Morris: Playing football for Clemson is an honor

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Mon Aug 15 13:09:26 GMT-04:00 2011

CLEMSON – Most Clemson fans would love the opportunity to suit up in a Clemson uniform, run down The Hill on a fall Saturday afternoon, and be out on the field in Death Valley for just one play. And most, of course, will never get that chance.

Offensive coordinator Chad Morris said on Monday after practice that he understands that, and that he is making it a point to tell the veterans that they should consider it an honor to wear the paw.

“It is an honor to play football for Clemson University,” Morris said. “How many kids on the high school level would love to step out here and play? We have some veterans that are taking it for granted, and that is unacceptable. On Sept. 3rd when we play Troy, we are going to have 11 that are for sure ready to go. Hopefully, we will have a few more than that, but we will have 11.”

Morris said that he isn’t of a mindset to play a player just because they are an upperclassman, but he hopes the upperclassmen begin to realize that they need to be the leaders.

“We have got some guys that need to be pushed. We have receivers and the guys up front. We have some guys that have been here for quite some time, and we expect them to be better than what they are showing right now. They know who they are. It isn’t just one or two guys – it’s all of them. They have to learn they have to stay on the edge a little bit, and we have to coach them on the edge and hold them accountable.

“You would expect a senior to be better than a younger kid because they have been here longer. But if they are dead equal, you have to look at it at like we have the freshman for three more years. By no means, no, I don’t believe in that [playing an upperclassman just because he is a senior.] I want to make sure our veterans are held more accountable than the younger guys. If not, and we are going to take a lump, then we are going to take a lump with a kid that is going to be here three more years. But I don’t expect to be taking any lumps.”

Morris also talked about the offensive line, and he said he can't see a situation where he would play a true freshman this season.

“To be real honest, you really don’t want to play freshmen, you would like to redshirt them,” Morris said. “And from what we are seeing, I can't foresee playing a freshman this season. We like what we see out of our upperclassmen, and we will find what we want out of them. The offensive line is playing well, we just have to do a better job of protecting Tajh [Boyd] and be more physical. Ask me in week 10 or 12 and I will probably tell you the same thing. Football is a rough sport, and we have to be more fast and physical.”

He said that becoming a more physical unit means practicing like you want to play on Saturday.

“You have to practice fast and physical,” he said. “You can't come out and lean on each other in practice and expect to be physical on game day. It requires a lot of hitting, and that is what we need to do. Coach Swinney is doing a great job of managing that for us, but this is a critical week for us.”