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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Track and Field
Turner, Morrie
Morrie Turner
- Title:
- Assistant Coach - Sprints, Hurdles
- Email:
- mdturne6@olemiss.edu
- Phone:
- 662-915-7538
Morrie Turner is in his second season as an assistant coach in 2025-26 for the Ole Miss track & field program, working specifically with the Rebel sprinters and hurdlers.
In his first season with the Rebels in 2025, Turner put together some of the best men's relay squads seen in Oxford in decades -- including a school-record 4x100-meter relay outdoors that broke the school record (39.11) and earned Second-Team All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. That foursome of senior jumper Iangelo Atkinstall-Daley, freshman Jordan Urrutia, freshman Wesley Todd and junior college transfer Joseph Michel also scored the first points in the 4x1 at Ole Miss since 2019 with their eighth-place showing at the conference meet.
Individually, Michel ran the second-fastest 100-meter dash in Ole Miss history at 10.10, while the freshman Urrutia made all-time lists in the 100, 200 and 400-meter dashes outdoors.
Turner – a native of nearby Batesville, Mississippi – owns a decade of experience coaching the sprints and hurdles in the collegiate ranks, including most recently at South Carolina in 2024 where he assisted in coaching one of the top sprints programs in the nation.
Turner’s one season in Columbia was an eventful one, helping push the Gamecocks to two top-15 national team finishes thanks in large part to a powerful group of women’s sprinters he helped coach under head coach Tim Hall.
Specifically, Turner helped mentor the Gamecocks’ national title women’s 4x400-meter relay indoors of Zaya Akins, Jahnile Registre, Jayla Jamison and JaMeesia Ford that became the No. 5 relay in collegiate history at 3:26.05. In addition to the NCAA Indoor title, Turner coached the South Carolina 4x4 team to an SEC Indoor title, an SEC Outdoor runner-up finish and a sixth-place finish at the national outdoor meet.
Prior to South Carolina, Turner was an assistant coach and then an associate head coach at Alabama State, where he turned the Hornets into a SWAC powerhouse in just two seasons in 2022 and 2023. Turner had national success with eight NCAA qualifiers, 20 NCAA East Region qualifiers and four First-Team All-Americans with his fifth-place men’s 4x100-meter relay outdoors in 2023. But it was at the conference level where Turner’s Hornets did serious damage, winning eight conference titles, 47 SWAC medals and an astounding 285 points scored in just four total conference meets across 2022 and 2023.
Turner coached the aforementioned men’s 4x1 to the NCAA final in 2023, where they ran 38.56 to finish fifth for All-America honors – which at the time ranked the Hornets as the No. 16 men’s 4x1 in collegiate history. That year, Alabama State was the only non-Power 5 team in the country to qualify both a men’s 4x100 and 4x400-meter relay for the national meet in Austin, Texas.
Turner’s sprinters swept the 2023 SWAC Outdoor Championship in the 100-meter, 200-meter, 400-meter, 4x1 and the 4x4 – the only Division I school in the country to do so at their conference meet in 2023. Under his guidance, his sprinters accounted for 98 of the men’s 144 points at the SWAC Championship, leading the Hornets to their 58th outdoor SWAC title. He also coached 11 participants at the NCAA East Regional, the most qualifiers in Alabama State history. During the 2023 indoor season, Turner led the Hornets to sweeping both the men and women’s SWAC Indoor Championship, accomplishing four school records along the way. He also oversaw Taranique Alexander who was named SWAC Indoor Field Athlete of the Year.
Before his time at Alabama State, Turner served as the associate head coach at Coffeyville Community College, where he was named the USTFCCCA Central Region Coach of the Year in both 2020 and 2021. He successfully coached seven Region VI Conference Champions in his two-year stint, while also coaching the conference’s Field Athlete of the Meet in Henry Kiner. In 2021, his sprinters finished first, 2nd, third and fourth in the NJCAA 60-meter rankings, which had never been done before leading up to the National Championship. His 60m event group ran an average of 6.71, the fastest event squad in NJCAA history since the USTFCCCA began doing squad rankings.
Turner also spent time at Rogers State University (2014-19) where he built the track & field program from the ground up, coaching 29 Great-American Conference Champions and overseeing 113 All-Great-American Conference honors. Turner’s team achieved nine USTFCCCA South Central All-Regional honors and nine NCAA All-Americans between the indoor and outdoor seasons. By 2018, Rogers State ranked inside the NCAA Division II Top-25 rankings, thanks in large part to the sprints group.
Turner earned his associates in arts from Hinds Community College in 2011, later earning his bachelors in recreation administration from Oral Roberts in 2013. Turner wrapped up his education with a masters in sport administration from Concordia University-Irvine in 2019.
Turner has three sons with his wife, Ericka: Morrie (MJ), Maddox and Michael.
Morrie Turner Coaching Career • At a Glance
2024 – South Carolina – Assistant Coach
2023 – Alabama State – Associate Head Coach
2022 – Alabama State – Assistant Coach
2020-21 – Coffeyville Community College – Associate Head Coach
2014-19 – Rogers State – Assistant Coach
Morrie Turner Division I Coaching Career • By the Numbers
1 NCAA Title (2024 Indoor Women’s 4x400-Meter Relay)
12 First-Team All-Americans
17 NCAA Points Scored
20 NCAA Qualifiers
29 NCAA East Region Qualifiers
9 Conference Titles (1 SEC, 8 SWAC)
21 Conference Champions (4 SEC, 17 SWAC)
55 Conference Medalists (8 SEC, 47 SWAC)
306 Conference Points Scored (19 SEC, 285 SWAC)
In his first season with the Rebels in 2025, Turner put together some of the best men's relay squads seen in Oxford in decades -- including a school-record 4x100-meter relay outdoors that broke the school record (39.11) and earned Second-Team All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. That foursome of senior jumper Iangelo Atkinstall-Daley, freshman Jordan Urrutia, freshman Wesley Todd and junior college transfer Joseph Michel also scored the first points in the 4x1 at Ole Miss since 2019 with their eighth-place showing at the conference meet.
