Clemson coach Dabo Swinney fired Garrett Riley as his offensive coordinator immediately after the Tigers’ Pinstripe Bowl loss to the Penn State Nittany Lions confirmed a 7-6 record for the season. Barely a week later, Swinney rehired Chad Morris as the Tigers’ offensive coordinator to address their offensive woes.
Morris previously worked in the same role under Swinney from 2011 to 2014 and later served as an offensive analyst in 2023.
Chad Morris Details Dabo Swinney Rehiring Him
During Monday’s segment of the “2RightTurns” podcast, Morris detailed how Swinney convinced him and his wife to return to Death Valley during the hiring process.
“He (Swinney) was talking about his list and what he was considering from a coordinator’s standpoint, and I said, ‘Coach, your list is on,e and that’s me.’ We kind of laughed and chuckled; we really talked for about an hour. Then he said, ‘I’ll call you back tonight,’ and then he starts talking about Paula (Morris). And he said, ‘Is Paula on board?’
“And I said, ‘You wanna talk to her? Here she is.’ He’s on speaker, … and he’s like, ‘You wanna come back home?’ And she said, ‘Coach, I would crawl back to Clemson for you and Kathleen.’ And I started getting emotional, because that’s how special this place is and has been to us and our family.”
In this podcast, Morris says Dabo Swinney called to discuss his OC list on the Tuesday after the Pinstripe Bowl.
Morris, from a beach in Destin, told Swinney, “Your list is one, and that’s me.”
Morris’ wife told Swinney, “I would crawl back to Clemson for you and Kathleen.” https://t.co/Ewi009oAgA pic.twitter.com/j3KuERL2Hd
— Jon Blau (@Jon_Blau) February 9, 2026
Despite being preseason favorites to reclaim the ACC championship and clinch a berth in the College Football Playoff after returning quarterback Cade Klubnik and a majority of their offensive line, the Tigers struggled offensively last season.
Clemson’s offensive output dropped from 34.7 points per game (No. 18) the previous season to 27.2 points per game last season. Riley’s offense averaged 124.5 rushing yards per game (No. 105) and went 60-of-175 on third downs (No. 113), underscoring the team’s struggles.
During a news conference two weeks ago, Swinney detailed why he opted to bring back Morris to fix the Tigers’ offense.
“I’ve gone back to the future with Chad Morris,” Swinney said. “I got old Marty McFly right here next to me, and I’ll just say this: the reasons that I hired Chad in 2011 are the exact same reasons that I’ve hired him. (Morris) was able to fill in some blanks that I had on what I wanted to do.
“We still run the zone, still run the power, still run the counter, that’s football. But how you do things, how you manipulate things with cadence, formations, 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. And there’s a great alignment there.”
Despite not being one of the biggest champions of the transfer portal, Swinney has committed to refreshing his roster and, alongside bringing back Morris, has aggressively addressed last season’s offensive shortcomings.
