Morriss, 56, was weighing whether he wanted to move here and start his retirement on his 100-acre farm outside Perryville as a coach and teacher at Boyle or continue to pursue opportunities to coach either in the National Football League or at the collegiate level again.
Burkich has no doubts that Boyle will still be able to attract a high-profile coach to fill the vacancy created when Chris Pardue resigned last month to become the offensive coordinator at Campbellsville University even though Morriss turned down the Rebels.
Boyle had been in serious discussions with Morriss for about a week after initially approaching former coach Chuck Smith, who led Boyle to five straight state titles from 1999-2003 and six straight title game berths from 1999-2004 before leaving to join the Kentucky staff.
"I still think our position will be looked at by a lot of coaches, and maybe by even more coaches now," Burkich said. "I have no doubt that we will be able to get a top-notch coach and teacher in here to work with our kids."
Burkich said the "search will go on" now that Morriss has decided to look at other opportunities.
"He seriously considered us, which is all we asked," Burkich said. "I know this whole thing had to be a life-changing decision for him and his family. I still think they will eventually end up in this area, but not now. He wants to leave his options open and go from there.
"He knew we were in a position that we needed a decision. He didn't want to hold us up any longer. But it was still a positive experience for us and hopefully for him as well. I know we benefited just by discussing our position with him."
No discussion of outside income
While there were numerous rumors about what Morriss' salary package would have been - sources told The Advocate-Messenger it would have exceeded $100,000 - Burkich said he did not discuss income other than the coaching and teaching salary.
"I could talk about what he could make teaching and coaching. That's really all I could do and that is not a matter of negotiation," Burkich said. "There are opportunities that someone of his stature has to command dollar-wise in the professional or college ranks. This was not a money decision for him. It was more of a lifestyle decision.
Burkich said he would take a few days to "collect my thoughts" before resuming the hunt for a new coach.
Burkich says any high school coaches interested in the job should be not offended that Boyle made its first offer to a former Division I head coach who was on two Super Bowl teams and earned All-Pro honors during his National Football League career.
"We had a chance to have serious discussions with the coach who led the flagship university in this state for two years," Burkich said. "It was definitely a worthwhile experience for us. I can't believe any other potential candidate could look at it and see it any other way.
"Just talking to Guy Morriss opened our eyes to so many possibilities. He gave us a whole new direction to think about and that can only help us as we move our coaching search forward now."
Boyle athletics director Jim Spears says everyone may need to "catch our breath" after the whirlwind week created by Morriss' interest in the job.
"Part of my job is to always think ahead about what could happen and where do we start if we lose a coach. It will be interesting to see what impact all this attention on the job has," Spears said. "Maybe there will be people who did not know about the job before who will now be interested. They might think if Guy Morriss was interested, maybe they should be. In the long run, we will get more folks to express an interest in this job than prior to Guy becoming interested."
