Clemson Tigers OC Chad Morris Reveals Plans for Offense

The Clemson Tigers had a very disappointing 2025 season, going just 7-6 and losing to Penn State in the Pinstripe Bowl.

The Tigers had entered the season as contenders to win the National Championship, but fell way short of the College Football Playoff, and didn't even make it to the ACC Title Game.

Following the disaster of the season, head coach Dabo Swinney fired offensive coordinator Garrett Riley. Swinney brought in Chad Morris to replace Riley.

Morris previously served as the offensive coordinator at Clemson from 2011 to 2014. He will look to reestablish order as the Tigers need to get back into contention.

“You always have to continue to study what’s next,” Morris shared. “What is the better mousetrap that is being built out there. When I left here in 2015 to go to SMU, and then moving on from there, I was able to study the evolution of offenses. And really more so the evolution of defenses and how they were catching up.”

Morris has bounced around since his first stint with the Tigers, and it has given him time to evaluate what he wants his offense to look like. 

He has shown throughout his career that he likes to establish the rushing attack and set up play-action shots down the field. 

“The ability to change the pace of play,” Morris said. “Tempo is still a thing, but it is the ability to get in and out of structure and still play with pace. That is the challenging part, especially talking to defensive coordinators… ‘Hey we love playing people that want to play fast all the time. We are great with that.’ But it is the teams that change the pace is what gives us the most problems. And they do it in different personnel groupings.”

In addition to Clemson having a new offensive coordinator, they will also have a new quarterback as Cade Klubnik is off to the NFL Draft.

Christopher Vizzina is expected to be the starter in the 2026 season. In five games in 2025, he completed 45 of 71 passes (63.4 percent) for 406 yards, four touchdowns, and an interception. Vizzina added 41 yards on the ground.

Morris will look to turn around the Tigers' offense in 2026 as they try to make it back to the College Football Playoff.

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