Don Morton (born April 10, 1947) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

player, coach, and software executive. He served as the head football coach at

North Dakota State University North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota, United States. It was ...

(1979–1984), the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a Private university, private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Presbyterian Church, although it is now nondenominational, and the campus ...

(1985–1986), and the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

(1987–1989), compiling a career

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

record of 76–51. Morton's 1983 North Dakota State team won an NCAA Division II Football Championship.

Playing career and education

A native of Flint, Michigan, Morton played center at Augustana College in

Rock Island, Illinois Rock Island is a city in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 37,108 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located at the confluence of the Rock River (Mississippi River tributary), Rock a ...

in the late 1960s and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology in 1969. He later earned a Master of Arts degree in education and administration from

Western Illinois University Western Illinois University (WIU) is a public university in Macomb, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1899 as Western Illinois State Normal School. As the normal school grew, it became Western Illinois State Teachers College. Once West ...

in 1974.

Coaching career

Morton began his professional career in 1969 as assistant football and head wrestling coach at

Moline High School Moline High School is a public four-year high school located in Moline, Illinois, a city in Rock Island County, in the Midwest area of the United States. The school is the only public high school in the city of Moline, and is part of Moline-C ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, and served there through 1971. His successes at Moline High earned him his first collegiate position as offensive line coach and offensive coordinator at Augustana College in

Sioux Falls, South Dakota Sioux Falls ( ) is the List of cities in South Dakota, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the List of United States cities by population, 117th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha Coun ...

from 1971 to 1976. He then moved on to

as offensive backfield coach from 1977 to 1978 and was named head coach there in 1979. Nearing the end of his failed stint at Wisconsin, Morton, on his coaches' show, emerged from a coffin to declare that he wasn't dead yet.

Later years

A few years after his tenure as head football coach at Wisconsin, Morton returned to North Dakota State as the Assistant to the President and Director of University Relations. He later joined Great Plains Software as chief of staff for

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Doug Burgum Douglas James Burgum ( ; born August 1, 1956) is an American businessman and politician who has served as the 55th United States Secretary of the Interior, United States secretary of the interior since February 1, 2025, under President Donald Tru ...

. Morton became an employee of

Microsoft Corporation Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

through the acquisition of Great Plains in 2001. Morton was the site leader for the Microsoft campus in

Fargo, North Dakota Fargo is the List of cities in North Dakota, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Cass County, North Dakota, Cass County. The population was 125,990 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, which was e ...

. Morton is now retired from Microsoft.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morton, Don 1947 births Living people Augustana (Illinois) Vikings football players Augustana (South Dakota) Vikings football coaches North Dakota State Bison football coaches Tulsa Golden Hurricane football coaches Wisconsin Badgers football coaches Western Illinois University alumni High school football coaches in Illinois Players of American football from Flint, Michigan