For decades, the AutoZone Liberty Bowl has stood as one of Memphis’s signature sporting events, blending college football tradition with the city’s civic pride. Among those who played an important role in its history was Olin Morris, a respected Memphis leader whose steady guidance and commitment to community helped strengthen the bowl during a period of transition.
Olin’s connection to the AutoZone Liberty Bowl began in 1965. He was one of the key people who secured the Bowl for Memphis when the game moved from Philadelphia. From 1965 to 2023, Olin was a moving force in many different roles for the Liberty Bowl. In 1993, he was selected to serve as president of the organization. The presidency of the AutoZone Liberty Bowl required a deep engagement with the city’s business, civic, and sports networks. For Morris, whose life was already defined by service to both faith and community, the role was a natural extension of his values.
As president, Morris inherited an organization that had enjoyed decades of success but was also facing organizational pressures. The AutoZone Liberty Bowl, like many postseason college football games, relied heavily on sponsorships, television agreements, and community support to thrive. At the time, the college football landscape was shifting rapidly, with conference realignments, new bowl tie-ins, and increasing competition for national attention. Ensuring Memphis’s bowl game remained relevant required leadership that was both pragmatic and visionary.
Morris rose to the challenge. Working alongside fellow civic leaders such as Bob Martin, Admiral Al Sackett and Les Dale, he recognized that the AutoZone Liberty Bowl needed fresh momentum and stronger financial footing to secure its future. Their collective efforts eventually led to one of the most important turning points in the bowl’s modern history: persuading Memphis businessman Billy Dunavant to assume leadership of the event. Dunavant, who had already established himself as a sports entrepreneur through his ownership of the Memphis Showboats of the USFL, had both the resources and the vision to breathe new life into the bowl.
Under Dunavant’s stewardship, and with Morris’s encouragement, seasoned sports executive Steve Ehrhart was brought in to manage the bowl’s day-to-day operations. Ehrhart would go on to become one of the most influential figures in
AutoZone Liberty Bowl history, credited with stabilizing and expanding the game’s reach. While Morris’s role was not always in the public spotlight, his influence in helping guide the transition was critical. He embodied the kind of behind-the-scenes leadership that sustains civic institutions through uncertain times.
Morris’s involvement with the AutoZone Liberty Bowl was also consistent with his larger idea of service. A man deeply rooted in his faith, he understood that civic engagement was an extension of stewardship. An opportunity to contribute to something greater than oneself. For him, the AutoZone Liberty Bowl was not only a football game but a tradition that brought national attention to Memphis, boosted the local economy, and created moments of pride for the city’s residents.
As one of the great contributors to the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, Olin Morris’s time was more than a single year as president. It was a reflection of his lifelong pattern of stepping into leadership when his community needed him most. His efforts helped safeguard one of Memphis’s most cherished traditions during a critical moment in its history. Today, the AutoZone Liberty Bowl continues to flourish, in part because of the foundation Morris and his contemporaries laid decades ago.
