eric Morley Become a Wrestling Official?

44:05 Greatest NJ High School Wrestler Ever?

45:03 What Actually Makes a Wrestler Great?

46:33 New Jersey Mat Chat Outro