Coaches
Rick Root
Head Coach
Rick Root became the boys' golf head coach in 2005. Root also served as an assistant coach with the boys' team in 2004 and as an assistant coach with the girls' golf team in 2002.
A native of Flint, Michigan, Root graduated from Kearsley High School where he played on the golf, basketball, and baseball teams. He finished third in the high school state championship golf tournament as a senior.
Root began his collegiate career at Western Michigan University and was a member of the Broncos' golf team. He transferred after two years at WMU to the University of California, Berkeley, where he continued playing collegiate golf and earned a degree in business.
A certified public accountant, Root is the president and owner of his own firm. He has worked as a CPA for over 25 years and holds several other business interests, including serving as president and majority shareholder of Business Books, Inc., stockholder and director of First Bank of Jacksonville, and president and chairman of the board of the trustees of St. Augustine Cemetery Association.
Root is also a member of the Deerwood Country Club, where he is a two-time club champion, as well as the 2003 match play club champion.
Root and his wife, Kelly, have three daughters, all at Bolles: Emily '16, Amelia '18, and Sarah '21.
Matt Morris
Assistant Coach
Matt Morris currently serves as director of athletics and wrestling head coach in addition to assisting with the boys' golf team. Morris spent 11 years on the Bolles staff from 1982-93 and then returned in 1998.
As athletic director, Morris has overseen a program that was named the ninth-best overall athletic program in the nation by Sports Illustrated in 2005. He has also helped Bolles Athletics post 25 consecutive years of earning the Florida Athletic Coaches Association's Carey E. McDonald Award for overall athletic success and 12 years of earning the Florida High School Athletic Association's Floyd E. Lay All-Sports Award.
Morris has coached several other sports during his career including football, track and field, and baseball. He has guided the Bolles wrestling program to two state titles, one regional title, and seven district titles, as well as 12 individual state champions, 19 state finalists, and 36 state place finishers. He has also taught physical education, social studies, served as assistant dean and dean of students, and director of transportation at the School.
In between his stints at Bolles, Morris served as athletic director, varsity football head coach and weightlifting coach at Nease High School. Morris initiated the wrestling program at Nease, leading the team to a district title.
Morris graduated with a bachelor of business administration from the University of Georgia, where he was a captain of the varsity wrestling team. He was also a member of UGA's chapter of the Blue Key national honor society. Morris earned a master of education degree from the University of North Florida.
Growing up in Avondale Estates, Georgia, Morris was the salutatorian of his class at Avondale High School. He also participated in football, wrestling, and track and field at the school. He won two state titles in wrestling and is a member of the Avondale Football Hall of Fame. He also earned the ranking of Eagle Scout.
Morris and his wife, Karen, have two children, both at Bolles: Kristina '09 and Matthew '12.