There were strong indications Thursday that former Upper Iowa University quarterback Mike Morrissey will be the next head football coach at Cedar Rapids Prairie.

Morrissey, 28, was the head coach at Thornridge High School in Dolton, Ill., this past season.

"I can't really confirm anything now," Morrisey said Thursday afternoon.  He said he will be in Cedar Rapids on Friday.

T.J. Shirley, the athletic director at Thornridge, told the Metro Sports Report that an official announcement could be made Friday, but stopped short of confirming Morrissey had been hired by Prairie.

"We're kind of in the gray area right now, where it looks like it's a great possibility that he does have the job," said Shirley, "but I don't want to say something until I really know he does have the job."

Shirley said top Prairie officials visited Thornridge on Tuesday.

"I will tell you this: If the principal and the assistant principal and the athletic director drove all the way from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to Dolton, Illinois, there's probably a strong possibility that he's the leading candidate," said Shirley. "You know what I mean?"

Thornridge reportedly is in the process of changing the nature of its enrollment, perhaps reducing the number of grade levels at the school and thereby affecting the football program, but Shirley declined comment on that matter.

Mike Morrissey's father, Ed Morrissey, won 177 games as the head football coach at Pleasant Valley High School in Iowa and is an assistant coach at St. Ambrose University in Davenport. 

Mike Morrissey was Upper Iowa's starting quarterback in 2006 and has a degree from UIU in Fitness and Wellness. He was an assistant coach at Upper Iowa, St. Cloud State (Minn.) and Rockford College (Ill.) before becoming the head coach at Thornridge High School last summer. He graduated from Pleasant Valley High School in 2001.

Thornridge compiled a 6-3 record in 2010 and lost in the first round of the playoffs, according to Shirley. Mika'il McCall, a running back at Thornridge last season, has signed with the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Craig Jelinek retired as Prairie's football coach following the 2010 season with a 106-96 record in 21 years.