Tag: Chad Morris

Former Clemson offensive coordinator hired by Texas State

Former Clemson OC Chad Morris has a new home in college football.

Former Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris has a new job in college football.

According to reports, Texas State is expected to hire Morris as their new wide receivers coach and pass game coordinator. Morris is once again moving on from the Tigers after spending the last season as “special assistant.”

Morris was Clemson’s offensive coordinator from 2011-14 before becoming the head coach of SMU and later Arkansas. However, in his time with the Tigers, he built a strong relationship with Swinney beyond just coaching. They built a strong bond as neighbors for multiple years before Morris departed for a head coaching job, which led to his return to Clemson last season.

The 55-year-old coach will look to make a huge impact with his new team.

Ranking the 10 worst Arkansas seasons since 2000

The 2023 Arkansas season doesn’t even crack the top-five, which is a statement on the Razorbacks football program.

Boy, that sure is a fun headline isn’t it?

Arkansas’ 2023 season came to an end Friday with a 48-14 loss against Missouri, which got us thinking.

The truth is, ranking the 10 worst Arkansas football seasons since 2000 is harder than ranking the 10 best. So few of the latter exist that putting them in order is a pretty simple task. But with the latter?

Like a kid in a candy store, except the candy is secretly poisoned.

Arkansas has been a sub-par program since they arrived in the SEC. Some occasional years of success, lots of seasons that could be called “fine,” and several years of embarrassment. The worst of those have come in the last decade.

Arkansas’ win total for the last 12 seasons: Four, seven, nine, three, two, two, four, seven, eight, seven, three, four.

Yikes.

But where does 2023 fall on the scale of sadness? Turns out, not as high as social media would want you to believe. Let’s take a look.

Florida may have a Chad Morris situation on its hands

Things are less than ideal in Gainesville right now, and Arkansas fans can sympathize with the Gators.

Arkansas fans who casually turned into ESPN’s broadcast of the Utah-Florida game last night may have gotten PTSD.

The Florida Gators, under second-year head coach Billy Napier, couldn’t muster much of anything against a Utah team playing without its quarterback and one of its best defensive players.

Deep into the second half, UF only had three points, which if you go back to their bowl game from last year, meant they had scored six points in 7.5 quarters of football.

Eventually they scored a touchdown and subsequent 2-point conversion, but it was to no avail.

Fans and college football followers immediately took to X (formerly Twitter) and roasted Napier and the Gators’ program.

Chad Morris was trending on the website this morning.

Of course, all Arkansas fans remember Morris’ second year, where his Razorback team lost to San Jose State the fourth week of the season as huge favorites when Nick Starkel threw five interceptions.

From there, it was all downhill. The team absolutely collapsed. He was eventually let go after the Western Kentucky debacle in mid-November.

Like Napier, Morris had recruited extremely well with the 2019 class. And that’s likely the only reason that more Florida fans aren’t screaming for his dismissal right now.

Looking ahead on their schedule, it’s tough to pick out more wins just based on what they put forth last night and their personnel.

Arkansas is scheduled to make a trip to Gainesville on November 4. Whether or not Billy Napier is still the coach at that time remains to be seen.

Dabo Swinney is ‘living in the twilight zone around here’, discusses the return of Chad Morris

Dabo Swinney has been thrilled with the return of Chad Morris to Clemson.

Dabo Swinney is a head coach who has a lot of his guys on the Clemson coaching staff. 

Year after year, someone returns to the program, and Swinney welcomes them with open arms. The latest major came from former Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris but the Tigers also have many former Tigers players who have returned for coaching positions at Clemson. For Swinney, it has been like living in the twilight zone.

“It’s like I’m living in the twilight zone,” Swinney said Friday as the Tigers opened fall camp. “I told him (Morris) that like last night because I’m still not used to him being here. We had a late meeting last night and were walking around. I mean, (former Clemson OC) Jeff Scott’s moved two doors down from me. Kath (Kathleen Swinney) is taking food to them, and Chad Morris is in the building, and I’m going, ‘What? I am living in the twilight zone around here.’ But it’s been great.”

