A lack of passion. A lack of heart. It may be a sign of the times for Clemson these days. After 12 years away from the program, Chad Morris returned as offensive coordinator, expecting everything to be the same as it ever was. Two weeks into this season, he is quickly finding out that so much has changed at Clemson since 2014. His remarks during Wednesday's press conference were alarming.
"I was just a little bit caught off guard, not so much the first week ... but I just thought this past week, when we stepped on the field ... I was a little shocked because that wasn't what I was used to," Morris said about the team's lack of enthusiasm. "When I was stepping into The Valley, and the teams that we had, we had guys who were going to find a way to get it done. And that was a little surprising to me."
Morris has been under fire since coming back to Clemson as its offensive coordinator, and rightfully so. His offense has been utterly toothless on third down. While trying to usher in a new starting quarterback has not helped, neither has Morris' propensity for being beholden to the past. He may have had his best days coaching here, but you can never go back to a certain place in time either.
Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris says he was “caught off guard” by the lack of juice before Saturday’s home opener. Says he called out his players and his staff on it. Morris: “There’s no excuse. … We’ve gotta have a fire about us. … We definitely addressed that” pic.twitter.com/REdSin5Nde
— Chapel Fowler (@chapelfowler) September 16, 2026
Chad Morris' prodigal return to Clemson might only last one season
Morris thought he knew what he was walking into. After watching his son Chandler's former team from a safe distance in Virginia, Morris probably thought what his coaching protege Tony Elliott, was doing in Charlottesville would not be too dissimilar from what Clemson had evolved into. To be quite frank, it has been an offensive devolution ever since Elliott departed for another program in the ACC.
As Morris tries to re-establish his up-tempo spread at Clemson, he is starting to realize that he may not have the personnel to get the most out of the scheme. This is where coaching matters. Morris called out the coaching staff for not doing their part during his two-minute rant. "We gotta have more juice with our staff. There's no excuse. We all have to bring it." You could feel the fire in Morris' words.
However, those who burn too hot often burn out. Swinney is not going to want to hear all the bad things Clemson has done over the last few years. He rehired Morris because he truly does not want to change things, only to see if a blast from the past can reignite a spark in this team. Let's be real with ourselves. Morris' fiery passion caught the Arkansas program on fire to never win an SEC game.
Despite reshuffling the deck a bit with transfer portal additions and a familiar face back on the coaching staff, it is the same as it ever was at Clemson: a chaotic mess. In years past, Morris and Swinney used to be properly aligned on everything. They were instrumental in Clemson's undeniable breakthrough in the 2010s. Now, we could be looking at them both being on the way out together.
How Saturday afternoon's home opener versus North Carolina will serve as the litmus test in all that.
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