Lee Morris no longer marvels, nor he does he swoon.

Yeah, Kyler Murray exploded like a supernova into the college football consciousness this season. Yeah, Murray’s throw for 3,674 yards while completing 70.6 percent of his passes with 48 total touchdowns. And yeah, Murray’s total yardage and touchdown numbers are ahead of Baker Mayfield’s Heisman pace from a year ago. But Morris isn’t surprised.

A teammate of Murray’s at Allen High School in Texas, Morris saw Murray accomplish what many deemed impossible on the regular.

“That’s just him,” Morris told 247Sports in September. “Nothing really new to me.”

Forgive the rest of the country if they continue to freak out, Lee. Murray’s production is that incredible.

Considering most of the offseason talk about Murray surrounded his future in baseball and the Sooners’ quarterback competition, it would’ve been reasonable to expect Murray to be a step down from Mayfield. The No. 9 overall pick of the Oakland A’s shouldn’t be able to dominate two sports, right?

But Murray is a little different than most, especially if you saw him play in high school – or coached him.

“Kyler’s senior year created a situation where I watch him on TV now, I think they’re going to score every play because they’re snapping him the ball,” said Murray’s HS offensive coordinator Jeff Fleener. “That’s how it felt the last two years at Allen. Because we were snapping it to him we legitimately might score on that play.”

Fleener laughs after saying this.

Not because what he’s saying is hyperbolic. It’s simply an absurd statement on the surface yet 100 percent true. Murray finished his high school career 43-0 as a starter. Allen won a trio of state championships in Texas’ highest classification under his direction, and Murray earned the 2014 National Player of the Year Award from four different organizations.

As Murray trounces through his final year of football, it’s worth looking back at his historic high school career for context of what we’re seeing now from the 247Sports Composite five-star.

Like Morris said, it’s nothing new.

***

Murray’s storied run at Allen began on the bench. As then-Allen head coach Tom Westerberg remembers: “He didn’t get off to just the best start.” Murray, 15 at the time, moved to Allen a few weeks prior to his sophomore season. The Eagles’ coaching staff knew they had something special, but a few weeks of preparation wasn’t enough before facing the defending state champion Southlake Carroll Dragons. The game would mark the opening of Allen’s new $60 million stadium.

Even now, Murray admits it’s the only time he’s ever felt pre-game nerves.

Not yet starting, Murray went three-and-out in his first series – a designed package of plays on Allen’s third drive. Such futility rarely occurred after that.

In the first start of Murray’s career against Plano East, Fleener remembers Murray finishing 17 of 19 or “something crazy ridiculous” in a 56-0 win. Allen won Murray’s 11 starts that season by an average of 27 points. Murray finished that season with 2,004 passing yards, 1,370 yards rushing and 42 total touchdowns.

That would prove to be only a glimpse of Murray’s prowess.

Fleener remembers Murray snapping off 50-yard passes with ease the next year during fall camp. Murray laughed as he did it: “I don’t remember being able to do that!” Murray went through a full football offseason of workouts and returned a quarterback instead of a “15-year-old kid, athlete who was very talented and just got by on it.”

“It was just so effortless,” Fleener said.

Allen’s offense shifted as a result. Paced by an offensive line that included Ole Miss’ Greg Little and Oklahoma’s Bobby Evans – along with three other future college signees – the Eagles gave Murray needed to maximize his impact. It didn’t hurt that Allen featured a quartet of future Division 1 receivers on its roster, including Morris and North Texas star Jalen Guyton, a group that allowed Allen to challenge teams downfield.

Yet it’s Murray who made things go.

During the 2013 offseason Fleener adopted the RPO concepts that Kliff Kingsbury used the previous year to guide Johnny Manziel to his Heisman at Texas A&M. Many plays in Murray’s final two seasons at Allen included a concept where Murray would pop his feet and have a quick passing option out wide. If Murray didn’t like those options, the offensive line blocked a quarterback counter off the weakside and Murray could take off.

