Former Baylor, Kentucky HC Guy Morriss Announces Alzheimer's Diagnosis

Guy Morriss, a former NFL player who also served as the head coach at Baylor and Kentucky, told WKYT that he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

"At first I couldn't write my name," Morriss said. "I could not write my name. I didn't know my ABCs. I couldn't do that little rhyme."

He continued, "You wake up one day...everything connects. Next time, you get out of bed. ... It's just a day at a time."

Morriss has tackled his treatment and therapy in the same way he approached his career, however.

"Guy takes it home with him. So if he doesn't perform up to his standards on one particular task, he will go home and practice as though he was in a game," Dr. Greg Jicha told WKYT. "He can see that there's difficulty, and he works at it. He practices. And that's incredibly good for his brain."

Despite putting that work in, however, Morriss has accepted that his prognosis came with a bleak outlook.

"We've all kind of accepted it. Everybody knows what we're dealing with," he said. "The prognosis of beating it is not gonna be there for me."'

Morriss spent two seasons (2001-02) as the head coach at Kentucky and five seasons (2004-08) at Baylor. His NFL playing career included stints with the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots, and he was an NFL assistant coach for the Patriots and Arizona Cardinals. He also spent time coaching at Valdosta State and Mississippi State.