Morgan Copes ’09 & ’11 | Vice President, Birmingham FC, LLC Co-founder, The Birmingham Hammers
Morgan Copes believes in following your passion – and in seeking advice along the way. That’s especially true if the advice comes from your former professors in the University of Mobile School of Business.
Morgan’s passion is soccer, and he loved playing forward from 2005 to 2010 for the University of Mobile Rams. He graduated in 2009 with a Bachelor of Science in business administration, in 2011 with a Master of Business Administration, then worked in retail management before joining the management team at Regions Bank.
In addition to classroom lessons, Morgan learned something about his professors.
“I learned that my professors were not just here to give a lecture. There is a relationship after graduation; it’s the power of networking and the benefit of calling somebody just to bounce ideas off of,” Morgan said, after receiving the first Alumni Stars award from the UM School of Business in October 2017.
Morgan’s ideas, and his passion for soccer, are changing the professional sports world in Alabama.
Along with UM alumnus John Killian ’10, co-founded The Birmingham Hammers club-level soccer team. For four years, he volunteered as president and general manager and, as the team thrived, the city of Birmingham discovered a passion for soccer.
In 2019, a United Soccer League expansion club, Birmingham Legion FC, is set to begin play, and Morgan is vice president of the new corporation that is bringing it in. He is involved in marketing, branding, strategic development on corporate sponsorship and ticketing sales, and operations.
“My MBA helped fine-tune some of the skills I use today,” he said. Morgan said his professors continue to be mentors.
“You could see they were passionate about teaching their students and seeing them grow and mature to successful business men and women. Without their passion for teaching, I may not have been successful at my passion, which was soccer.”
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