Chad Morris

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Chad Morris
Current position
TitleWide Receivers Coach/Pass Game Coordinator
TeamTexas State
ConferenceSun Belt
Biographical details
Born (1968-12-04) December 4, 1968 (age 55)
Edgewood, Texas, U.S.
Alma materTexas A&M University
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1994–1997Eustace HS (TX)
1998–1999Elysian Fields HS (TX)
2000–2002Bay City HS (TX)
2003–2007Stephenville HS (TX)
2008–2009Lake Travis HS (TX)
2010Tulsa (AHC/OC/QB)
2011–2014Clemson (OC/QB)
2015–2017SMU
2018–2019Arkansas
2020Auburn (OC/QB)
2021Allen HS (TX)
2022South Florida (off. analyst)
2023Clemson (off. analyst)
2024–presentTexas State (WR/PGC)
Head coaching record
Overall18–40 (college)
180–41 (high school)

Chad Allen Morris[1] (born December 4, 1968) is an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at Southern Methodist University (SMU) from 2015 to 2017 and the University of Arkansas from 2018 to 2019.

Coaching career

Prior to his collegiate coaching career, he was a high school head coach in Texas for 16 seasons compiling a 169–38 record (.816 winning overall). Most recently he was the head coach of the Lake Travis High School football team from 2008 to 2009. He coached the team, starring quarterback Garrett Gilbert, to back-to-back 16–0, state title seasons.[2] Morris made the move to college in 2010 when he became the offensive coordinator and associate head coach at the University of Tulsa. He would spend only one season at Tulsa before moving to Clemson University as offensive coordinator. The 2 years prior to Morris' arrival, Clemson went a combined 15–12, including a record of 6–7 in 2010. Morris introduced a hurry-up, spread offense that helped Clemson to a 42–11 mark over the next four seasons.[3] In December 2011, Morris became tied with Gus Malzahn as the highest paid assistant in college football after Clemson University gave Morris a six-year contract worth $1.3 million annually.[4]

In December 2012, Morris interviewed for the Texas Tech head coaching vacancy, which had been created by the departure of Tommy Tuberville for Cincinnati.[5][6] However, the job would be filled by Texas A&M offensive coordinator, and Texas Tech alumnus, Kliff Kingsbury.[7]

SMU

Morris got his first opportunity to head coach at the collegiate level when he became head coach at the Southern Methodist University on December 1, 2014.[8] Morris' first two classes of recruits at SMU were all from Texas high schools, making SMU the only school in the country with all-Texas recruiting classes during that time.[9] Morris completed his tenure at SMU compiling a 14–22 record over 3 seasons. Morris improved his record each year at SMU going 2–10 in 2015, 5–7 in 2016 and 7–5 in 2017.

Arkansas

On December 6, 2017, Morris was hired as the head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks, signing a six-year, $21 million contract.[10] In his first year, Morris led the Razorbacks to a 2–10 record, notching the team’s first ten-loss season in school history. This included a winless record in SEC play.

After a 2–8 start to the 2019 season and a 45–19 loss to Group of 5 opponent Western Kentucky, Arkansas dismissed Morris in his second season.[11] All four of his wins as head coach were over Group of Five (Tulsa, Colorado State) or FCS (Eastern Illinois, Portland State) competition. To date, he is the only full-time Razorback coach to have left the school without a conference win. His 4-18 record is the worst record for a non-interim coach in Arkansas history.

Auburn

On December 10, 2019, Gus Malzahn hired Morris to serve as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Auburn.[12] Auburn fired Malzahn following the 2020 season.[13] New head coach Bryan Harsin did not retain Morris, instead hiring Mike Bobo.[14]

Personal life

Morris went to Edgewood High School in Edgewood, Texas, where he was the quarterback of the Bulldogs. He attended Texas A&M and earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics with a minor in statistics in 1992. Morris was atypical among NCAA Division I head football coaches in that he did not play football at the collegiate level. He is one of only eleven such coaches along with Sonny Dykes, David Cutcliffe, and Mike Leach.[15] He and his wife, Paula, have two children, a daughter, Mackenzie, and son, Chandler, who played football at Oklahoma and TCU before transferring to North Texas following the 2023 season.[16][17]

Head coaching record

College

Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs
SMU Mustangs (American Athletic Conference) (2015–2017)
2015 SMU 2–10 1–7 T–5th (West)
2016 SMU 5–7 3–5 5th (West)
2017 SMU 7–5[n 1] 4–4 T–3rd (West) Frisco[n 1]
SMU: 14–22 8–16 * Departed SMU for Arkansas before bowl game
Arkansas Razorbacks (Southeastern Conference) (2018–2019)
2018 Arkansas 2–10 0–8 7th (Western)
2019 Arkansas 2–8[n 2] 0–6[n 2] (Western)[n 2]
Arkansas: 4–18 0–14
Total: 18–40

Notes

  1. ^ a b Morris served as SMU's head coach for the 2017 regular season before resigning to take the head coaching job at the University of Arkansas. Sonny Dykes coached the Mustangs in the 2017 Frisco Bowl. SMU finished the season with an overall record of 7–6.
  2. ^ a b c Morris served as Arkansas's head coach for the first ten games of the 2019 season before he was fired. Special teams coordinator and tight ends coach Barry Lunney Jr. was appointed as interim head coach for the last two games of the season. Arkansas finished the year with an overall record of 2–10 and a conference mark of 0–8, placing last out of seven teams in the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference.

References

  1. ^ "Chad Morris' Contract Amendment". December 15, 2011.
  2. ^ Chad Morris. TigerNet.com. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
  3. ^ "Clemson can afford loss of coordinator Chad Morris, but not QB Deshaun Watson". newsobserver. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  4. ^ Sawchik, Travis. Morris' new contract marks increased football commitment. postandcourier.com. December 8, 2011. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
  5. ^ Patterson, Chip. "Texas Tech interviews Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris". Eye on College Football. cbssports.com. Retrieved December 29, 2012.
  6. ^ "Texas Tech closing in on new coach". ESPN.com. December 11, 2012. Retrieved December 29, 2012.
  7. ^ Schad, Joe (December 12, 2012). "Texas Tech hires Kliff Kingsbury". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 29, 2012.
  8. ^ "SMU Athletics". smumustangs.com. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  9. ^ "College Sports: Nichols: Chad Morris does whatever it takes to keep commits; SMU brings in second straight all-Texas haul | SportsDay". Archived from the original on February 7, 2016.
  10. ^ "Arkansas hires SMU's Morris on six-year deal". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  11. ^ "Arkansas fires coach Chad Morris after 4–18 start". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  12. ^ Cooper, Sam (December 10, 2019). "Auburn hires ex-Arkansas head coach Chad Morris as offensive coordinator". sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
  13. ^ Green, Tom (December 13, 2020). "Gus Malzahn fired as Auburn head coach". AL.com. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  14. ^ Stephenson, Creg (March 31, 2021). "Chad Morris hired as coach at Texas high school". AL.com. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  15. ^ "How Many College Football Coaches Never Played Football?". sportskeeda.com. December 25, 2023. Retrieved March 7, 2024.
  16. ^ Tramel, Berry (March 26, 2021). "Tramel ScissorTales: Why Lincoln Riley is off base about Chandler Morris' transfer to TCU". The Oklahoman. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  17. ^ Vito, Brett (January 17, 2024). "A Perfect Fit: Chandler Morris feels like UNT is terrific landing spot after up-and-down start to college career". Denton Record-Chronicle. Retrieved March 7, 2024.
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