Clemson famously went “back to the future” by rehiring Chad Morris.

In January, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney hired Morris as the Tigers’ offensive coordinator, replacing Garrett Riley, who was fired in December after three seasons as Clemson’s offensive coordinator.

Morris previously spent four record-setting seasons as Clemson’s offensive coordinator from 2011-14, when his offense averaged 468.5 yards per game and 36.3 points per game in his 52 games as Clemson’s OC, ranking ninth and 12th, respectively, among power conference teams in those categories in that span. Clemson was one of only five programs during his tenure to exceed both 15,000 passing yards and 8,500 rushing yards.

He is now back in Tigertown trying to revitalize a Tigers 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).

ESPN play-by-play voice and former 105.5 The Roar personality Roy Philpott gave his thoughts on the Morris hire and Clemson’s new offense during a recent appearance on the Gramlich & Mac Lain show with fellow Clemson grads Kelly Gramlich and Eric Mac Lain.

Morris’ return to Clemson brings back the up-tempo offensive roots that helped build the program’s foundation during his first stint.

“The one thing I’ll say about with Chad – you know what you’re gonna get,” Philpott said. “They’re going to run with pace, with tempo. It’s going to be lightning-quick.”

After his first stint at Clemson, Morris spent time as head coach at SMU (2015-17) and Arkansas (2018-19), and as Auburn’s offensive coordinator (2020). After one year back in the Texas high school ranks, he returned to college football as an offensive analyst at USF in 2022 before returning to Clemson as an offensive analyst in 2023. He then spent one season at Texas State in 2024 as passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach before briefly stepping away from coaching during the 2025 season to follow his son, Chandler, as he quarterbacked Virginia.

“I think he’s learned a lot along the way, some failures as a head coach. I think he would be the first to tell you. But his bread basket is calling plays. So, it’s back to the future,” Philpott said.

“When it first was announced, it was like really, this is the direction, they’re going to go back to 2011? And then I just think about what that offense needs, and it’s eye candy. They’re going to specialize in their plays, they’re going to run those plays effectively. And then personnel-wise — I need a quarterback with mobility. I need a quarterback where I can run QB draw, QB counter, QB lead, whatever, on those third-down situations where maybe Clemson’s throwing a bubble screen these last couple of years. And I think you get that. So, I like it. I like the personnel.”

It all starts at the quarterback position, where redshirt junior Christopher Vizzina and true freshman Tait Reynolds are competing to replace Cade Klubnik, who served as Clemson’s starting signal-caller over the last three seasons before moving on to the NFL.

Despite the uncertainty at QB heading into the 2026 season, Philpott feels better about Clemson’s situation at the position now than he has “in a while” and added that Klubnik just “didn’t develop the way that we thought” during his career as a Tiger.

“I think a little bit better at quarterback right now than I have [seen] in a while,” Philpott said. “And I feel bad saying that because I think Cade Klubnik did everything he could to try to get this team where it needed to go. But look, it just wasn’t there, and he didn’t develop the way that we thought. Was it coaching? Was it Cade? Was it a combination? I don’t know. But I know football well enough to say when the ball’s being patted five times and it’s coming out late – I’ve worked with so many quarterbacks, as an analyst over the years – the ball comes out late, bad things are happening. The ball always came out late.”

Philpott feels Clemson lacked an offensive identity with Riley calling the shots the last few years, but doesn’t think that will be an issue with Morris in charge.

“I think what Clemson offensively hasn’t been in the last three years, under its former offensive play-caller, and really what was it known for? What was the identity of that offense?” Philpott said. “And when I say identity, it’s third-down-and-goal from the 3-yard line. Like, what play are you running? Chad Morris — here comes the hammer, Tajh Boyd, quarterback draw. You know what, he’s gonna score. With Garrett Riley, I just don’t know that that ever developed with the kind of an air-raid system the way that we thought it was going to. I mean, he was the hottest thing ever after TCU played for the national championship, and he’s gonna bring this high-flying offense to Clemson, and it just never really happened outside of a couple of games, and that’s a little surprising.”

Philpott has an optimistic outlook about Clemson’s offense under Morris the second time around – he’s just tempering his expectations for the offense early in the upcoming season, which kicks off with the Week 1 matchup at LSU on Sept. 5.

“So, I’m on board with Chad Morris,” Philpott said. “Now, I don’t know that Week 1 is where you want to start, and to have Vizzina or Tait Reynolds kind of step in there, a new offense, and everything is just going to be hunky-dory down at LSU. But I think by the time the calendar gets to October, I think Clemson fans are going to like what this offense looks like and kind of how it will develop. That’s just my broad take there.”