Chad Morris Should Be Texas A&M's Top Target

Kevin Sumlinis out at Texas A&M and unless Jimbo Fisher is going to bolt to College Station (which seems highly unlikely), the Aggies have one direction they should turn in their coaching search. SMU head coach Chad Morris should be the next head coach at Texas A&M.

Known mostly for his impressive tenure as Clemson’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2011 to 2014, Morris employs a version of Gus Malzahn’s offense — though he’s added some more modern spread concepts to it. He’d not only fit with Texas A&M’s current personnel, he also know the state well.

From 1994 until 2009, Morris was a head coach at five different high schools in Texas. He has been all over the state and knows everything about recruiting it. After his high school days, he went to Tulsa as the offensive coordinator for a season before heading to Clemson. SMU hired him as its head coach in 2015, and he’s focused almost exclusively on recruiting Texas players since his arrival.

Since taking the SMU job, Morris’ team has improved dramatically every season. The Mustangs went 2-10 in 2015, 5-7 in 2016 and just finished a 7-5 season. This season, SMU finished 12th in the country in offensive yards per game (494) and eighth in points per game (40.2).

With SMU-level talent, the 48-year-old Morris has created an offensive juggernaut in Dallas. The vast improvements the program has made under his direction also speak to his abilities outside of just managing the offense.

If Fisher turns out to just be a pipe dream, Morris should be the guy Texas A&M goes after.