USA Today Sports national college football writer Blake Toppmeyer highlighted eight coordinator hires that he “can’t stop thinking about.”

Among them? Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris.

Toppmeyer called Morris the “ultimate YOLO hire” for Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney.

Morris was officially hired as the Tigers’ new offensive coordinator on Jan. 5, replacing Garrett Riley, who was fired on Dec. 29 after three seasons as Clemson’s OC.

Here’s what Toppmeyer wrote about Morris, who previously served as Clemson’s OC from 2011-14, and also spent one season at Clemson in 2023 as an offensive analyst:

What is Dabo Swinney thinking? Seriously, inquisitive minds would like to know.

This is the ultimate YOLO hire for a coach whose program has failed to assimilate to the NIL and transfer eras. Leave it to Dabo to think he’ll fix Clemson’s ailments by bringing back a coordinator who was part of the Tigers’ ascent under Swinney more than a decade ago.

Morris went on to become one of the worst coaches in SEC history, winning four games in two seasons at Arkansas. He’s been stuck in something akin to coaching purgatory the past several seasons. With Swinney’s tenure in a state of freefall, he decided to play the hits.

As Swinney puts the band back together, one must wonder whether this nostalgia move serves as the kickoff to a Clemson farewell tour.

After his first stint at Clemson, Morris departed to spend five seasons as an FBS head coach, first at SMU from 2015-17 and then at Arkansas across the 2018-19 seasons. Before coming back to Clemson this year, Morris was most recently the wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator at Texas State in 2024. He briefly stepped away from coaching during the 2025 season to follow his son, Virginia quarterback Chandler Morris.

Morris returns to Tigertown to try and revitalize an offense that finished eighth in the ACC in total offense in 2025, averaging 392.2 yards per game, and No. 11 in scoring offense at 27.2 points per game. The Tigers also finished sixth in passing yards (267.8 per game) and 11th in rushing (124.5 per game).

In 52 games during Morris’ four seasons as Clemson’s offensive coordinator from 2011-14, Clemson averaged 36 points and 468 yards per game. He guided the top three scoring offenses and four of the top five passing offenses in Clemson history during his time in Tigertown.

Morris helped the Tigers set 127 offensive records (89 individual marks and 38 team records), while winning the 2011 ACC Championship and guiding them to a 41-11 record. He helped Clemson beat top 10 foes LSU (Chick-fil-A) and Ohio State (Orange) in bowl games, while the Tigers were 27-6 against ACC opponents.