The results were devastating. Despite rarely playing a snap in the fourth quarter, Murray finished his junior season with 3,669 yards passing, 1,274 yards rushing and 65 total touchdowns. His senior year numbers look even sillier. Murray led Allen to its third state title by passing for 4,713 yards, rushing for 1,495 and totaling 79 touchdowns.

Cody Butler, who eventually made the team at North Texas before injuries forced him to retire, transferred to Allen his senior year in 2014 specifically to play with Murray.

“At my previous school we had plays where we were told, ‘You probably won’t get the ball on this play,’” Butler said. “But with Kyler every single route had to be covered or he was going to expose the defense.”

Murray (5-foot-10) is the only quarterback in the Top247 era, which dates back to 2011, to receive a five-star grade at under 6-foot-1. The five-star rating from 247Sports is meant to project a future first round NFL talent. Sub-six-foot QBs don’t often pop up in that discussion. But Murray’s dominance proved too much to ignore.

“If we were every going to give a five-star grade to a 5-foot-10 quarterback, Kyler Murray was going to be the guy,” said 247Sports Director of Scouting Barton Simmons. “You just couldn’t produce a high school career that was more accomplished than what Kyler put together … If there was ever a replication of Russell Wilson, Kyler Murray was as good a candidate as you were going to find.”

***

No Kyler Murray anthology would be complete without a story from Allen’s follow-up effort against Southlake Carroll in 2013. Now a junior, Murray led the Eagles on the road to play the state’s top-ranked team in Week 1. There were no nerves this time. Just unshakable confidence.

During Allen’s opening drive Murray threw a quick stop route to the boundary. It bounced off his receiver’s chest, and a Southlake defender plucked it out of the air and returned it for six. Fleener walked over to Murray and motioned for him to come to the bench.

Murray sat on one side of him, his receivers on the other. After some schematic talk, Fleener asked Murray what he thought. Murray bit his mouthpiece, paused and then made a declaration.

“I think these guys are trash,” Murray said. “I think we’re going to throw for 400 yards on them.”

Murray got up and walked away. He finished the game with 464 yards passing in an 49-27 win.

“I think a lot of OU fans weren’t so sure about him because he’s not going to be out there in your face as a leader like Baker was,” Fleener said. “Baker was so vocal where Kyler is that silent assassin. He’s going to come to work every day and expect everyone to work their ass off.”

Westerberg still cites the gospel of Murray at his new job at Barbers Hill High School when attempting to motivate his players. On many occasions following Allen’s route-running period Westerberg would call for a break, but the Allen receivers didn’t move. Murray wouldn’t allow them to. “If receivers didn’t run the route right, he’d hold them over there until they did and we didn’t go to break.”

Due to an occasionally leaky defense Murray’s senior year, the Eagles played in many a fourth quarter game. Notably Allen trailed Skyline High School, a Dallas ISD power, 28-10 following a Murray pick-six in a state semifinal matchup.

Murray wandered over to the sideline following the pick and grabbed a cup of water. With his helmet hanging on top of his head, he took a sip while Fleener asked: “Ready to have some fun?’ Murray nodded and said, “Bet.” Fleener said not to expect a run call within the next 20 plays, “Let’s go spin the football.” To which Murray again responded, “Bet.”

Murray pulled his helmet down, walked back on the field and threw a 34-yard touchdown less than a minute later. By game’s end, Allen went on a 35-0 second half run and Murray finished with 406 yards passing and five touchdowns.

The Eagles flipped an 18-point deficit into an 18-point win.

“His clutch gene is amazing,” Butler said. “You just feel it. He never had to say many words.”

***

“Yeah, I remember his ass. I remember his ass very clear. Oh my god ... He has three state championships and I don’t.”

Claude Mathis, a former assistant at SMU and now the athletic director at Marshall High School, recalls Murray’s high school greatness more vividly than most. DeSoto High School’s former head coach, Mathis coached against Murray in a playoff trilogy between 2012-14. On three occasions DeSoto went toe-to-toe with Allen, and on three occasions a Murray-led Eagles team did the seemingly impossible.

