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Dabo Swinney hires Chad Morris again as Clemson football OC
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- Dabo Swinney hires Chad Morris again as Clemson football OC
This story was updated to add new information.
CLEMSON — Clemson football hired Chad Morris again as its next offensive coordinator on Jan. 5.
Morris was also Swinney's offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Clemson from 2011-14.
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"There are always tough decisions that have to be made in this profession, and though I had to make a couple tough decisions, it was an easy decision to hire Chad Morris," Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said in a school release on Jan. 5. "I'm really excited for our players. It's pretty cool to have guys like DeAndre Hopkins and Sammy Watkins and a bunch of great players shooting me text messages with their excitement knowing what's to come offensively.
"I think we've got elite offensive personnel, and the name of the game is points. The one thing I know about Chad, he knows how to score points, and so I'm excited to welcome him and his family back."
Clemson's Board of Trustees compensation committee approved Morris' hire on Jan. 5.
Morris, 57, will be the third offensive coordinator hire under Swinney since longtime coordinator Tony Elliott departed in 2021. Morris will replace Garrett Riley, who was fired on Dec. 29 after three seasons .
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Morris will be tasked with returning Clemson's offense to prominence after the unit regressed in 2025. The Tigers averaged 27.2 points (72nd) despite having senior quarterback Cade Klubnik , talented skill-position players and an experienced offensive line. Last season, Clemson averaged 34.7 points (18th).
Swinney had two gripes regarding Clemson's offense: lack of run game and not being efficient on third down. The Tigers averaged 124.5 rushing yards per game (105th) and were 60-of-175 (34.4%) on third downs (113th)
This will be Morris' third stint with Clemson. Before departing to be SMU's coach he was key to jumpstarting Clemson's offense early in Swinney's tenure, helping the Tigers average over 30 points for fourth straight years.
He also served as an offensive analyst in 2023.
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Morris had two stints as a head coach with SMU from 2015-17 and Arkansas from 2018-19. He compiled an 18-40 record with one bowl game appearance.
He also coached at Auburn (offensive coordinator) in 2020, Allen High School in Texas in 2021, South Florida (offensive analyst) in 2022 and Texas State (wide receiver coach) in 2024.
Morris sat out of coaching in 2025 to watch his son, Chandler Morris , play football at Virginia
Clemson's offense will have a new quarterback and offensive line as Klubnik and four offensive line starters all exhausted eligibility. Still, the Tigers will return a talented skill-position players in running back Gideon Davidson , wide receivers Bryant Wesco Jr. , T.J. Moore and signee Naeem Burroughs and tight ends Olsen Patt-Henry and Christian Bentancur.
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Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at DCarter@usatodayco.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson, Dabo Swinney hire Chad Morris as OC
