Bio

A familiar face around the Scooba campus, local product Morgan Goodrich is in her 14th year as head coach of East Mississippi Community College’s nationally recognized rodeo program.

Going head-to-head mostly against university-level teams within the competitive Ozark Region of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association, Goodrich’s EMCC teams continue to make a significant impact within the collegiate rodeo circuit.

The EMCC women’s program posted back-to-back top 10 national team finishes at the College National Finals Rodeo during the 2021 and 2022 events, while also featuring national reserve champion barrel racing sisters Jaylie and Taycie Matthews in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

EMCC’s recent span of women’s team success began when Goodrich was named the Ozark Region Rodeo Coach of the Year after guiding the EMCC women to a runner-up regional finish during the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season. The next year, EMCC’s women achieved program history by claiming a school-first NIRA Ozark Region regular-season team championship on the way to securing a program-best No. 4 national team finish at the 2021 CNFR. They followed up with a sixth-place women’s finish the next season.

Also under Goodrich’s direction, the EMCC men previously posted three consecutive top 10 national team finishes at the CNFR, while also featuring two individual national champions during that span. While exploding onto the national collegiate scene with a No. 5 men’s team finish at the 2016 CNFR, the Lions placed seventh nationally the following year and then tied for 10th in the 2018 CNFR men’s team standings. 

Individually, EMCC produced a pair of men’s national champions within a three-year span when Tristan Martin won the CNFR’s steer wrestling event in 2018 two years after Marcus Theriot earned the CNFR’s 2016 all-around cowboy title as well as the tie-down roping national championship.

Overall in men’s and women’s rodeo competition under Goodrich’s guidance, EMCC has had a total of 46 qualifiers for the CNFR, including a program-high eight CNFR participants apiece during the 2021 and 2022 nationals. In addition, a dozen student-athletes have combined to claim a total of 21 NIRA Ozark Region individual regular-season championships since EMCC’s rodeo program began in 2010.

Outside of the rodeo arena, Goodrich’s student-athletes have also excelled academically with combined team grade point averages of 3.54 in 2021-22 and 3.35 this past season.  

Prior to being selected as EMCC’s first and only rodeo coach a dozen years ago, Goodrich served a four-year stint as an assistant coach on the EMCC women’s basketball staff. She was a staff member on the EMCC Lady Lions team that participated in the 2009 NJCAA Tournament.

A lifelong resident of Scooba, Goodrich lettered for EMCC during the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 basketball seasons under the guidance of former coaching veteran Dale Peay. She went on to hone her rodeo skills at the University of West Alabama, where she earned regional reserve champion status as an all-around cowgirl and qualified for the CNFR in barrel racing.

Goodrich competed in basketball and rodeo during her high school career at Kemper Academy in DeKalb, having earned all-state and all-district basketball honors as a senior.

As a professional cowgirl, Goodrich was the 2000 PCA breakaway roping rookie champion and later earned titles as the 2011 champion breakaway roper at the La Honda Rodeo as well as the 2010 Pat Deaton Memorial team roping champion.

The former Morgan Gully is married to Wes Goodrich, who was formerly ranked as a top 20 performer in the PRCA circuit. Their daughter, Shadow, is a sophomore breakaway roper on EMCC’s rodeo team.