How twin brother co-coaches are continuing the tradition of Melrose football, Orange Mound

When Jarrett Morrow was watching his son Jamarion play football at Germantown during the past few years, something just didn't feel right.

Jamarion was playing well; that wasn't the problem.

Wins, accolades and college offers swirled around like leaves in an autumn storm. It was the colors that he and his son were wearing. The red and white of Germantown just didn't match the maroon and gold of his heart.

Home — Melrose High School — was calling. It was always in the back of his and his twin brother Gerald's minds like a reoccurring dream.

"When (Jamarion) was at Germantown the first year, it was hard for me to wear those colors," Jarrett Morrow said. "It took me until his sophomore year to start wearing Germantown colors because I'm just so Melrose."

Just as Melrose is synonymous with the historic Orange Mound community, it's synonymous with the Morrow family. Generations have graduated from the school, all except Jamarion Morrow, now a senior who has committed to Missouri.

That's changing this year as the twin brothers — members of Melrose's last state title team in 1998 — return to jointly lead the football program with one of Memphis' top players in tow.

Following last season, the brothers planned to return to Melrose to serve as assistants under coach Derrick Bobo. When Bobo resigned, they knew that they had to step up to lead the program.

"It was a no-brainer," Gerald Morrow said. "We had the conversation like, 'It's gonna have to be us.' We have very close ties to the community. Everybody knows us, not just from playing."

The Morrow brothers have been Melrose assistants in the past. They've also led past youth football teams and camps in Orange Mound and have each taught at local schools. Teachers and leaders by nature, they share the vision of revitalizing Orange Mound through Melrose football.

"It's bigger than football, it's about saving a community," Jarrett Morrow said. "This can help change children's lives. We need to get the kids in the community looking up to the athletes again instead of looking up to the people that are doing the wrong thing."

That growth process already has begun and will only accelerate as football begins next month. The process is centered on family, leadership and accountability.

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"We want it to be a family," Jarrett Morrow said. "We want everyone to buy in and know that these are your family members."

"Within the first week, we saw kids buying in," Gerald Morrow said. "We saw kids holding themselves accountable."

Perhaps unintentionally, the Morrows have played a family role as well as father figures for their players. They've intentionally maintained consistent relationships and passed on life lessons.

"We meet every single day. We don't even talk about football at all for the most part," Gerald Morrow said. "We're talking about life, we're talking about academics, we're talking about staying away from the wrong people.

"We're ultimately becoming fathers to 40, 50 kids," Gerald Morrow said. "That's something we genuinely love to do."

In the decades that have passed since the brothers were youths in Orange Mound, Gerald Morrow says the feel of family and the practice of looking out for others has dwindled.

"That guidance isn't there. The parenting and discipline has been stripped away from our community," Gerald Morrow said. "Ultimately, the kids don't have a lot to do. The parks aren't open anymore. There used to be a time when you could just go to the swimming pool. There's so much tape involved in doing everything, so it's no surprise that they're being welcomed to the streets."

Through daily contact with players, personal expense in providing proper nutrition and the aforementioned life lessons, the brothers are hoping to help infuse love in the community that means so much to them.

"Orange Mound has always been a family. We're just trying to get that back and make our community great again," Gerald Morrow said.

Ultimately, the self-described "winners" still want to win football games. With college playing experience at Tennessee State, the twins bring an old-school, hard-nosed style of play that they hope translates to wins. Expectations are high.

"We expect to win a state championship," Gerald Morrow said. "We've won at every level we've played at. Everything sounds far-fetched until you do it."

In between the expected wins, the brothers and their players will continue to lead, uplift and support each other. It's about more than the games.

"Some kids on our team will probably never play significant minutes, but their lives are going to be changed outside of football," Gerald Morrow said. "They're going to be great men. They're going to be great fathers. That's the most important thing to us."

Wendell Shepherd Jr. is the high school sports beat writer for The Commercial Appeal. Contact Wendell at wendell.shepherd@commercialappeal.com. Follow Wendell on X, formerly known as Twitter, @wendellsjr_.