Individually, Michel ran the second-fastest 100-meter dash in Ole Miss history at 10.10, while the freshman Urrutia made all-time lists in the 100, 200 and 400-meter dashes outdoors.
Turner – a native of nearby Batesville, Mississippi – owns a decade of experience coaching the sprints and hurdles in the collegiate ranks, including most recently at South Carolina in 2024 where he assisted in coaching one of the top sprints programs in the nation.
Turner’s one season in Columbia was an eventful one, helping push the Gamecocks to two top-15 national team finishes thanks in large part to a powerful group of women’s sprinters he helped coach under head coach Tim Hall.
Specifically, Turner helped mentor the Gamecocks’ national title women’s 4x400-meter relay indoors of Zaya Akins, Jahnile Registre, Jayla Jamison and JaMeesia Ford that became the No. 5 relay in collegiate history at 3:26.05. In addition to the NCAA Indoor title, Turner coached the South Carolina 4x4 team to an SEC Indoor title, an SEC Outdoor runner-up finish and a sixth-place finish at the national outdoor meet.
Prior to South Carolina, Turner was an assistant coach and then an associate head coach at Alabama State, where he turned the Hornets into a SWAC powerhouse in just two seasons in 2022 and 2023. Turner had national success with eight NCAA qualifiers, 20 NCAA East Region qualifiers and four First-Team All-Americans with his fifth-place men’s 4x100-meter relay outdoors in 2023. But it was at the conference level where Turner’s Hornets did serious damage, winning eight conference titles, 47 SWAC medals and an astounding 285 points scored in just four total conference meets across 2022 and 2023.
Turner coached the aforementioned men’s 4x1 to the NCAA final in 2023, where they ran 38.56 to finish fifth for All-America honors – which at the time ranked the Hornets as the No. 16 men’s 4x1 in collegiate history. That year, Alabama State was the only non-Power 5 team in the country to qualify both a men’s 4x100 and 4x400-meter relay for the national meet in Austin, Texas.
Turner’s sprinters swept the 2023 SWAC Outdoor Championship in the 100-meter, 200-meter, 400-meter, 4x1 and the 4x4 – the only Division I school in the country to do so at their conference meet in 2023. Under his guidance, his sprinters accounted for 98 of the men’s 144 points at the SWAC Championship, leading the Hornets to their 58th outdoor SWAC title. He also coached 11 participants at the NCAA East Regional, the most qualifiers in Alabama State history. During the 2023 indoor season, Turner led the Hornets to sweeping both the men and women’s SWAC Indoor Championship, accomplishing four school records along the way. He also oversaw Taranique Alexander who was named SWAC Indoor Field Athlete of the Year.
Before his time at Alabama State, Turner served as the associate head coach at Coffeyville Community College, where he was named the USTFCCCA Central Region Coach of the Year in both 2020 and 2021. He successfully coached seven Region VI Conference Champions in his two-year stint, while also coaching the conference’s Field Athlete of the Meet in Henry Kiner. In 2021, his sprinters finished first, 2nd, third and fourth in the NJCAA 60-meter rankings, which had never been done before leading up to the National Championship. His 60m event group ran an average of 6.71, the fastest event squad in NJCAA history since the USTFCCCA began doing squad rankings.
Turner also spent time at Rogers State University (2014-19) where he built the track & field program from the ground up, coaching 29 Great-American Conference Champions and overseeing 113 All-Great-American Conference honors. Turner’s team achieved nine USTFCCCA South Central All-Regional honors and nine NCAA All-Americans between the indoor and outdoor seasons. By 2018, Rogers State ranked inside the NCAA Division II Top-25 rankings, thanks in large part to the sprints group.
Turner earned his associates in arts from Hinds Community College in 2011, later earning his bachelors in recreation administration from Oral Roberts in 2013. Turner wrapped up his education with a masters in sport administration from Concordia University-Irvine in 2019.
Turner has three sons with his wife, Ericka: Morrie (MJ), Maddox and Michael.
Morrie Turner Coaching Career • At a Glance
2024 – South Carolina – Assistant Coach
2023 – Alabama State – Associate Head Coach
2022 – Alabama State – Assistant Coach
2020-21 – Coffeyville Community College – Associate Head Coach
2014-19 – Rogers State – Assistant Coach
Morrie Turner Division I Coaching Career • By the Numbers
1 NCAA Title (2024 Indoor Women’s 4x400-Meter Relay)
12 First-Team All-Americans
17 NCAA Points Scored
20 NCAA Qualifiers
29 NCAA East Region Qualifiers
9 Conference Titles (1 SEC, 8 SWAC)
21 Conference Champions (4 SEC, 17 SWAC)
55 Conference Medalists (8 SEC, 47 SWAC)
306 Conference Points Scored (19 SEC, 285 SWAC)
The Season: New Heights (2025)
Friday, August 01
From Walk-On to National Champ: Arvesta Troupe (T&F)
Monday, June 23
HIGHLIGHTS: Arvesta Troupe Makes History as NCAA High Jump Champ
Friday, June 13
PRESSER: Arvesta Troupe Talks Historic NCAA High Jump Win
Friday, June 13
