Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris is right where he wants to be

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Chad Morris is back at Clemson, but he isn’t trying to recreate the offense he ran more than a decade ago.

The Tigers are coming off a disappointing season in which they averaged 27.2 points per game, ranking 71st nationally. That production fell well below expectations for a team led by senior quarterback Cade Klubnik with plenty of talent at wide receiver.

Morris now gets the chance to help Clemson find a different gear.

“I am pumped up as a bike tire right now,” Morris said recently on the ACC Network’s Road Trip. “It’s great being back here to a place we love, a place that means so much to our family,” Morris added. “And obviously, I’d like to think that we made a big difference at Clemson when we were here the last time. And just to be back here with Coach Swinney. Man, it doesn’t get any better than this.”

Morris’ coaching career has taken several turns since leaving Clemson. He had head coaching stops at SMU and Arkansas before serving as Auburn’s offensive coordinator in 2020, the last time he officially ran a college offense.

He later coached at the high school level, worked as an analyst at South Florida and returned to Clemson as an analyst in 2024. Morris spent last season away from coaching while his son Chandler finished his career at Virginia under Tony Elliott.

That experience gave Morris a chance to study another program from a different perspective.

“As a coach, your calendars run parallel,” Morris added. “You very seldom have a chance to go and visit other schools and to watch the way other practices are ran or meetings are ran. To be able to go and do that and still be able to be tied in with Virginia last year with Coach Elliott. I learned so much about how to run meetings more efficiently and effective. Practice — just different things that happen in practice.”

The biggest question now is how much Morris’ offense has changed.

His original Clemson attack was known for playing at an extreme pace, regularly piling up huge snap totals. Morris still values tempo, but he knows defenses are far better prepared for it now.

“The last time I was here it was all about tempo, tempo, tempo,” Morris said. “And now defenses have caught up to that. Now it’s your ability you still have to be with tempo, but it’s your ability to mix things up. And I think you’re able to see that right now across college football, the land of college football. But make no mistake about it, it’s still about execution.”

The details may look different this time around, but Morris’ basic objective remains simple: find ways to put Clemson’s best playmakers in position to make a difference.

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This article originally appeared on Clemson Wire: Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris is right where he wants to be

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