Posts Tagged ‘chad morris’

After having his name linked as a candidate at Texas Tech before the Red Raiders decided to bring on Kliff Kingsbury, Chad Morris explained after practice over the weekend that there are so many things that need to fall into place for you to be successful in your first head coaching stop.

Morris, who had an extremely successful high school coaching career in Texas before moving up to serve as the offensive coordinator at Tulsa and eventually Clemson, explained that money has nothing to do with moving up in the profession for him, it's more about finding the right fit and right opportunity.

The commitment that Clemson has shown to winning and doing things the right way makes Morris more than happy with where he is at now in his coaching career. Their production coupled with the environment that Dabo Swinney has created among the staff (and their compensation) is what Morris explains has given him the opportunity to be selective if, and when, schools reach out to him about their vacancies.

Morris explains the type of things he looks for when evaluating an opportunity to become a head coach.

"It's about have they won in the past? Is there a commitment to winning?"

"There has to be a commitment from a support staff, to a fan base that is hungry to win. There are so many variables that play into a decision that you make. You only get one opportunity to do this, and you want to make sure that you do it in a place where you can be successful, that you can win, and that you can make an impact." he explained.

"Just to say that you're a head coach...that does nothing for me. I have no desire, just to say that 'I'm a head coach at wherever'.  I have no desire to do that because I feel that we have a great situation here."

In the coming weeks and months a new crop of assistant coaches should have the opportunity to become first-time head coaches. A group of successful assistant coaches that could graduate to head coaching positions in the not-too-distant future includes Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart (36), Alabama offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier (41), Ohio State defensive coordinator Luke Fickell (39), Ohio State offensive coordinator Tom Herman (37), Ohio State defensive line coach Mike Vrabel (37), Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris (43), Oregon offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich (39), Texas offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin (35), Texas A&M offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury (33) and Texas Tech offensive coordinator Neal Brown (31). Jason Gesser (33), the interim head coach at Idaho, is also in close proximity to a full-time head coaching job.

The problem with those names, according to some, is that they're too young. As in "not old enough to run for president" young in some cases. 

But the question we have at FootballScoop is, is age really a valid concern?

Over the weekend we took a look at the youngest FBS head coaches, and our results indicate that the 40-and-under crowd is winning in a big way.

Overall, that group is 67-42 (.615) this season. If you consider that Fuente and McGee are in their first seasons in situations where Vince Lombardi would struggle to win, the record improves to a stellar 64-27 (.703). 

Expand the criteria to coaches in their early-40's and the youth movement looks even stronger.

As a whole, this group is 49-21 (.700). Coupled with the group above and young head coaches enjoy a composite 116-63 (.648) record. 

In college football, winning begins with recruiting better players than your opponent. With that in mind, imagine you are a 16-year-old recruit. Who are you more likely to relate to, a 35-year-old coach or a 65-year-old coach?

The success of young head coaches are having so early in their careers has to be making athletic directors across the country asking themselves if youth is really a bad thing. 

Clemson travels to Wake Forest tonight for another Thursday night extravaganza (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN). Dabo Swinney's team comes in riding a three-game winning streak with a 6-1 overall record and in first place in the ACC's Atlantic Division at 3-1. Jim Grobe's squad is 4-3 on the year and 2-3 in the ACC.

Clemson has won three straight in the series, but Wake Forest has won three of the past five games played in Winston-Salem. Jim Grobe and co. have experienced success in the Thursday night spotlight. ESPN's last two Thursday night games at Wake Forest ended in Demon Deacons victories: 24-21 over Florida State in 2007 and 12-7 over Clemson in 2008.

Clemson clinched the Atlantic Division championship in last season's 31-28 meeting with the Demon Decaons. Wake Forest made the Tigers sweat for it, though, as Clemson battled back from a 28-14 hole by scoring the game's final 17 points on two Tajh Boyd touchdown throws and a Chandler Catanzaro 43-yard field goal as time expired. 

Wake Forest will have to find a way to slow down Chad Morris' explosive offense to pull off the home upset. Clemson ranks in the top 20 nationally in scoring offense (40.8 ppg), total offense (492.9 ypg, 6.17 ypp) and passing offense (301.1 ypg). The Tigers have scored 37 or more in every game since their season-opening 26-19 win over Auburn. Quarterback Tajh Boyd ranks second in the conference in total offense, while wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins is second in the country with 845 receiving yards.

Unfortunately for Wake Forest, its best statistic, turnover margin, is also an area where Clemson excells. The Demon Deacons are plus-5 for the year, while Clemson is slightly better at plus-7. Still, the Demon Deacons will need to re-create its recipie from last year when they forced Clemson into three turnovers while committing none of their own. A fumble and interception in Clemson territory on consecutive drives allowed Wake Forest to push the score from 14-14 to 28-14. They will need more where that came from tonight. 

Here is what Jim Grobe sees coming into the game tonight.