College football trick or treat: 10 biggest surprises and flops of 2019

Trick – Chad Morris

No one expected Chad Morris to turn Arkansas into an SEC contender right away. But a Conference win might be nice at some point. In his second year on the job, Morris has amassed a 0-13 conference record, and a 4-16 overall record. Two of those wins were against mid-major programs, and none were against power five schools.

For a fanbase that was delighted when the school bought out Bret Bielema (although they may not have to), things sure haven’t gotten better. Their Razorbacks are allowing over 400 yards per game on defense, and are averaging only 363 yards of offense per game. For those keeping score at home, that’s 89th in the country on defense, and 98th in the country on offense. That is not good.

Reinforcements may be on the way in the future, however. Arkansas currently has the No. 20 recruiting class in 2019 according to rivals.com. While this is nothing Alabama or Georgia would be impressed by, it means Morris can recruit well in a crowded SEC conference. The question is whether he can develop talent and can he coach at the college level. The answer is unclear. His job before Arkansas was as SMU’s head coach, where he had a 14-22 record with a single-season above .500. Not exactly an SEC-caliber record at a Group of Five school (who, as I mentioned earlier, is killing it this year).

Morris might be looking for a new job soon. If he doesn’t get a win this year, he may be out before his third season in charge. One good thing for Arkansas fans is we have thought of some potential replacements already.