“He’s very cheap labor, if you will, for his expertise,” Swinney said of Morris. “Obviously he’s been a head coach and he’s been a very successful coordinator as well. So, he’ll be one of those guys like a lot of these programs have, he’ll be a guy that’ll kind of be a week ahead.”

Morris was Clemson’s offensive coordinator from 2011-14 before departing for a head coaching position at SMU and later Arkansas. He has returned to Clemson as a special assistant to football who will work with both the offense and defense.

Having a guy like Morris back for Swinney is excellent for himself and the program.

“Chad’s awesome. He’s been gone eight seasons. It’s crazy,” Swinney said. “The last time he had been at Clemson was the Sunday after the South Carolina game in 2014 is when he left to go to SMU, and he hadn’t been back here since. So obviously a lot has changed in eight years. A lot has changed. He hadn’t seen any of this building (Clemson Athletics Branding Institute) and obviously as a program we’ve been through a lot, etcetera, so it’s been great. And hopefully we can really help him kind of reset himself. It’s going to be a great situation.”

The Tigers’ head into the 2023 season with a ton of talent and a loaded coaching staff. It should be an exciting season for the program.

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Uh-oh. Former Arkansas coach Chad Morris is back in big-time college football

The Clemson gig marks the first time Chad Morris has been at a power-conference team since the Arkansas mess.

Apparently, you can go home again.

Again.

Former SMU and Arkansas head coach Chad Morris will return to big-time college football in the fall, as he has reportedly been hired to be an offensive analyst at Clemson. Morris held the same position last year at South Florida after his stint coaching high-school football in Texas ended uncerimoniously.

Morris was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Clemson from 2011-14 and helped turn the Tigers into a national powerhouse. He was so good at Clemson, in fact, he turned it into his first head coaching job at SMU. After three years with the Mustangs, he was hired at Arkansas.

Things did not go well. Arkansas went 2-10 in each of Morris’ two seasons and he didn’t even make it through the second year before being let go. Morris hadn’t resurfaced in power-conference football since until this week.

The gig with the Tigers this time is going to be voluntary, according to the  Greenville News. Depending on how things go, it may lead to a full-time job in the near future.

Wouldn’t that be something?

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Twitter reacts: Chad Morris expected to return to Clemson in an offensive analyst role

People are thrilled that Chad Morris is expected to return to the Tigers in a volunteer consulting role.

The Clemson football program is returning a familiar name to the program. 

As confirmed by our friends over at the Clemson Insider, Chad Morris is returning to the Tigers in an offensive analyst role. Clemson brings a big name with experience back to the program. 

Morris was Clemson’s offensive coordinator from 2011-14 before becoming the head coach of SMU and later Arkansas. However, in his time with the Tigers, he built a strong relationship with Swinney beyond just coaching. They built a strong bond as neighbors for multiple years before Morris departed for a head coaching job.

Not only does he have a familiarity with Swinney and the program but new offensive coordinator Garrett Riley as well. Morris’ son Chandler played for Riley at TCU last season.

A great addition to the Tigers’ staff; people are thrilled with this news. Here is a look at how Twitter reacted to the return of Chad Morris.

Herbstreit talks Uiagalelei, discusses ‘a legitimate concern’ with Clemson

During ESPN’s College GameDay show this past weekend, Kirk Herbstreit weighed in on Clemson heading into the 2022 season. The ESPN college football analyst talked about the coordinator changes on Dabo Swinney’s staff, with Swinney promoting Brandon …

During ESPN’s College GameDay show this past weekend, Kirk Herbstreit weighed in on Clemson heading into the 2022 season.

The ESPN college football analyst talked about the coordinator changes on Dabo Swinney’s staff, with Swinney promoting Brandon Streeter and Wes Goodwin to the offensive and defensive coordinator roles that were vacated by the departures of Tony Elliott and Brent Venables, respectively.

“They got a little bit of a dress rehearsal in that bowl game, the Cheez-It Bowl against Iowa State. I think that’s a legitimate concern until you see it,” Herbstreit said.

