Chad Morris was not a popular man during his one-year tenure as Gus Malzahn's final lead play-caller during the Auburn Tigers' 2020 season. He made Bo Nix look less competent than his freshman year under Kenny Dillingham and was one of the last straws to break the camel's back and get Malzahn fired in December of that year.
With the Clemson Tigers, though, Morris may be somewhat of a savior. With Dabo Swinney on his last legs after guiding the preseason No. 4 team in the country to a 7-6 finish and a Pinstripes Bowl loss, ESPN's Bill Connelly believes Morris could save his old-time pal, who had the 57-year-old as his offensive coordinator and QB coach from 2011-2014.
"Hiring an old friend, as Dabo Swinney has done here, frequently fails to generate the success of the first go-round, and Morris hasn't pulled the strings for a good college offense since 2017. But after Clemson stumbled from 16th to 65th in offensive SP+ last season, odds still favor Morris overseeing improvement," Connelly wrote.
Morris most recently served as the Texas State Bobcats' WR coach/passing game coordinator during the 2024 season. In 2023, he was an analyst on Swinney's staff at Clemson during his second stint in Upstate South Carolina.
Chad Morris angling for last chance to be a head coach
Morris had a volatile six-season stretch from 2015 to 2020. Before arriving on the Plains, Morris went 18-40 with the SMU Mustangs and Arkansas Razorbacks. His stint in Fayetteville was particularly brutal, with the Hogs going 4-18 during his tenure, with an 0-14 conference record.
The thing with Morris is that he was a legend in the Texas High School Football scene, going 32-0 at famed Lake Travis in Austin in the Lone Star State's Class 6A Division I. That level of success can't be ignored, nor can the connections to some of the most fertile football recruiting grounds in the country.
If Morris doesn't help Swinney dig himself out of the hole he dug by ignoring the transfer portal in the NIL/rev-share era, they may not be worth much to employers needing a head coach next November or in future cycles. You can only have so many last chances to make good on potential. That goes for coaches too.