Clemson Tigers Finalizing Next Offensive Coordinator Choice

The Clemson Tigers look like they have their next offensive coordinator, with finalizations happening at the beginning of next week.

Clemson’s next offensive coordinator is expected to be Chad Morris, who was the former coordinator from 2011-14. | Ken Ruinard / staff / USA TODAY NETWORK

After only five days without an official offensive coordinator, the Clemson Tigers are expected to hire former coach Chad Morris as their next coordinator for the 2026 season.

This was first reported by Larry Williams at On3, revealing it on Saturday afternoon. ESPN’s Pete Thamel then confirmed the report.

Clemson is finalizing a multi-year contract for new offensive coordinator Chad Morris, per ESPN sources. The deal is nearing completion and pending Board of Trustees Review on Monday. This confirms what @LarryWilliamsTI reported earlier, that Morris is headed back to Clemson. pic.twitter.com/f4bLqIXFXh

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 3, 2026

Head coach Dabo Swinney brings back a familiar face, who coached the Clemson offense from 2011-14. After Swinney’s 6-7 season in 2010, he brought in Morris to lead the offense, taking it to new heights before leaving for the SMU head coaching job in 2015.

Under the offense, Morris brought players like Tajh Boyd, Deshaun Watson and Sammy Watkins to life. In every season under the former coordinator, the Tigers had a 1,000-yard receiver each season, bringing hope to a Clemson offense that is searching for a high-powered offense.

The Tigers were 42-11 under Morris, winning the 2011 ACC Championship as the main accolade under Morris. Clemson made two appearance in the Orange Bowl, and he helped set the table for the program’s success in the College Football Playoff from 2015-20

Morris replaces third-year offensive coordinator, Garrett Riley, who saw his offense drop from scoring 36.4 points per game to 27.2 points, leading to the Tigers’ 7-6 record, their worst under Swinney in 15 years. The Clemson offense amassed 392.2 yards per game, which was seventh in the ACC, not the standard that the program was looking for.

The 57-year-old saw another stint at Clemson in 2023, being an offensive analyst, before being Texas State’s wide receiver coach and passing game coordinator the following year. He also saw time as Arkansas’ head coach from 2018-19 and as Auburn’s offensive coordinator in 2020.

He did not coach in the 2025 season to watch his son, Chandler, who was the starting quarterback at Virginia this past season, making an ACC Championship despite not coming away with the win.

The move will not be official until the Board of Trustees meeting on Monday, which will finalize other details within the new offensive coordinator’s contract.

Swinney’s decision will hope to bring back the Clemson offense of old, which produced plenty of talent all over the unit. The Tigers averaged over 450 yards per game under Morris, leading the offense to finish in four of the top five passing offense slots in program history.

The first big puzzle piece has been solved for Clemson football in this offseason: its offensive coordinator. Now, it will be about how Morris approaches the transfer portal to establish the Tigers’ needs going into 2026.