Donald Hill-Eley explains why Morgan State stood on visitors' sideline

HEAD COACH DONALD HILL-ELEY
MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL

BALTIMORE, Maryland - When the Morgan State football team took the field at Hughes Stadium in Baltimore for Saturday’s home and Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opener against Norfolk State, the Bears did not run to the sideline closest to their fans, their marching band and their cheerleaders.

Instead, the team stood on the visitors’ sideline – in front of the Spartans’ fans, marching band and cheerleaders.

After the 27-21 loss, Morgan State coach Donald Hill-Eley explained his decision to have the team stand on the opposing sideline.

“We have about 14 freshmen that are playing. And when we’re on the home side, you’re accessible to the crowd and everybody that’s coming over and talking to the kids,” he said. “It’s so much distraction going on that we figured that you move them over and we could have the focus of those kids. Not looking back and seeing their parents in the stands, not having former players walk up and down the sideline because there’s just so many different types of things that go on in the game.

"So, we just figured that we would move them to the other side and at least we don’t have to coach kids out of the stands. You’ve got enough trying to play the game on the field. You shouldn’t have to try to manage the sideline.”

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