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8 Arkansas Football Sunday, August 26, 2018 In 16 seasons as a high school coach, Morris compiled a 169-38 record and won three state high school championships. In his final two seasons at Lake Travis, Morris was 32-0 and won back-to-back state championships. He also coached the Eustace boys basketball team to 128-32 record in four seasons. Morris was hired as Tulsa's offensive coordinator in 2010, and he spent four seasons as the offensive coordinator at Clemson. "I am incredibly happy for Chad Morris and his wife Paula," Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. "It has been fun to see someone who coaches here blossom in his career. He did a phenomenal job in his four years at Clemson, and it has been exciting to see what he has done at SMU. I believe he will be a great fit at Arkansas and I am excited to see what he will do with that program." In 2014, he was named the head coach at Southern Methodist. "For those of you doubting the Chad Morris hire, do your homework," Gene Chizik, former Auburn coach, said on Twitter. "You obviously haven't seen his teams play. He is a stud. Can't judge the hire by his record alone. When he inherited SMU, it was a dumpster fire. One of the best hires of the offseason." GETTING TO KNOW COACH MO Chad Morris AGE: 49 BORN: Dec. 4, 1968, in Dallas COLLEGE: Texas A&M (1992) NOT BY THE NUMBERS Morris had options, but coaching led him on an abnormal path to Arkansas FAYETTEVILLE — The revival of the Arkansas Razorbacks' football fortunes rests on the shoulders of a math-loving, play-designing whiz. Chad Morris made his mark in the prep ranks in Texas and during a four- year run as offensive coordinator at bud- ding powerhouse Clemson. After the past three seasons of improv- ing the victory totals and really cranking up the offensive numbers as head coach at SMU, Morris landed the University of Arkansas job on Dec. 6. He gave an idea of his offensive mentality at the annual Ar- kansas football kickoff luncheon Aug. 17. "We're constantly trying to put pres- sure on defenses through playing fast pace with tempo," Morris said. "I think the tempo and the pace of play cause prob- lems. And just the ability to go through the run-pass options, the different struc- tures, motioning in and out of structures. "You'll see us in two-back. You'll see us in three-back. You'll see us in five- wide. You'll see us in 4 by 1, motioning back into the backfield. It's just about the ability to change the structure and do it at a very fast pace." Morris turned his passion for foot- ball into a lifetime pursuit, and the Lone Star State native's love for scheming of- fensive plans from an analytical, num- bers-mad mind has delivered the ener- getic Morris levels of fame mixed with early misfortune. Morris, 49, did not play organized football beyond high school — he was a math major at Texas A&M, Class of 1992 — but his love for the sport never waned, even when teaching math, working as an actuary or becoming a fireman looked like his plan. As a teenage quarterback at Edge- wood (Texas) High School, Morris' self-confidence was on display. TOM MURPHY ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE See MORRIS, Page 10 N W A De m o cr a t- Gazett e fi l e an d c ou r t es y p hotos m N W A De moc r at- G azette g raphic/CH RIS SW IN D L E