CLEMSON FOOTBALL

Report: Morris to Clemson

Report: Morris to Clemson


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CLEMSON – A week after making a change at offensive coordinator, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney feels he has found his man.

According to ESPN’s Joe Schad on Sunday morning, Clemson has hired Tulsa offensive coordinator Chad Morris to take the same position with the Tigers. Morris interviewed with Swinney last Monday and Tuesday, and even though Swinney interviewed TCU offensive coordinator Justin Fuente at the end of the week, it was obvious that Morris was his first choice.

Morris had one of the most successful high school coaching careers in the state of Texas, and was named by Tulsa head coach Todd Graham as the offensive coordinator last January 18th.

This season, his spread offense set several Golden Hurricane records – the Golden Hurricane finished fifth in the nation in total offense (505.62 yards per game), 8th in scoring offense (41.38 points per game), 15th in rushing offense (216.92 yards per game) and 13th in passing offense (288.69 yards per game).

Morris served as a head coach on the Texas prep level for 16 years, coaching at Eustace Independent School District (1994-97), Elysian Field ISD (1998-99), Bay City ISD (2000-02), Stephenville ISD (2004-07) and Lake Travis ISD (2008-09).

Since his first head coaching position at Eustace High School in 1994, Morris has taken six of his teams to the Texas state championship game, while three of those teams captured a state title. He has compiled an overall 169-38 record for an .816 winning percentage as a prep head coach, while earning Coach of the Year honors 11 times in his career.

In the last two years, Morris led Lake Travis High School to back-to-back undefeated 16-0 seasons as well as two Class 4A state championships. Lake Travis was the state of Texas' number one-ranked offense in both 2008 and 2009. The 2008 team was the nation's second-ranked team by USA Today and eighth by Rivals.com, while the 2009 team ranked No. 2 nationally by Rivals.com and was ranked ninth by USA Today.

Morris claimed his first state championship in 2000 when his Bay City team captured the Class 4A state title.

Morris first implemented the hurry-up, no-huddle offense in 2004 at Stephenville High School, and since that time his teams have posted an overall 75-6 record.

Morris' offenses enjoyed tremendous success in his two seasons at Lake Travis. In 2008, the Cavaliers averaged 49.0 points per game and had a 41-point margin of victory, while scoring 784 points, the fourth-most in Texas football history, and throwing for 305 yards per game. In that same 2008 campaign, Morris coached current University of Texas freshman quarterback Garrett Gilbert, who was named the Gatorade and Parade Magazine National Player of the Year, while setting the state of Texas' single-season passing yardage mark with 4,884 yards and 55 touchdowns. Gilbert also rushed for 790 yards and 28 TDs that season.

Before compiling a 32-0 record in his two seasons at Lake Travis, Morris posted a five-year mark of 49-10 at Stephenville High School. At Stephenville, Morris tutored University of Mississippi quarterback Jevan Snead.

Following Snead quarterbacking at Stephenville High School, Morris coached quarterback Kody Spano, who plays at Nebraska, in 2006 and 2007. Spano threw for over 2,900 yards and rushed for more than 1,000 yards as a senior in 2007.

Before moving to Stephenville, Morris' teams registered a three-year record of 34-8 at Bay City High School, while playing for the state championship two years (2000 and 2001) and winning the crown that first season with a 14-1 record. At Bay City, Morris coached quarterbacks Andrew Smith (2000) and Scott Elliott (2001-02). Smith went on to play at North Texas where he lead the Mean Green to a Bowl Game in his freshman season, while Elliott played collegiately at Tulane.

Morris' Elysian High School teams advanced to the state championship game in each of his two seasons as the head coach, while posting a 26-6 two-year record. His first team in 1998 compiled a 12-4 record, while the 1999 team compiled a 14-2 mark.

He received his first head coaching position at the Eustace Independent School District, where he led that high school team to an 11-1 record in his final season of four years as the head coach. Morris received his

first coaching position at Eustace High School as the quarterback coach in 1992-93, before taking over the reigns as head coach in 1994.

At Eustace, Morris also served as the head boys basketball coach for four seasons (1993-97) and posted a record of 128-32.

Morris earned his bachelor's degree in Mathematics with a minor in Statistics from Texas A&M University in 1992. The Dallas, Texas native and his wife, Paula, have two children: daughter Mackenzie and son Chandler.

Alma Mater: Texas A&M `92

Birthdate: December 4, 1968

Hometown: Edgewood, Texas

College Coaching Experience: One year at Tulsa.

