Chad Allen Morris (born December 4, 1968) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach who was most recently the wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator at

Texas State University Texas State University (TXST) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in San Marcos, Texas, United States, and another campus in Round Rock, Texas, Round Rock. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has ...

. He served as the head football coach at

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

(SMU) from 2015 to 2017 and the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

from 2018 to 2019.

Coaching career

Prior to his collegiate coaching career, he was a high school head coach in Texas for 16 seasons compiling a 169–38 record (.816 winning overall). Most recently he was the head coach of the Lake Travis High School football team from 2008 to 2009. He coached the team, starring quarterback Garrett Gilbert, to back-to-back 16–0, state title seasons. Morris made the move to college in 2010 when he became the offensive coordinator and associate head coach at the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a Private university, private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Presbyterian Church, although it is now nondenominational, and the campus ...

. He would spend only one season at Tulsa before moving to

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

as offensive coordinator. The 2 years prior to Morris' arrival, Clemson went a combined 15–12, including a record of 6–7 in 2010. Morris introduced a hurry-up, spread offense that helped Clemson to a 42–11 mark over the next four seasons. In December 2011, Morris became tied with Gus Malzahn as the highest paid assistant in college football after

gave Morris a six-year contract worth $1.3 million annually. In December 2012, Morris interviewed for the Texas Tech head coaching vacancy, which had been created by the departure of

Tommy Tuberville Thomas Hawley Tuberville (; born September 18, 1954) is an American politician and retired college football coach who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from Alabama, a seat he has held since 2021. Before ...

for

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. However, the job would be filled by

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

offensive coordinator, and Texas Tech alumnus, Kliff Kingsbury.

SMU

Morris got his first opportunity to head coach at the collegiate level when he became head coach at the

on December 1, 2014. Morris' first two classes of recruits at SMU were all from Texas high schools, making SMU the only school in the country with all-Texas recruiting classes during that time. Morris completed his tenure at SMU compiling a 14–22 record over 3 seasons. Morris improved his record each year at SMU going 2–10 in 2015, 5–7 in 2016 and 7–5 in 2017.

Arkansas

On December 6, 2017, Morris was hired as the head coach of the

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fayetteville. The University of Arkans ...

, signing a six-year, $21 million contract. In his first year, Morris led the Razorbacks to a 2–10 record, notching the team's first ten-loss season in school history. This included a winless record in SEC play. After a 2–8 start to the 2019 season and a 45–19 loss to Group of 5 opponent Western Kentucky, Arkansas dismissed Morris in his second season. All four of his wins as head coach were over Group of Five (

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

, Colorado State) or FCS ( Eastern Illinois, Portland State) competition. To date, he is the only full-time Razorback coach to have left the school without a conference win. His 4–18 record is the worst record for a non-interim coach in Arkansas history.

Auburn

On December 10, 2019, Gus Malzahn hired Morris to serve as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Auburn. Auburn fired Malzahn following the 2020 season. New head coach Bryan Harsin did not retain Morris, instead hiring Mike Bobo.

Personal life

Morris went to Edgewood High School in Edgewood, Texas, where he was the quarterback of the Bulldogs. He attended Texas A&M and earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics with a minor in statistics in 1992. Morris did not play football at the collegiate level. He and his wife, Paula, have two children, a daughter, Mackenzie, and son, Chandler, who played football at

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

and TCU before transferring to North Texas following the 2023 season.

Head coaching record

College

* Departed SMU for Arkansas before bowl game

High school

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Chad Living people 1968 births Arkansas Razorbacks football coaches Auburn Tigers football coaches Clemson Tigers football coaches SMU Mustangs football coaches South Florida Bulls football coaches Tulsa Golden Hurricane football coaches High school football coaches in Texas Texas A&M University alumni People from Edgewood, Texas Coaches of American football from Texas