Morris has Tigers focused on finishing

Tajh Boyd said the extra runs are the brainchild of offensive coordinator Chad Morris.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sat Aug 20 17:33:29 GMT-04:00 2011

CLEMSON – The sight has become a familiar one for the media following the Clemson Tigers this fall.

A scrimmage or a practice ends, and members of the Clemson offense are still out on the field, running sprints and doing calisthenics.

Saturday’s scrimmage in Death Valley was no different, and a tired group of offensive players stayed out on the field – led by quarterback Tajh BoydTajh Boyd
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View Full Profile , and ran sideline to sideline and performed up-downs in the middle of the field, a sweaty and exhausting ending to a sweaty and exhausting scrimmage.

As one player continued to drop and do push-ups and then rise up only to run again, one media member exclaimed, “I don’t know what he did, but I would hate to be THAT guy.”

Boyd said following the scrimmage that the post-practice runs are a reminder to “finish.”

“Finishing. That’s one of the biggest things we’ve got to work on,” Boyd said Saturday. “It has gotten to the point where sometimes in previous years we get to the end of a game and don’t finish like we should have. We started off well, but didn’t finish. The main thing about this offense is taking pride in what we do and finishing and it is really coming along. I am enjoying see how our guys are responding.”

Boyd said the runs are the brainchild of offensive coordinator Chad Morris.

“Coach Morris, that is just the kind of guy he is,” Boyd said. “He doesn’t want us to take anything for granted. If we get a team down, we keep them down. That is where the mental aspect of it comes in. Do you want to give up, or do you want to finish? That is something he asks us all the time. Nobody ever gives up and that is best part about it.”

Morris said that the extra work is something he has also stressed.

“I have been doing that for forever,” he said. “When we finish a scrimmage, we want to make sure we get that extra work in. If for nothing else, because these guys are in shape, it’s for the mental aspect. It just shows that if we had to go make an extra play or an extra half or quarter or play overtime, then there would be nothing to it. If for nothing else, it makes me feel better.”