At SMU he has used an attacking 4-3 that often uses a safety as an LB and a decent amount of of cover two.pasquale said:
What type of defensive scheme does Morris run?
What a pathetic way to go through life...Lateralus Ag said:
Thought is that when he is "qualified" he will be unatainable.
Lateralus Ag said:
Thought is that when he is "qualified" he will be unatainable.
_lefraud_ said:
Guys I call before Morris:
...
Pat Fitzgerald
...
And there's probably a ton more.
Fantastic post. Completely agree. I wish more people would actually do the research. At least read this article.Bunk Moreland said:
Just look at how his former colleagues and players spoke of him the month before the semifinals last year...
https://www.google.com/amp/amp.usatoday.com/story/96013344/
I hope A&M does its due diligence and looks at all options, but assuming Morris continues to improve smu this year, cleaning up the absolute mess June Jones left, I wouldn't be upset in the least if that's who they go with.
It's debatable that they were in better shape when Chad took over, and he is in a tougher conference now as well, Still, Jones obviously proved SMU could have a winning program again first.vwbug said:
I was kidding
My point is SMU was in worse shape when June Jones got there compared to Chad Morris, and turned it around quicker. Don't think Chad is everything people are saying.
Deputy Travis Junior said:
One other thing on the Jones -> Morris transition that Kent didn't mention. Arizona State offered Jones its HC job back in 2012 and Jones not only accepted, but told his team and his boss that he was peacing out. Afterward, ASU rescinded the offer for some reason so Jones actually went back and continued coaching at SMU after he'd given his players the speech about "amazing opportunities" and all that. It was at that point that he completely and totally checked out. If you need evidence look at his scoring. In his last year, SMU was 128/128 in points scored. That's how you know he truly DGAF. He's a far better offensive coach than that.
So yea... That's what Morris walked into. A program that the HC quit, then somehow continued to coach for another 20 months. It wasn't just your run of the mill dumpster fire.
Kentatm said:rebelAg02 said:
Opinions I hear:
- he is a major reason for Clemsons rise
- SMU is improving at an impressive rate (not obvious to me why this is claimed)
- can recruit Texas better than the competition
He was absolutely a major reason for Clemson's rise. There is a reason he was the highest paid assistant in the country before he left for SMU. His connections to Texas HS coaches really a huge positive in his favor. He is well liked and would be able to instantly mitigate any potential damage the current staff may cause going out the door.
Now as for SMU's improvement, it is important to know what was happening there before he was hired. While June Jones did have some success he got really lazy and spiteful towards the school his last few years. He got pissed off that SMU didn't build an indoor practice facility fast enough for his liking and essentially quit giving a damn about his job.
He also refused to get out and recruit. When he was HC in Hawaii where money was tight he would rarely take recruiting trips and instead would go after kids that contacted him looking for a scholarship. He brought that mentality to SMU and instead of getting out to visit all the DFW area high schools to look for kids he preferred to only offer kids that sent him tapes. He rarely left his office to try and find kids. If a kid was looking at another school like Baylor, A&M, or Tech he wouldn't even bother to pick up the phone to call them because he reasoned SMU had no chance to get them. Obviously this mentality was a self fulfilling prophecy as kids who might fall off the bigger school's radars would then ignore SMU because they had no relationship with them. His best players tended to be transfers who wanted a guarantee to start like Garrett Gilbert or players who just happened to already be on campus for other sports like Margus Hunt. By the time he left their roster was decimated after years of neglect. He was fully exposed for his smoke and mirrors game due to the uptick in competition going from the CUSA West division to the AAC. His last game before he was forced to resign he was crushed 43-6 by a North Texas team that finished 4-8.
Morris has completely turned around their recruiting and their image with Texas high schools coaches. In his first month on campus he visited more Texas high schools and coaches than June Jones did in 7 years. Both of his classes have been made up entirely of players from Texas. Just watching them play now compared to when June was there it's obviously the players are buying in and believe they can compete in games they would have otherwise given up on before it even started. Their talent level is clearly much better than before and their offense has made a drastic change for the better. If SMU was actually able to keep him around for 5 or 6 years they would run the AAC.
Also, some food for thought. I get that he doesn't have experience running a FBS team and this is only his 3rd year at SMU but that really shouldn't scare an FBS off. People seem to forget that Dabo Swinney has NEVER been a HC at any level before he got the top spot at Clemson and now he is regarded as one of the best HCs in all of CFB. Does that mean Morris is a lock to be great? No.
But there is NO surefire method to finding a guy who will hit it big. For every guy who paid his dues moving up from HC spot to HC spot (Saban, Urban) there are coaches who came straight from being coordinators (Dabo, Bob Stoops) that are just as successful. It's a crap shoot no matter what you do.
If we are going to take a chance on a guy that is currently at a small school Aggie Chad should absolutely be looked at. He knows the state, he's been successful at every stop he's had, and A&M is his dream job. He isn't a guy who would use us as a stepping stone for something better like a Chip Kelly might. He won't be playing the will he stay or will he go game like Sumlin did. He won't be here for one last big payday before he retires like some accuse of Chavis. He would be in it for the long haul. He would want to elevate A&M to CFB royalty. That is a very large feather in his cap as far as I'm concerned.
That doesn't mean we zero in on only him. There should be a full search where we talk to several coaches. But his so called lack of experience should absolutely not be a reason that people dismiss him.Baylor wouldn't give him an out clause if A&M came calling.gibbs2016 said:Baylor offered 5 for 25 and he turned them downW said:
Morris won't break the bank.
A&M can probably get him for $3 MM per year. Worst case $3.5 MMDeepEastTxAg said:
Good OC =\= Good HC. Want an example? Kliff.
And does recruiting Texas even matter as much as it used? It seems as though Texas HS football has gone downhill as far as talent is concerned. Emphasis on 7-on-7 has definitely affected the Texas talent pool.
You've harped on that but there is nothing that says a good OC can't be a good HC. Want an example? Chip Kelly.
Also, YES. Recruiting Texas DOES still matter. Look at rosters of schools like Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ohio State etc etc etc. All of them are dotted with kids that left Texas.
vwbug said:
I was kidding
My point is SMU was in worse shape when June Jones got there compared to Chad Morris, and turned it around quicker. Don't think Chad is everything people are saying.
Jock 07 said:
He "gets" A&M
hth
tjholley17 said:
people keep saying "Morris is a great recruiter" .... well yeah hasn't Sumlin been a great recruiter too?
Sumlin CAN be a good recruiter but is lazy.. His classes have no strategy and he hasn't evaluated good at all. We have played like 20 true freshman already, that is because of piss poor roster management.Bunk Moreland said:tjholley17 said:
people keep saying "Morris is a great recruiter" .... well yeah hasn't Sumlin been a great recruiter too?
Yeah, Sumlin is a great recruiter, but in year 6 we can see that he's not a great coach, and is not a leader of men.
He also has no offensive philosophy, and never has. "spread" is about as much as he dives down, then he lets his OC's install the rest.
Morris created the offense that led to Clemson's great success. So far it doesn't appear Morris has issues as a leader of the Clemson offense, or limited time @ SMU.
June used to be a great coach. He still had the fire when he got to SMU, but as others have said, got crossways with the Admin and his last couple of years were pitiful. It was almost as he was trying to get fired.Deputy Travis Junior said:
June Jones is a great coach. What he did at Hawaii and SMU is freaking amazing. He's been a little temperamental his whole career though, and is in his mid 60s. I'd worry if he still had the burning desire to win. Finally, he's coaching up in the Canadian league right now; may indicate that he's had enough of recruiting for one lifetime.
