CLEMSON — Chad Morris is not coming into his second stint as Clemson’s offensive coordinator without doing his due diligence.

He took a year off from coaching last year, so he could watch his son, Chandler, guide Virginia to its greatest football season in history.

However, Morris did not stay home and work in the yard or build model boats and cars. Instead, he kept finding ways to improve, as a coach and play caller, things that will benefit himself and the Clemson program in 2026.

Answers, a data analytic company that works with football coaches, allowed Morris to travel the country this past year and meet and work with many coaches.

“I got to see how things are done,” Morris said. “If you do not know, and you stay in one spot, and as coach… I had a chance to get and see how to run things, both good and bad. That was beneficial to me.”

In his visit to other programs, Morris found different ways to do things.

“Maybe it is the different ways practices are structure,” he said. “Maybe it is the drill work in practices. Maybe it is the way meetings are done. There are a lot more walkthroughs at times, instead of supplementing this in place of that. Maybe it is watching their strength staff and watching how those things work.

“I do not think it is one or two things and say, ‘this is what you look for.’”

Morris said he was blessed to learn from all the coaches and administrators he had the pleasure to speak with, as he traveled all over the country, from the Big 12 to the Mountain West to the ACC and SEC.

“I saw things good and bad. There are some things where you look and say, ‘I would not want to do that,’” Morris said. “Then there are other things, things I was doing offensively that was really good, but this adds a little extra tweak that can make us even better.”

Though Virginia head coach Tony Elliott learned his offensive style and philosophies from Morris, the Tigers’ new OC says working with Elliott also taught him a thing or two.

“While the footprint and the blueprint is extremely similar to what he learned here, offensively, some things had changed,” Morris said. “There are some different ways things are run and maybe the way things are called. For Coach Elliott to allow me to be a part of that and to watch and learn, and obviously… I just think there was so much value to be able to travel around and talk to so many coaches.”