Broken leg suffered riding a horse delayed Chad Morris' return to Clemson

Chad Morris is returning to Clemson for the first time since he left for the SMU head coaching job in 2014.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Fri Jul 28 12:11:05 GMT-04:00 2023

CHARLOTTE – Former Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris should have been back at Clemson this past spring, but a broken leg he suffered riding a horse delayed his arrival.

TigerNet broke the news a few weeks ago that Morris, the offensive coordinator for the Tigers from 2011-2014, was headed back to Clemson to serve as an analyst. Morris will act as cheap labor – his buyout from his time as head coach at Arkansas runs through December of this year. That buyout from Arkansas stipulated that Morris’ Arkansas compensation would be offset by any other employment compensation Morris received.

“He probably would have come back this spring, but he had a bad horse accident and broke his leg,” head coach Dabo Swinney told the media at the ACC Kickoff Thursday. “I mean it was really bad. He had to have a bunch of rods and screws put in his leg, and he was still kind of recovering from that. He’s a very cheap, high-qualified guy to have hanging around.”

Swinney said Morris will work on both sides of the ball.

“It’s kind of like what we did with Ted Roof a couple of years ago,” Swinney said. “He can bring a lot of value. He’s actually going to work with the defense and the offense – just stay a week ahead and add a lot of value from another lens.”

Morris coached one season as Auburn’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2020, returned to his roots to coach Allen High School in Texas in 2021, and served as an offensive analyst at South Florida last season.

Morris led the SMU program from 2015-17 and the Arkansas program from 2018-19 and previously served as assistant head coach/offensive coordinator at AAC league foe Tulsa in 2010.

During his four years at Clemson (2011-14) as offensive coordinator, Morris' impact helped result in a 41-11 record, the 2011 ACC Championship and four bowl berths, including two BCS Orange Bowl appearances. Under Morris' offense, the Tigers set 127 offensive records (89 individual/38 team) and posted the top three scoring seasons in school history and four of the top five passing seasons at Clemson.

The Clemson offense, in its second season under Morris with ACC Player of the Year Tajh Boyd at quarterback, set school records for total yards per game (512.7) and points per game (41.0), ranking sixth in the nation in scoring and ninth in the nation in total offense. The 2013 squad backed up those numbers with 508.5 yards and 40.2 points per game, both top 10 nationally.

Morris' record-setting offense in 2012 and 2013 marked the first time in ACC history that an active conference member had averaged more than 40 points per game in back-to-back seasons. Clemson was also one of just two FBS schools with a 3,000-yard passer, 1,000-yard rusher and 1,000-yard receiver every year from 2011-13.

“This guy’s been a good offensive coordinator and a head coach,” Swinney said. “He’s got a lot of experience. He’s always loved Clemson, loved his time here. Now he’s back for the first time since 2014. It’s crazy; he hadn’t been back here since the day he left. He left the Sunday after the South Carolina game in 2014.

“It has changed a lot since then. He hadn’t seen our facility. It’s good to have him back around, and he’ll bring a lot of value for sure. Hopefully we can help him kind of reset and get back going and get some positive things going in his direction.”