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Ranking The Top Ten Offensive Coaches in College Football

By Nicholas Ian Allen

Jan 1, 2015; Tampa, FL, USA; Auburn Tigers head coach Gus Malzahn talks with the offense in the first half against the Wisconsin Badgers in the 2015 Outback Bowl at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 1, 2015; Tampa, FL, USA; Auburn Tigers head coach Gus Malzahn talks with the offense in the first half against the Wisconsin Badgers in the 2015 Outback Bowl at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 4, 2014; Clemson, SC, USA; Clemson Tigers offensive coordinator Chad Morris during the second quarter against the North Carolina State Wolfpack at Clemson Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 4, 2014; Clemson, SC, USA; Clemson Tigers offensive coordinator Chad Morris during the second quarter against the North Carolina State Wolfpack at Clemson Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports /

What to know how brilliant an offensive mind new SMU head coach Chad Morris has? Ask the 1,000 high school coaches that visited the Mustangs this spring.

That amount of attention tells you two things:

  • (1) Chad Morris, a former high school head coach himself, is among the most respected offensive minds in the game among high school coaches, which
  • (2) means that he has enough connections in the Long Star State that SMU will be able to recruit with the very best of the Group of Five schools, such as Boise State. Perhaps even better.

After 16 years as a high school head coach, including a 32-0 record and two state titles in his last two seasons, Morris was hired as Todd Graham’s offensive coordinator at Tulsa in 2010 (perhaps because he shares a similar background, philosophy to and spent time picking the brain of another former Tulsa OC, Gus Malzahn).

The next season Morris was hired as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Clemson, where he helped the Tigers win 41 games in four years and set 127 school records (89 individual, 38 team) for offensive production. Morris led the Clemson offense to its three highest scoring seasons in school history, as well as four of the school’s five best all-time passing seasons, despite orchestrating a balanced attack that averaged 167.6 yards per game during his tenure.

Now he’s tasked with rebuilding a program that fell to 1-11 last season after going to four bowl games since 2009 under former head coach (and Run ‘n Shoot guru) June Jones.

To do it, he’ll rely on tempo, tempo and more tempo:

"“Break-neck speed. Fast as you can possibly move,” Morris said in a recent radio interview. “We want to be a two-back, run-oriented, play-action shot football team. As fast as you possibly can. Not just, we’re a hurry-up, no-huddle offense, we’re a hurry-up, no-huddle program. From an offense to a defense. Obviously if we’re a hurry-up, no-huddle offense our defense is having to play a hurry-up as well every day. And we tell our defense all the time, ‘You’re not going to play anybody faster than us, so right now this is a great opportunity for you to learn.’ We’re all going to play fast in all aspects of the game.”"

Time will tell if Morris’ offense and connections will pay off, but one thing is certain: he’s among the best in the business when it comes to moving the sticks and putting points on the scoreboard.

Next: Rich Rodriguez

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