“I think Dabo’s beyond confident in what they can do on both sides of the ball, and they have history. Remember when Chad Morris was there and he left to become a head coach, Tony Elliott and Jeff Scott emerged together to become co-offensive coordinators. Jeff Scott eventually went on, Tony Elliott was there by himself. Now Brandon Streeter, who’s been underneath as just a quarterback coach all this time, has had a chance to learn from all of them. So, he’s in position, and they’ve done the right things to give him his opportunity to become the guy.”

Herbstreit also discussed DJ Uiagalelei, who began preseason camp roughly 30 pounds lighter than the 260 pounds he played at a season ago.

Herbstreit says that while it’s great that Uiagalelei dropped weight, the junior quarterback must be willing to use his legs in the run game to help open up the Tigers’ offense.

“I think everybody’s said it, and until we see it, it’s reality. It’s one thing for DJ Uiagalelei to lose the weight. For me, it’s a willingness to run the ball,” Herbstreit said.

“Because whether it’s Trevor Lawrence or Deshaun Watson, especially Tajh Boyd, in that offense, the quarterback has to be a run threat, and last year, I saw a hesitant quarterback instead of being decisive in either getting the ball out and throwing or running and taking off. So, it’s great that he lost weight, but where is his mind, and is he ready to be more aggressive in running the ball, which will open up those throwing lanes to those talented receivers.”

–Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images 

Chad Morris is back in college football, but at least not in Arkansas

USF went 1-8 and 2-10 the last two years so Chad Morris should feel right at home.

Some people in the state of Arkansas won’t even say his name anymore.

That’s how much the animosity toward Chad Morris exists. It’s greater than Bret Bielema. It’s greater than John L. Smith. It’s greater than Bobby Petrino.

OK, maybe not that last one.

A heavy dose of schadenfreude wafted throughout the Natural State in the fall when Morris’ lone season at Allen High in Texas ended in disastrous fashion.  Less than a year later, though, the man responsible for the two most sorry seasons in Arkansas’ modern history is back in the college game.

Morris was hired as an offensive analyst at South Florida this week. He’ll be going to work for head coach Jeff Scott, a friend, as the two worked together at Clemson from 2011-14.

The Bulls went 2-10 last year and 1-8 the year before under Scott, so Morris is wading into familiar territory.

Morris was fired before the end of his second season at Arkansas. The Razorbacks went 2-10 with zero SEC wins in both the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Sam Pittman was his replacement and led the Hogs to a 9-4 record last year, their best season since 2011.

Former Clemson coordinator going to coach for another former Clemson OC

Two former Clemson offensive coordinators will be working together once again. Jeff Scott will be getting some help from one of his mentors. Chad Morris will leave his high school head coaching job to join South Florida head coach Jeff Scott as a …

Two former Clemson offensive coordinators will be working together once again.  Jeff Scott will be getting some help from one of his mentors.

Chad Morris will leave his high school head coaching job to join South Florida head coach Jeff Scott as a senior offensive analyst.

Former Clemson coordinator returning to college ranks

A former Clemson offensive coordinator is headed back to the college football ranks. Chad Morris announced today that he is stepping down as head football coach at Allen (Texas) High School after one season. Per the Allen Independent School …

A former Clemson offensive coordinator is headed back to the college football ranks.

Chad Morris announced today that he is stepping down as head football coach at Allen (Texas) High School after one season. Per the Allen Independent School District, Morris has an opportunity to return to college football.

“I am so thankful to Allen ISD for the chance to work with an amazing group of student-athletes and a dedicated coaching staff,” Morris said, via an Allen ISD news release. “Allen is a top-notch school system that prioritizes students above all else. I want to thank Superintendent Dr. Robin Bullock, the Board of Trustees, Administration, and Athletic Director Kim Garner for their unwavering support over the past year.”

Morris, of course, was Clemson’s offensive coordinator from 2011-14 before landing head coaching gigs at SMU and Arkansas. He spent the 2020 season as the offensive coordinator at Auburn.

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