We are back to 2011. It appears that Chad Morris is set to return to Clemson as offensive coordinator. News broke this morning across the Clemson beat that the hire will become official on Monday following a Board of Trustees meeting. This meeting is a formality to approve the new contract, with some sort of announcement to follow.
This has been rumored for several days so the shock has worn off, but this remains an extremely unorthodox hire by Coach Swinney. In his previous four-year tenure at Clemson,
the Tigers scored loads of points:
- 2011: 33.6 ppg
- 2012: 41.0 ppg,
- 2013: 40.2 ppg
- 2014: 30.8 ppg
His offenses were up-tempo and nothing if not fun.
Morris left after 2014 to become the Head Coach for an SMU program coming off a 1-win season. They won 2 games his first year, then 5, and then 7 in his final year with the offense averaging the 12th most post per game in college football. After that, he made a decision that would mark the downturn of his career. He left SMU for Arkansas. In two years, he never won an SEC game there.
Since then, he has only been an offensive coordinator one year, and it was the COVID year for Auburn. It didn’t go well, but it is hard to put too much stock into the COVID season, particularly if that’s your first year trying to implement your offense.
After that, he has been an analyst at USF and Clemson and a WR Coach at Texas State. He has reportedly been a sounding board for Swinney this season and let it be known he’d like to get back into coaching. He took this year off to watch his son, Chandler, start at QB for Virginia.
In a best-case scenario, Chander gets his pending waiver approved for an additional year of eligibility and transfers to Clemson — where he spent four years as a small child — and finishes his college career being coached by his dad.
With this unorthodox hire, Coach Swinney has placed a huge bet. His entire career left at Clemson could hang on the success of this bold decision. If it goes well, it will be an incredible feel-good story. If it fails, it will hang heavy on his tenure and could make his exit a bit simpler.
It is expected that Tajh Boyd will coach QBs and Freddie Kitchens will join as an Offensive Analyst.
In end, the Tigers’ success in the transfer portal this offseason at QB, RB, and the offensive line will likely determine how much success Morris can have in his return. For more, watch the video below.
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