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Subject (Replies: 73) Author
spacer Report: Morris to Clemson
B-Meist®
spacer Re: Report: Morris to Clemson
CUAtTheFinishLine®
spacer Re: Report: Morris to Clemson
insanetigerfan08
spacer Re: Report: Morris to Clemson
Cazzie
spacer Re: Report: Morris to Clemson
COTIGER1®
spacer Re: Report: Morris to Clemson
allorangeallthetime52®
spacer Re: Report: Morris to Clemson
stodd1515®
spacer Welcome to Clemson!***
TigerLight
spacer He was oane heck of a high school coach!***
Buffalo Creek Tiger
spacer you don't have to be 50 to have a good system
henry
spacer My biggest gripe with Napier was he was inexperienced and
Buffalo Creek Tiger
spacer My thoughts exactly. Hope dabo made the right choice***
colemanfan
spacer Morris isn't inexperienced.
jbvarnad
spacer Re: Morris isn't inexperienced.
allorangeallthetime52®
spacer Re: Morris isn't inexperienced.
insanetigerfan08
spacer Gerry Faust says "hello".
Buffalo Creek Tiger
spacer Well we did not hire Morris as the HC...
dmiller422®
spacer Good thing we didn't hire Gerry Faust.***
jbvarnad
spacer Re: Gerry Faust says "hello".
cdfrisch
spacer Rich Rodriguez says hello to you***
ClemfanWV
spacer Re: Morris isn't inexperienced.
cdfrisch
spacer Jeff Scott was a good high school coach.
clemson guy3
spacer Would please explain how you teach
edistobeach
spacer Exactly! I've tried arguing this to no avail
Biguns
spacer then why have an WR coach to begin with...
tgrfan42069
spacer Clemson can recruit in Texas!!!
sadmba
spacer Re: Clemson can recruit in Texas!!!
CUAtTheFinishLine®
spacer Hatfield tried that... How did that work out?***
HoustonTiger05
spacer Re: Hatfield tried that... How did that work out?***
tigergirl
spacer Re: Hatfield tried that... How did that work out?***
cdfrisch
spacer Very well... 32-13-1 and ACC Champs***
cutigergrad96
spacer I think John Leake is the only significant recruit we have
tigertrain®
spacer Re: I think John Leake is the only significant recruit we have
orangecoloredglasses®
spacer Get in line behind
bonedoc
spacer I hope this expands recruiting to Texas
duckydps®
spacer Re: I hope this expands recruiting to Texas
fuzzyduck
spacer Re: I hope this expands recruiting to Texas
COTIGER1®
spacer Welcome to Clemson Coach Morris . . .
cha2ga®
spacer Re: Report: Morris to Clemson
CitadelTigertoo
spacer I, for one, am very excited! Excellent hire.
Orange Julius
spacer Sounds fantastic---Wonder why he moved around so much??
coachmac
spacer The way I see it, we need immediate results . . .
Orange Julius
spacer Re: The way I see it, we need immediate results . . .
TigerfanJSC
spacer Wait a sec, you weren't replying to me, were you?!
Orange Julius
spacer Re: The way I see it, we need immediate results . . .
cdfrisch
spacer Re: Sounds fantastic---Wonder why he moved around so much??
a7xgates®
spacer Re: Sounds fantastic---Wonder why he moved around so much??
cdfrisch
spacer welcome back Nap...opps i ment welcome morris***
tgrfan42069
spacer You probably thought we were getting Rich Rod didnt you?***
hleapha
spacer Welcome Mr. Morris, show em' how we do it in Texas!***
Dmoney54®
spacer Texas folks have the ghey***
TigerFan20
spacer I was right again, Dabo is just incompetent***
TigerCook®
spacer Disagree
hleapha
spacer Disagree***
cutigergrad96
spacer Re: Report: Morris to Clemson
cdfrisch
spacer Dabo is all in now for sure. Hope he's right.***
TheHill2
spacer Re: Report: Morris to Clemson
cdfrisch
spacer If he had interviewed F, it would have been "why?"...
Tiger8693
spacer Whoo hooo, whoo hoo hoo hoooooo! Big time offense is back.***
Tiger_Tim
spacer BAN THE WOO HOO!!!!!*******
Darth_Tiger
spacer Tremendous hire!!!***
Lukerum®
spacer Who says HS coaches can't be successful in college?
lacrostyx
spacer I was thinking the exact same thing...
Mann46
spacer No way Morris can be successful.....................
magicman
spacer To those who think Dabo acted in Haste...
RU4GOD2
spacer just b/c he had somebody in mind (maybe) doesn't mean
TigerCook®
spacer Re: just b/c he had somebody in mind (maybe) doesn't mean
ecsguru®
spacer dabo hired the first and only person interviewd...
tgrfan42069
spacer Re: dabo hired the first and only person interviewd...
allorangeallthetime52®
spacer Fuzzy Duck said:***
RTiger00
spacer Re: Fuzzy Duck said:***
RTiger00
spacer another guy hired for his potential!***
vandalay
spacer Re: another guy hired for his potential!***
icebucket®
spacer Clemson NC in 2012!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!***
atlcu1234