Morris touts prep ties, uptempo look during Arkansas intro
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.—Less than three minutes after meeting his new team for the first time, Chad Morris had a much-needed message of hope for the Razorbacks.
Morris, who was hired away from SMU on Wednesday morning, had just walked into the team meeting room that afternoon in Fayetteville when he related a story about where he’s been in his career.
Before being hired by the Mustangs, the 49-year-old Morris had worked as the offensive coordinator at defending national Clemson. Only, when Morris started with the Tigers, they weren’t the same Clemson that reached the College Football Playoff for a third straight year this season.
They were a lot like Arkansas is right now.
“I’ve got the blueprint (for) what it takes to win a national championship,” Morris told the Razorbacks. “I was sitting at Clemson when we were 6-7, and what excites me more than anything is seven years ago, Clemson looked just like Arkansas does today.”
Morris continued preaching his message of a return to national relevance to the rest of Arkansas on Thursday when he was publicly introduced as the new coach.
The former Texas high school coach talked repeatedly about his numerous ties to the prep coaching ranks—particularly in the Lone Star state—and how he expects that to help a downtrodden team that finished 4-8 last season. He takes over a program that is 33-42 in the six seasons since the firing of the scandal-ridden Bobby Petrino, the school’s worst stretch since 1948-52. And that’s just fine with Morris. “We want to win, make no mistake about it,” Morris said. “We’re here to win, we want to win, we want to win championships— that’s what we’re going to do.”
Morris is no stranger to northwest Arkansas, having visited the area along with the rest of his high school coaching staff in the early 2000s. He did so at the time to learn from another prep coach who has since fared well in the collegiate ranks, former Springdale High and current Auburn coach Gus Malzahn.