In the world of college football recruiting in the winter of 1982-83, the craziest storyline in the Lone Star State revolved around the indecisiveness of one Ron Morris. In the month before signing day in February 1983, Bam Morris's older brother who'd go on to be an NFL wide receiver reportedly committed to four Southwest Conference schools: SMU, Texas Tech, Texas and TCU.
When he finally signed with SMU, Morris said he knew where he was going all along. He'd just hated to disappoint anyone on all those recruiting visits.
"It's just hard for me to say no to a coach," Morris explained. "If I could do it all over again, I would be stronger. I wish the coaches would just come out and ask if I was ready to commit."
Ron Morris was the recruit who couldn't
say no.
A few years later, on the other end of the spectrum, there was Robert Hall, the recruit who wasn't sure how to say yes. More than 30 years after his last college game, Hall remains among the top 10 on the Texas Tech football career charts for passing attempts, completions, yards and touchdowns. His 7,908 passing yards are sixth in school history, his 48 TD passes eighth, both most among 20th century Tech quarterbacks.
Hall's favorite receiver, Lloyd Hill, was inducted into the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame last year. Hall was inducted this year, earlier this month in Waco.
Many a Robert Hall story has begun with the lore that he started his career as a walk-on. It's right there in his bio in the Tech media guides of that era, and it's technically true. Tech coach Spike Dykes didn't put Hall on scholarship until his second semester. The whole truth's more nuanced.
"Well, let me clarify it," Hall said during an interview I did with him in 2017. "I was recruited here. And when I didn't commit, Coach said, well, he didn't know that I wanted to come here. Because I didn't talk a lot."
Sounds right. Back then, I did many a post-practice interview on the field before players headed to the locker room. A unique trait of Robert's: He'd talk to the press without even taking off his helmet.
"I used to run from interviews," he said. "Realizing everybody knows who you are, everybody sees you, I think that was my way of feeling like I was hiding. ... But over the years, I learned."
Hall knew his way around a football field. On Dallas Carter's undefeated Class 5A state champion in 1988, he was MVP of the title game. At least 10 Division I schools made him an offer, Hall said. Touring Tech, Hall liked what he saw and heard from Spike Dykes and offensive coordinator Dick Winder, but speaking up and making it all official? He wasn't sure how to go about that.
"Coach Dykes told my dad, 'I didn't think he wanted to come. He didn't say much,' " Hall remembered. "I didn't know the protocol and so when we said, 'We want to come here,' he said, 'Well, I committed two other guys (quarterbacks).' And I'm confident in myself. I said, 'Well, I’m coming anyway. That's where I want to go.' And so with that, they said, 'Well, come on. Come do what we know you can do. You'll be taken care of.' "
Tech coaches took care of him, and Hall took care of them. He redshirted in 1989, then led the Red Raiders in passing and total offense every year for the next four years. It wasn't until last year that he was bumped from the top five in Tech's career passing and total offense lists.
As Tech skill-position triumvirates go, the early 1990s big three of Hall, Hill and Bam Morris are hard to top. Hill was a second-team all-American. Morris set the Southwest Conference single-season rushing record while winning a Doak Walker Award.
Hall skillfully distributed — and looked smooth as brushed velvet doing it: a slim 6-footer wearing No. 1.
How slim?
"Let me tell you, I came in at 150 and left at 170," Hall said.
What Hall had, though, today they call arm talent. Strapped to the slender frame was the arm to make any throw, the touch to make it easy on receivers.
"Yeah, and I think as a quarterback, that's the most important thing," he said. "You need to focus on your skill sets instead of the size and look. That’s secondary. You know, can you play? And so for me, I never knew I was too small. Nobody discussed that."
These days, Hall is offensive coordinator at Hebron High School. He can show young Hawks passers how to play QB. And during those years when one's good enough to attract college recruiters ... he can tell them from experience how to navigate that process, too.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech football great Robert Hall, a quiet killer of pass defenses
