Why Arkansas football bet on Chad Morris

Arkansas football hired Chad Morris to recruit Texas, score points, and win. In a sentence, Arkansas hired Morris to change the direction of Arkansas football.

Chad Morris is the thirty-third Arkansas football head coach, agreeing to six-year 3.5 million dollar a year salary. Morris comes to Arkansas after lifting the once beleaguered SMU football program to a three-year record of 14 – 22.

Changing the Direction at SMU

SMU lost 10 games in Morris’s first season, six by 20 or more points. Morris’s overall record at SMU in three years was 14 – 22.  The overall record is poor, but the Mustangs were 1-11 before Morris became head coach and rose  to 7-5 in his third and final year. The improvement caught the Arkansas eye, but it was the style that convinced the Razorbacks to call the hand.

When Morris took over the Mustang program, SMU fielded a roster with 64 non-Texans. In Morris’ two SMU recruiting classes, all 47 high school players he signed were Texans. The 2017 SMU class is exclusively Texan as well.

While re-establishing the SMU Texas recruiting base, Morris built a high-powered offense that in 2017 ranked number eight nationally in scoring offense and number twelve nationally in total offense.

Morris’s work at SMU is everything Arkansas wants from a head coach. He recruited Texas, scored points, and won games. The all in bet is, given greater resources, Morris will make Arkansas a big winner.