Getting To Know Courtney Morgan, Matt Dudek's Apparent Replacement At U-M
Michigan Wolverines football Director of Recruiting Matt Dudek announced his departure for Mississippi State last week, with former Maize and Blue offensive lineman Courtney Morgan expected to fill his place (the University has not yet made the move official).
Morgan donned the winged helmet for five years from 1999-03 as a right tackle under former head coach Lloyd Carr, graduating with a degree in sports marketing and communication. He was also teammates in Ann Arbor with current U-M safeties coach, Ron Bellamy.
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So who exactly is Morgan, and what has he been doing since he graduated from Michigan following the 2003 season? His career path has been a unique one so far, with the Los Angeles native having been involved with plenty of activities and organizations that make him an intriguing replacement for Dudek.
His most recent stop came at San Jose State, which is just five-and-a-half hours from his hometown of Los Angeles. Morgan served as the Spartans' Coordinator of Player Personnel from the summer of 2019 through March of 2020.
He also did some impressive work prior to his stint at San Jose State. In 2017, Morgan helped co-found Pure Influence Group, where he represented 10 NFL players in an effort to expand their profiles and become more known.
Prior to his work with Pure Influence Group, Morgan served as the Director of Client Development for Vanguard Sports Group in Los Angeles. He spearheaded the Client Development division, specializing in contract negotiations, marketing, public relations, endorsements, social media consulting, brand strategy, philanthropy and management.
He worked with several well-known NFL players during this time (a notch on his belt that is sure to resonate with recruits considering Michigan), including Denver Broncos outside linebacker Von Miller, Los Angeles Chargers wideout Keenan Allen, Atlanta Falcons running back Cordarrelle Patterson, New York Giants linebacker Reggie Ragland, free agent cornerback Josh Norman and Cleveland Browns offensive tackle Jack Conklin.
Before working with Vanguard Sports Group, Morgan acted as UCLA's Director of Player Development and High School Relations from 2012-13. He helped Bruin youngsters immensely during his time there, creating the program's first post-football transition course, called "College to Career."
His work with youngsters reached beyond that as well, with Morgan also overseeing The Boys and Girl Club's first significant partnership with the UCLA football program. He helped guide 110 student-athletes to mentoring sessions on a weekly basis.
Morgan's professional career kicked off way back in 2004 following his graduation from Michigan, when he became a sales representative for Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, a position he held from 2004-08.
This past offseason has featured a wave of Michigan alumni returning to head coach Jim Harbaugh's staff, with Bellamy and running backs coach Mike Hart being the two primary examples.
Bellamy, Hart and Morgan all played at U-M under Carr during a winning era of Michigan football. Hart and Bellamy each won a Big Ten title in Ann Arbor (2004 for the former and 2000 for the latter), while Morgan won two as a player (2000 and 2003).
The love each of them has for U-M is an intangible non-alums oftentimes don't possess. They also understand what the culture and mentality should be like at Michigan, a problem that clearly needs to be fixed.
Dudek began assembling U-M's 2022 recruiting class, and is leaving the cupboard full for Morgan. Michigan's '22 haul has seven pledges in it so far, including three four-star prospects and a five-star.
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