Pick your trope about coming home, it appears that you can apply it to Chad Morris. It seems that a he is currently the front runner for Clemson’s now vacant Offensive Coordinator Position. The news has
been quite polarizing. On one hand there’s the possibility of recreating the magic that started in 2011 and ultimately ended up in 2 national titles and countless ACC championships. The other is wondering if the second time is really ever as good as the first.
Hope is all we’ve got
When Chad Morris arrived in 2011 it was a dark time. Maybe not quite the Hatfield and West years, but all the good vibes from Dabo’s hire were gone. Offense a mess, defense was meh. But Morris provided a real bit of hope that maybe things would get better. That’s what Clemson needs once again. There is no doubt the offense has been stale. Streeter and Riley didn’t seem to have the ability to execute an offense with a real philosophy, nor modify it for the personnel we have. Morris has shown a track record of it during his time as an OC.
What has he done lately?
Has Chad evolved? That’s the real question. After being fired by Arkansas in 2019, Morris went to Auburn for one year as an OC under Gus Malzahn, his old mentor. That is the last time he’s called plays, being fired with the rest of Malzahns staff after 2020. That’s a long time to be away from a coordinator role. Yes, Morris was a HS coach for one year and then has been an analyst and position coach since then. But he hasn’t had to evolve an offense. And has he? We’ve seen Gus Malzahn have some offensive success since, so the basic offense can still work. But if Morris isn’t evolving then he won’t be successful
Challenging Dabo
There has been one common trait that seems to determine if a coordinator hire works or not at Clemson. An ability to have Dabo’s respect when standing up to him. Chad and Brent Venables had it. So did Scott and Elliott, though in a different way. It never seemed like Streeter, Riley, or Goodwin had that. Dabo is always going to have his opinion. As head coach that is his right and frankly he should. But coordinators need to have the experience and personality to advocate for what they know is right. Challenge Dabo when they think he is wrong, work with him to come to the right solution, and always fight for being the best. Morris did that the first time around. As DrB detailed, Morris was the driving force originally for a better Strength and Conditioning program. Additional assistants with new ideas and a focus on OL training started the change. That doesn’t happen without Morris.
Familiarity Breeds Comfort
The flip side of this is Morris would be coming back to something he knows. And with it being over 10 years since he left, will he still have the hunger to challenge everything. Make players and staff uncomfortable and demand success. It can be easy to just slip in to what the program is currently doing because of that familiarity. It is something that Morris would have to guard against.
At the end of the day Chad Morris could be an excellent OC. He could come back, elevate the Clemson offense to what it used to be, and return the Tigers to the top of the mountain. But he could also just be another retread. And the key thing to remember is that it is going to be less about what Morris does with his scheme and more about finding the right players. Clemson hasn’t had the dudes on offense for quite a few years. There have been glimpses of greatness, but how many guys from the last 4 seasons at Clemson would be even backups on those 216-2020 teams? Not many. That’s what Chad Morris has to solve if he comes back and is successful.
