CLEMSON — Clemson is going back in time when it comes to its offense.

Chad Morris is back as the Tigers’ offensive coordinator. Former quarterback Tajh Boyd, who ran Morris’ offense as well as anyone, is now the quarterbacks coach and Christopher Vizzina, an old-school-type of quarterback, is in the poll position to be the new starting quarterback.

“I am excited to be back in a program to the caliber of Clemson, and what Coach (Dabo) Swinney stands for,” Morris said.

Swinney, whose team will begin spring practice in a couple of weeks, is hoping Morris brings excitement to a Clemson offense that has been stagnant and inconsistent for a better part of a half-decade. Though he has been here before, Morris is Swinney’s third offensive coordinator since Tony Elliott left to take over as Virginia’s head coach at the end of the 2021 season.

Explosive plays, physicality, and lack of a strong running game, are some of the inconsistencies that have plagued the Clemson offense in recent years.

“The same reasons I hired him (in 2011) is the same reasons today,” Swinney said. “Our philosophies line up. We got to run the football. When you can run the football, it makes your team tougher and when you can run the football, it creates some one-on-one matchups, and he loves taking advantage of those things.”

Swinney says he is a better head coach than he was back in 2011, and Morris is a better offensive coordinator.

“The game has evolved and he has evolved,” Clemson’s head coach said. “There will be some things that will be similar. We will still run the zone. We will still run the power and still run the counter. You are still running zone and gap schemes, that is football.

“But how you do things. How you manipulate things with formation and cadence. How you get on the edge, getting the ball down the field, those are all things that come with the play caller and the philosophy. There is great alignment there.”

Morris spent four seasons at Clemson from 2011-’14 as the Tigers’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach and then one season in 2023 as an offensive analyst.

He will try to revitalize a Clemson offense that finished seventh in the ACC in total offense in 2025, averaging 392.2 yards per game and No. 10 in scoring offense at 27.2 points per game. Clemson also finished sixth in passing yards (267.8) and 11 in rushing (124.5).

“We are a two-back-run-oriented-play-action-shot-football-team that is going to take great pride in pushing the ball downfield,” Morris said. “We want to push the ball down the field at least three times a quarter. That means the ball traveling down the field 25 yards or more three times a quarter. Chart it, let’s figure it out. Why it is not happening, and get the ball to our playmakers.

“How are we going to do that? By getting in and out of structures. Obviously, we are a base 11-personnel team, but we will get in 12-personnel structures at times, too. Being able to change the pace.”

Does that mean Clemson will be all about tempo like it was in 2011?

“Well, defenses have caught up with that,” Morris said. “Tempo is now about the ability to change the pace of play and do it in different structures in how you do it – play fast, play really fast, be able to huddle at times, get underneath center and really change those things. But at the end of the day, let’s not complicate this thing. Get the ball to our playmakers and let’s allow those guys to go make plays.”