Why Morris is the ideal fit as Auburn's OC
AUBURN | Gus Malzahn announced the hiring of Chad Morris as Auburn’s offensive coordinator Tuesday, just one day after the departure of Kenny Dillingham to Florida State. Below is a look at why this could be Malzahn’s most important hire since bringing in defensive coordinator Kevin Steele in December of 2015.
THE TRUST FACTOR
If Malzahn has a small circle of trust — he does — it’s fair to say Morris is near the center. He’s a true friend since their days as high school coaches and it’s clear that Malzahn has a lot of respect for what Morris has accomplished in his career. I believe that Malzahn will have more trust in Morris than any of his three previous offensive coordinators and that could make enough of a difference when it comes to adding just a little more passing acumen to Auburn’s offense. I’m certainly not expecting any wholesale changes on offense, but if Morris could just add 10-15 percent more production to the Tigers’ passing attack, it could make a huge difference next fall.
QUARTERBACK DEVELOPMENT
All I really need to say in this section is Tajh Boyd and Deshaun Watson. Those are two of college football’s best quarterbacks of this decade and Morris had a big hand in the development of both at Clemson. After a redshirt season, Boyd threw for just 329 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions in 2010. Then Morris arrived, and Boyd threw for 11,575 yards the next three seasons with 103 touchdowns. He was the 2012 ACC Player of the Year. Watson followed Boyd by throwing for 1,466 yards with 14 touchdowns and just two interceptions as a true freshman despite missing nearly four games with a broken hand. After Morris departed for SMU, Watson led Clemson to a 28-2 record over the next two seasons including the 2016 national championship. At SMU, Morris helped sophomore Ben Hicks develop into one of the nation’s most productive quarterbacks throwing for 3,569 yards with 33 touchdowns in 2017. Suffice it to say, Bo Nix should be excited about this hire and what he can accomplish under Morris’ guidance.
QUARTERBACK EVALUATION AND RECRUITMENT
With the exception of Nix, I think it’s fair to say Auburn has struggled to evaluate and recruit elite quarterback talent out of high school under Malzahn. It’s another area that Morris can immediately upgrade. He secured the commitment of Watson just a few weeks after he was hired at Clemson and the Gainesville, Ga., native stuck with that commitment for two years before he signed. He also signed current NFL quarterback Chad Kelly while he was at Clemson and earned a commitment from Kelly Bryant before he left for SMU. He signed Hicks shortly after accepting the SMU position. Recruiting will be Morris’ biggest priority at Auburn over the next week until Signing Day.
SEC WEST SAVVY
Even though Arkansas didn’t win a conference game over the last two seasons, Morris gained valuable insight into Auburn’s SEC West rivals by scouting and preparing gameplans against them the past two seasons. He knows exactly what type of talent he needs on offense to compete against the elite teams in the West like LSU and Alabama, and has a working understanding of the schemes and personnel Auburn will face each week during the season.