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by WILL FOLKS
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In a desperate bid to reorient the declining trajectory of his once-proud program, Clemson University head football coach Dabo Swinney is turning back the clock – by more than a decade.
Swinney is rehiring former Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris to reprise the role he previously held in Tigertown from 2011-2014 – the period immediately preceding the program’s history-making ascent to the pinnacle of college football.
Morris’ controversial hiring was approved this week by Clemson’s embattled board of trustees. The 57-year-old Edgewood, Texas native will make $3.6 million over three seasons – significantly less than the $1.75 million per year Clemson was paying former offensive coordinator Garrett Riley.
It’s also less than the $1.3 million per year Morris was paid at Clemson from 2012-2014 – which is an even bigger hit when you consider the ensuing inflation, which would have valued Morris’ previous salary at an estimated $1.87 million annually.
Clemson is on the hook for the full value of the contract, owing Morris 100% of his remaining compensation in the event he is terminated without cause – although his buyout could be reduced depending on whether he were to leave Clemson to take another job.
“This is just a great time for him and a great opportunity for us to go back to the future and put it back together,” Swinney said in announcing Morris’ hiring. “There are always tough decisions that have to be made in this profession, and though I had to make a couple tough decisions, it was an easy decision to hire Chad Morris. I’m really excited for our players. It’s pretty cool to have guys like DeAndre Hopkins and Sammy Watkins and a bunch of great players shooting me text messages with their excitement knowing what’s to come offensively.”
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“I think we’ve got elite offensive personnel, and the name of the game is points,” Swinney added. “The one thing I know about Chad, he knows how to score points, and so I’m excited to welcome him and his family back.”
Morris exploded on the college football scene in 2011 – his first year at Clemson and only his second season coaching at the collegiate level. That year, the Tigers’ offense – led by first-year starter Tajh Boyd – finished the season ranked No. 24 nationally in scoring with 33.6 points per game and No. 26 nationally in total offense with 440.8 yards per game.
Morris employed a hurry-up, spread offensive scheme at Clemson – with Boyd taking the vast majority of snaps in either the shotgun or pistol formation utilizing multiple wide receiver sets.
Clemson went 10-4 during Morris’ first season running the offense – with the Tigers’ claiming their first ACC championship in 20 years and Boyd winning first-team All-ACC honors. The play-caller was rewarded handsomely for his efforts, too, receiving a massive raise and contract extension that made him one of the highest-paid assistant coaches in all of college football.
The initial investment certainly paid off. The following season, Clemson ranked No. 6 in the country in scoring with 41 points per game and No. 9 nationally in total offense with a whopping 512.7 yards per game – winning 11 games for the first time in more than thirty years. Once again, Boyd was first-team all-ACC after leading the conference with 34 touchdown passes.
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Morris’ unit put up similar numbers in 2013, Boyd’s senior season, averaging 40.2 points per game (No. 8 in the country) and 508.1 yards per game (No. 10 nationally). Clemson rolled to its second consecutive 11-win season and finished the season ranked No. 7 in the country – its best finish since claiming the school’s first-ever national championship in 1981.
In 2014, Morris’ unit regressed without Boyd under center – ranking No. 54 nationally in scoring (30.8 points per game) and No. 61 nationally in total offense (408.3 yards per game).
Morris’ career hasn’t exactly flourished since he left Clemson. In three seasons as head coach at SMU, he posted a 14-22 (.388) record – although the program’s modestly improved trajectory was good enough to land him the head coaching job at Arkansas in December 2017. Morris’ tenure in Fayetteville was an unmitigated disaster. In his first season, the Razorbacks posted a 2-10 record – including an 0-8 mark in conference play. The following year, Arkansas went 2-8 – including an 0-6 mark against SEC opponents – prior to his termination in November of 2019.
Morris’ 4-18 (.182) record at Arkansas is the worst of any head coach in its 132-year history – and he is the only head coach in Razorbacks’ history to not record at least one conference victory.
Despite his abject failure in Fayetteville, Morris was hired by former Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn to be offensive coordinator at Auburn ahead of the 2020 season. During his lone season on the Plains, Morris could not replicate his success calling plays at Clemson. Auburn ranked No. 89 nationally in scoring (25.1 points per game) and No. 78 nationally in total offense (382.8 yards per game) that season – which was the last time Morris called plays at the collegiate level. At the end of the year, Malzahn was fired by Auburn – and his replacement, Bryan Harsin, declined to retain Morris.
While Morris foundered after leaving Clemson, the Tigers flourished in his absence – with co-offensive coordinators Tony Elliott and Jeff Scott rewriting the school record book from 2015-2019. Clemson averaged 38.5 points per game (No. 16 nationally) and 514.5 yards per game (No. 11 nationally) during Elliott and Scott’s first season running the offense – helping lead the Tigers’ to the precipice of a championship.
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Although Clemson fell to Alabama in the title game that season, the following year – quarterback Deshaun Watson‘s final season as starting quarterback – the Tigers’ captured their first national championship of the Swinney era in a rematch against the Crimson Tide. Clemson finished that season averaging 39.2 points per game (No. 14 in the country) and racking up 504.3 yards per game (No. 12 nationally).
With Watson gone, Clemson’s offense regressed in 2017 – averaging 33.3 points per game (No. 32 nationally) and 430.5 yards per game (No. 38 in the country), but the arrival of Trevor Lawrence the following season catapulted them back to the top.
In 2018, a year which saw Lawrence start 11 games, Clemson averaged 44.3 points per game (No. 4 nationally) and 528 yards per game (No. 3 nationally) en route to winning its second national title of the Swinney era. In 2019, the Tigers put up nearly identical numbers – averaging 43.9 points per game (No. 4 nationally) and 528.9 yards per game (No. 5 nationally) – ultimately falling to LSU in the title game.
Five years removed from calling plays at the collegiate level, can Morris recapture the magic from his first turn in Tigertown? Or, perhaps more importantly, can he get the Clemson offense at or near the level of success it achieved following his departure?
The jury is most certainly out on that question – with critics slamming Swinney’s choice of Morris as a “nostalgia hire.” Of course, Swinney’s own hiring at Clemson was questioned after his team posted a losing record in 2010 – the year before Morris was hired. Also, it’s worth recalling how effusively Riley’s hiring was greeted by Tiger fans when he came on board three years ago.
Look how those decisions panned out…
“My previous time in this role at Clemson was truly one of the most joyful times of my career,” Morris said in a statement accepting the position. “It excites me to have an opportunity to come back and to do it under very similar circumstances from where we were in 2011 and where we are in 2026. I can’t thank Coach Swinney, Graham Neff and the Board of Trustees enough for this opportunity.”
What do you think? Vote in our poll and post your thoughts in our always engaging comments section…
Is Chad Morris a good hire for Clemson?
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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