DeSoto ranked as the nation’s No. 1 team entering a semifinal matchup in 2012. It left the game with a 51-36 loss. But it’s the next year’s meeting that’s etched in Texas high school football lore. In another semifinal game, DeSoto led Allen 35-20 midway through the fourth quarter; the first second half lead by an Allen opponent all season. Allen fans began to file out of the building.

Mathis, however, could hear Murray chirping from the opposite sideline, “Let them leave. This game is not over.”

“He went to work,” Mathis said.

Murray threw a 68-yard touchdown pass on Allen’s next play from scrimmage. Mathis even remembers knowing the Eagles would throw a post. Murray went ahead and did it anyway. After hearing the cheers, Allen fans scrambled to get back into the stadium. Murray led a touchdown drive Allen’s next possession and completed the two-point conversion to tie the game. After a muffed punt by DeSoto with 1:15 remaining, Murray did the inevitable – led another scoring drive.

Mathis maintains to this day the refs cost Allen that game. He also knows Murray won it.

“You can’t take nothing away from that kid,” Mathis said.

DeSoto v. Allen III took place in the second round, and Mathis quite literally threw the book at Murray. More aptly, he threw his playbook out. Mathis, a proprietor of an aggressive, blitz-heavy scheme that took advantage of DeSoto’s weekly athletic advantage (21 DeSoto players signed with FBS programs between 2013-15), completely switched his defensive scheme in preparation for Murray.

DeSoto’s defensive linemen rarely tried to push upfield, instead merely attempting to contain Murray and spy him to pinch him inside the tackles. Meanwhile, DeSoto dropped the majority of its defenders back into coverage.

The change flummoxed Allen for a time as the Eagles scored a season-low 25 points in front of 30,000 fans at AT&T Stadium. But it didn't matter. Allen’s defense played well enough, and Murray led a pair of fourth quarter scoring drives to give Allen a 25-23 win.

When asked what difference Murray made in those classics, Mathis’ answer is direct.

“State championships,” Mathis said. “I mean that’s the only kid I lost to in a three-year span. That’s it. It was unbelievable the kids I had. But one kid in a three-year span. I can’t do a thing about it.”

***

Fleener, now the head coach at Mesquite High School, often walks into the store on a Saturday afternoon rocking an Oklahoma shirt and Oakland A’s hat. It’s an odd combination for an Aggie grad and a Dallas-area native. Then again, Murray is already famous for accomplishing difficult feats.

When people asked Fleener what to expect from Murray in 2018, he gave one of two answers: 1. You can expect to see somebody who’s had two years of having to stand on the sideline explode. 2. You might see someone who realizes this is his last run to play football.

“Either way, you’re about to get a show,” Fleener said.

Whether it's in high school, on the baseball diamond or as a Heisman contender at Oklahoma, that’s exactly what Murray’s done for the better part of a decade. And Fleener isn’t quite ready to close the door on the football aspect of things following this season.

“I always say everything is negotiable,” Fleener said laughing. “In my mind that door hasn’t shut just yet. But that’s just me.”

It’s worth asking if Murray is the greatest Texas high school football player of all-time.

Mathis said top 5. Westerberg, though admittedly biased, said Murray is the best. “To get everybody’s best shot and to keep answering … I don’t know if anyone’s had a better career than that.”

Texas is a state with football in its blood. From Earl Campbell to Cedric Benson to Adrian Peterson, Texas does not lack for all-time candidates. Murray, for a three-year span, put forth a resume that would equal any.

During Murray’s final high school effort, a 47-16 win over Cypress Ranch (near Houston), Allen’s coaches removed Murray for a play so they could reinsert him in the game for recognition. The 52,308 fans on hand stood and cheered seemingly in unison when Murray jogged onto a Texas high school football field for the last time.

“You hear a bit about watching Earl Campbell back in the day, and I know Cedric Benson’s three-year run at Midland Lee," Fleener said. "But as far as somebody who took the entire nation by storm by what he did …

“You don’t know if you’ll ever have the opportunity to see something like that again.”