Morgan, Ex-Husky Recruiting Guru, Now Nation's Highest Paid

The talent procurer has nearly tripled his Washington salary since leaving.

Courtney Morgan has gone from the UW to the highest-paid recruiting coordinator in the nation at Alabama. / Dan Raley

The University of Washington football recruiting coordinator duties once were handled by a Husky assistant coach who had a gift for gab and maybe a little more time on his hands than the rest of the staff, hence he could spend endless hours on the phone pursuing talent and get a little boost in his paycheck.

Then there is Courtney Morgan -- who similar to former UW football coach Kalen DeBoer and starting center Parker Brailsford for the most part -- spent two years in Montlake building a big reputation that has taken him to Alabama where he is considered the best at what he does and, same as DeBoer, has reached financial levels unimagined.

For all of those disgruntled Montlake fans calling these guys traitors for relocating to Tuscaloosa, consider that the SEC school just elevated the amiable and highly effective Morgan to college football's highest-paid player personnel director, or general manager, by giving him an annual salary of $825,000 over three years, according to multiple news outlets.

That's more than triple and double his UW earnings, with Morgan receiving $225,000 in 2022 and $325,000 last season.

DeBoer, of course, went from $4.2 million with the Huskies to $10.8 million at Alabama. Brailsford? While his NIL package is not public, he was just named the first-team AP preseason All-America center and is positioning himself for a fairly lucrative NFL career.

Why would any of these guys ever leave?

Alabama jumped to elevate Morgan from his initial $500,000 base salary to his historic pay level after USC reportedly tried to hire the talent guru away from the Crimson Tide this past summer, forcing DeBoer to scramble to get university support to keep him. Morgan's 2025 recruiting class currently is ranked No. 2 nationally by ESPN.

At Washington, the hiring of Morgan from Michigan was considered the first genius coaching move of many by DeBoer. At one point, it was just those two men trying to relaunch the Husky program coming off an underachieving 4-8 season before the rest of the coaching staff was filled out.

While in Seattle, Morgan shared his wisdom and charm with prospective UW recruits, coaches, players and even media members, more than willing to explain how things work to the latter without divulging any company secrets.

For example, he pointed out how an initial recruiting offer is really nothing more than him handing out his business card, a process recognized as necessary in order to hold lengthy conversations with a prospect inundated by a crush of school advances.

An accomplished offensive lineman himself from Los Angeles, Morgan had the Huskies among his college football suitors before accepting a scholarship from Michigan. He explained how he passed on the UW because it had just fired Jim Lambright as coach in 1998, a situation he considered too messy at the time. He was on a recruiting visit to Colorado when then-Buffaloes coach Rick Neuheisel announced he was taking the Husky job.

"Coach Lambright was out and Rick tried to recruit me to here," Morgan recalled. "There was too much going on. Ultimately, Michigan was where I wanted to go."

Courtney Morgan practically tripled his salary by going from the UW to Alabama. / Morgan

Morgan would grow into a 6-foot-3, 300-pound player for the Big Ten powerhouse, appearing in 28 games and starting 11, while playing each of the five positions on the offensive line. He was on Michigan teams that split home and away games with the Huskies, taking part in a 31-29 Wolverines victory in Ann Arbor in 2002.

Now Courtney Morgan ranks at the top of college football in what he does, which is procuring talent, and he does it well and profitably.

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