Frontrunner Emerges For Clemson's Offensive Coordinator Search

The Clemson Tigers are on the hunt for a new offensive coordinator, and just over 36 hours after announcing that Garrett Riley will depart, a frontrunner has emerged, first reported by Larry Williams with On3’s Tiger Illustrated.

For Clemson fans of old, it’s a familiar face: Chad Morris.

Morris was Clemson’s offensive coordinator from 2011-14, helping begin the period of the Clemson golden age. He began to run a hurry-up, spread offense that saw the Tigers go 42-11 over the four years that he was the team’s offensive coordinator. Then, he took the head coaching job at SMU and bounced around the country since.

It is important to note that Morris was not a coach this season, either, meaning he is available. Morris took a step back to watch his son, Chandler, play for the Virginia Cavaliers in what looks to be his final season of college football. Virginia made it to the ACC Championship before losing to Duke earlier this month.

Chandler is also actively searching for another year of eligibility, which would be his seventh. If it is granted, it could mean that his father would think about bringing him in as a quarterback, wherever he is next.

Morris was last seen at Texas State in 2024, being its wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator. In that season, the Bobcats were 17th in the country in passing yards per game at 267.9 a contest. The program averaged 13 yards per completion as well, which was top 30.

There are a few things that will need improvement from the Clemson offense that we saw in 2025, and Morris, a hard-nosed coach that was able to develop players like Tajh Boyd and Sammy Watkins, could be head coach Dabo Swinney’s next offensive coordinator, and perhaps the most decisive in his tenure.

In the 2010 season, which was Swinney’s worst, a 6-7 finish, to now, which was the worst since a 7-6 record, Morris worked after the poor season in 2011. If that happens again, in the changing world of college football, will he turn the offense around again?

Now, this doesn’t mean that the Tigers will end up taking Morris to be the next offensive coordinator, so take it with a grain of salt. Because of the relationship and the talks that are currently occurring, it puts him as the potential top guy to be taken by Swinney going into next season.

Clemson Tigers on SI will continue to provide live coverage of Clemson’s next offensive coordinator, and check out our hot board for the other names that could be in the running for the Tigers’ position.