Matt Morgan is ready to get to work. Morgan, the new athletic director/vice principal at The Dalles High School, was hired July 26 and is already serving in his new role. With school set to open for incoming freshmen on Sept. 5 and fall sports gearing up, Morgan has a lot to do.
On the academic side, Morgan will be overseeing the CTE (career, technical, and education) Program, while as athletic director, he will oversee all aspects of the school’s athletic department.
On Friday, he was meeting with athletes who were bringing in their eligibility forms, gaining familiarity with the upcoming sports schedules, and getting to know the coaches.
Although he is new to The Dalles community, Morgan -- who will take the place of Mike Somnis, who served as TDHS’ athletic director for the past four years -- has a couple of “home field” advantages as he begins his new job.
First, he is familiar with Oregon. He attended Burns High School, and graduated from there in 1987. More recently, from 2014 to 2017, he served as athletic director at St. Helens High School, which occasionally played teams from The Dalles.
And in one big edge, he has a high school buddy who lives in The Dalles and just happened to need a house sitter for a couple months while he’s out of town.
That’s huge, because while Morgan’s house in Rainier is on the market, he won’t have far to commute as he begins his work at TDHS.
Despite arriving during this August heat wave The Dalles is experiencing, Morgan said he is not worried about the weather conditions. He pointed out that he went to college in Florida, and is used to the heat.
“I’m OK with it,” he said. “Being in Flordia was very humid and tropical, and in St. Helens it was very wet. This is the happy medium right here. We’ll see how it goes. I’ll have to put in a full year here to see how it compares.”
Morgan’s time in Florida was very productive. He attended two colleges — Florida Southern University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree, and Florida Atlantic, where he graduated with a master’s degree in educational leadership in 2008.
Morgan is also very familiar with school sports, as an athlete and later through coaching.
“I played football, basketball and baseball through high school,” he said, adding that he is also an avid swimmer.
“I started my coaching career with a swimming team in 1988, and coached a rec team through college,” he said, adding that he has experience as an assistant coach in track, girls’ soccer, and softball as well.
Morgan also served as a head coach for a middle school team in Florida, and recently got some inspiring news related to that time.
“One of my former middle school players, John Collins, just got drafted by the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks,” Morgan said. “It’s pretty exciting.”
As preparations for the new school year begin, Morgan has been trying to get to know the staff and meet student-athletes as well.
“I met the coaches Wednesday night, and I look forward to be able to be out and about and visiting practices,” he said. “I want to visit them all and get to know the needs of their programs and how I can help.”
He added that he plans to attend virtually all the school’s sporting events.
“I will be at every game unless there’s a conflict,” he said. “Primarily home games, but I plan to travel for away football games.”
Morgan brings a positive approach to his role as athletic director. He said he sees school athletics as very important to the overall school experience.
“I firmly believe that if an athlete has a great time playing a game they love and can’t wait for the next season — that’s success, and you’re doing the right thing,” he explained. “And it has nothing to do with the scoreboard. As odd as it sounds, you can have a successful 0-12 season, and I’ve seen dysfunctional 19-1 seasons.”
Above all, Morgan wants student-athletes to enjoy their high school days.
“It’s a game, and if it’s not fun, then whether winning or losing, it’s not fun,” Morgan explained. “If we’re doing things right, everyone on the team has bought in to the team concept, and they have a good experience.”
Morgan added that while he is still new to the community, he feels comfortable in The Dalles.
“I get the feeling the communities are very similar, St. Helens and The Dalles,” he said. “Kids are kids and parents are parents, no matter where you go. The Dalles has passion for athletics and St. Helens was the same. The community really values athletics, as do I.”
Morgan pointed out that he believes sports activities are essential to the overall educational process, because they serve to motivate many students.
“Extra-curricular activities are a nice carrot, and often are what keeps kids in the door,” he said.
“Athletics plays a big role, but it’s a privilege, not a right. I’m big on academics first. Our goal as educators is to get you to graduation and on to the next step, whether that be a career or college.”
With fall sports about to get started, Morgan said he is looking forward to some upcoming tilts versus St. Helens High School, where he served as athletic director.
The first game against St. Helens will come on Sept. 21, when The Dalles hosts the girls’ soccer team, with the boys’ soccer team traveling to play St. Helens the same day.
Then, on Dec. 15, the St. Helens boys’ basketball team will open its season in The Dalles, while the Riverhawks girls’ basketball team will be on the road in St. Helens the same day.
“We have St. Helens on the schedule a couple times,” Morgan said. “It’ll be great to see the St. Helens coaching staff and the students. That’ll be fun.”
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