CLEMSON – When Chad Morris returned to Clemson this past January, there was no shortage of work to be done.
Morris, now in his second stint as the Tigers’ offensive coordinator, had to meet with his new players individually after he arrived. The former SMU and Arkansas head coach also had to watch tape from a disappointing 7-6 season to figure out what went wrong. He had to challenge his position coaches to push both returners and newcomers alike.
The task required absolute commitment, and several Red Bulls, Morris’ favorite beverage.
On the other hand, Morris’ players, especially the quarterbacks, also had no shortage of work to do upon his arrival. The signal-callers were quickly put in charge of learning an entirely new offense, one that differs greatly from what they practiced the last three years under former offensive coordinator Garrett Riley.
The transition was not exactly easy.
“You know, they’re all competing,” Morris said of the quarterbacks back in the spring. “That’s what I’ve seen. I think that right now they’re drinking water through a fire hose. And it’s as they all are, as I would expect. That’s not shocking by anybody right now, with the change of system and the change of how everything flows. But they’re competing. I will say that.”
Luckily for players, who were between the ages of six and 10 the last time Morris was calling plays for head coach Dabo Swinney from 2011-14, Clemson has a personal firehose filter on-site in the Allen N. Reeves Football Complex – one that was a former first-team All-American, ACC Player of the Year, ACC Champion and school and ACC record holder.
That processor goes by the name of Tajh Boyd.
As a player, Boyd led Morris’ offense for three seasons from 2011-13, winning 32 games as Clemson’s quarterback. Now, as the Tigers’ quarterbacks coach, he has been in charge of helping new Clemson players make the adjustment to the offense in which he excelled.
“We’re watching Tajh Boyd do it on the screen,” senior quarterback Christopher Vizzina said. “Like when you have multiple people that played in the offense and they can sit there and they can teach you, it makes it a lot easier to take in.
“When we watch QB runs, like I mean he’s the example,” Vizzina added. “So, it is cool when you know we’re doing drills out there and you’re learning from someone that is really one of the best to do it here.”
When Boyd took over as the Tigers’ starter in 2011, his redshirt sophomore season, he was also new to Morris’ offense. Still, he went on to throw for 3,828 yards and 33 touchdowns that season, bringing Clemson its first ACC title in 20 years at the time.
Along with Morris’ hire, there are some other similarities with the 2011 season. For the first time since that season, Clemson enters the season unranked in the Associated Press Poll. Additionally, the Tigers will be led by an unproven quarterback.
On top of that, several key players from the prior season, such as Peter Woods, T.J Parker and Cade Klubnik are off to the NFL. In 2011, the Tigers were similarly rebuilding after losing Kyle Parker, Da’Quan Bowers and DeAndre McDaniel to the professional ranks.
As a coach, Boyd is experiencing some slight deja vu.
“It feels like (2011),” Boyd said. “That’s for sure. In a lot of different ways. And again, like I was on one side of the curtain, now I get a chance to see the production behind the display and you know, just the attention to detail, the demand that we’ve seen from Coach Morris and the shift in the mindset that we’ve all experienced as a staff. It’s been a transition for all of us. Like I told the guys in the spring, you’re learning the same way that I’m learning as well. We’re learning together, and so I think Chad Morris is exactly where he’s supposed to be when he’s supposed to be.”
Only if history can repeat itself on the playing field. The Tigers will soon find out.