Morris gets a thumbs up as recruiter

THE RECRUITING GUY

Within one minute of talking to Texas high school football coaches about Arkansas Coach Chad Morris, there is the realization that the respect for Morris is genuine and deep rooted.

Few know Morris better than Marshall (Texas) Athletic Director and Coach Claude Mathis. He joined Morris’ staff at SMU as the running backs coach in December 2014 after being the head coach at DeSoto High School, where he had a 74-18 record in 7 seasons and made 2 Class 5A state semifinals.1

Mathis left SMU after 2 years on the staff to spend more time with his three children and coach his son, Champ, who’s a junior defensive back for the Mavericks.

“Number one, he cares about those kids,” Mathis said. “He’s going to take care of those kids. Number two, he’s going to bring a great family atmosphere to that program. Not just football, but it will circulate throughout [the] whole campus. He does a good job of including the families and the loved ones.”

“Number three, it’s going to be exciting. They’re going to have a lot of fun. The offense is unbelievable. It will be a high-powered offense … no huddle. They’re going to put up a lot of points on the scoreboard.”

Morris understands the power of social media and the impact it can have on recruiting.

“Get ready for plenty of tweets,” Mathis said. “He is a tweeting joker. He knows how to recruit. The fans will be very impressed with how he recruits. He’s not only going to be able to step his foot in Texas, but he’s going to be able to step his foot outside the state of Texas and everywhere else.”

Mathis calls Morris “an unbelievable recruiter.”

“Once he steps foot in the living room with the parents and recruits, it’s pretty much a done deal,” Mathis said. “Those guys are going to fall in love with him on the the spot.”

Once an athlete signs with Morris and the Hogs, he’ll be in good hands, according to Mathis.

“He love his kids,” Mathis said. “The families won’t ever have to worry about anything once they send their kid off to college, especially with him.”

Mathis said the Arkansas high schools coaches will have a friend in Morris and his staff.

“The only thing I can say, they’re going to have a great guy in the state of Arkansas where they’re going to be able to have an open door policy and come in and really listen to some football and get to know some X’s and O’s,” Mathis said.

“He’s still in his heart a high school coach. He’s not going to change at all. The coaches in Arkansas are about to get a great guy that really cares about their kids and also about them as human beings.”

Dallas Bishop Dunne Coach Michael Johnson, who led the Falcons to the 2014 Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools’ Division I state championship, said he is an admirer of Morris.

“Chad Morris is a great coach, just a great family man, great Christian, great overall person,” Johnson said. “He’s someone I admire. I can speak all day on Chad. He’s just a great guy.”

Johnson said former Bishop Dunne linebacker Shaine Hailey is a redshirt freshman at SMU.

“Shaine only has the best things to say about him and how he goes about things as a football coach,” Johnson said.

DeSoto Coach Todd Peterman said Morris did a great job of recruiting at SMU despite tough admission standards.

“Their academics are obviously higher, which is obviously going to hurt in getting some guys in and having [a] committee with all the things [you] have to do to get some kids in,” Peterman said. “A review board obviously makes things more difficult, but I’m a huge Chad Morris fan.”

“I’ve never heard anyone say anything bad about him.”

Once Morris meets you, he remembers your name, Peterman said.

“I’ve only met a few like that can remember assistant coaches’ names,” he said. “Brent Venables is one of them, Mack Brown is one of them, but there’s not a whole lot of guys like that. Those things that make people feel special. He does that.”

Peterman, who led DeSoto to the Class 6A Division II state title in 2016, sees Morris being successful in Fayetteville.

“Recruiting out of Arkansas, he’s going to kill it He’s going to kill it,” Peterman said.

Email Richard Davenport at rdavenport@arkansasonline.com