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Published Mar 31, 2021
Former Coaching Staff Tracker: Chad Morris lands gig at Texas HS power
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Andrew Hutchinson  •  HawgBeat
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Chad Morris will be roaming the sidelines as a head coach again next season.

Following one season as Auburn’s offensive coordinator, the former Arkansas coach was announced as the new head coach at Texas powerhouse Allen High School on Wednesday.

Allen is one of the premier high schools in Texas, winning four state titles since 2012 in the state’s largest classification and regularly pumping out blue-chip recruits.

It is a return to where it all started for Morris, who built his reputation as a legendary high school coach in the Lone Star State before breaking into the college ranks.

Three moderately successful seasons at SMU landed him the Arkansas job in 2018, but it proved to be a disastrous hire for the Razorbacks.

Morris was arguably the worst head coach in SEC history, failing to win any of his 14 conference games before getting fired with two games remaining in the 2019 season. He finished with a 4-18 record, notching the same number of total wins as losses to Group of Five schools.

Despite the Razorbacks’ struggles, Morris was hired by Gus Malzahn, an old friend dating back to their days coaching high school football, and was given the keys to the offense as Auburn’s offensive coordinator.

As it probably could have been predicted, the moved failed spectacularly. The Tigers’ offense - and quarterback Bo Nix - regressed from the previous season and Malzahn was ultimately fired because of it, once again leaving Morris without a job.

However, luckily for the Razorbacks, Morris’ contract with Auburn was fully guaranteed over three years. That got Arkansas out of paying $2.205 million of the $10.1 million buyout he is owed.

Unlike Malzahn’s contract, though, Morris has a duty to mitigate in his buyout with the Tigers. That means his new job at Allen High School - which will pay about $124,000 annually, according to the Dallas Morning News - will not change what Arkansas pays him over the next two years.

If Morris is still there in 2023, his salary at Allen would make a slight impact on what he’s owed by the Razorbacks.

It is also worth mentioning that by returning to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Morris will be near his son, quarterback Chandler Morris, who recently transferred from Oklahoma to TCU.

Here is a look at where all of Morris’ former assistants at Arkansas are currently employed…

Joe Craddock - offensive coordinator —> UAB tight ends coach

In two seasons, Craddock’s offenses averaged just 21.5 points and his quarterbacks - the position he coached - combined for a whopping 33 interceptions, the most Arkansas has had in back-to-back seasons in nearly 50 years. After the coaching change, he landed at UAB as a tight ends coach. To his credit, Craddock’s top tight end with the Blazers, Hayden Pittman, saw his Pro Football Focus grade increase from 69.0 to 71.4 under his leadership.

Justin Stepp - wide receivers coach —> South Carolina wide receivers coach

Coming off a season in which he was the driving force behind the Razorbacks signing a quartet of four-star wide receivers - two of which, Treylon Burks and Trey Knox, were starters as true freshmen - Stepp was the lone holdover from Morris’ staff. He ended up staying just one more year in Fayetteville, though, choosing to return home to South Carolina in the same role - and with a pay raise - with the Gamecocks.

Jeff Traylor - running backs coach —> UTSA head coach

A high school coaching legend in Texas, Traylor was instrumental in the Razorbacks landing running back Rakeem Boyd, who had two standout seasons in Fayetteville before injuries and an opt-out marred his senior year. Returning to the Lone Star State as UTSA’s head coach, he led the Roadrunners to a surprising 7-5 record and second-place finish in Conference USA’s Western Division. They played two ranked opponents - BYU and Louisiana - to within a touchdown.

Barry Lunney Jr. - tight ends coach —> UTSA offensive coordinator

Although athletics director Hunter Yurachek openly talked about how well he interviewed for the head coaching job after serving as the interim coach, Lunney - an Arkansas native who played quarterback for the Razorbacks and was their tight ends coach for seven years - was passed over for Sam Pittman. Likely in an effort to boost his resume, he followed Traylor to UTSA to become his offensive coordinator.

The Roadrunners went from 117th in scoring offense (20.3 ppg) to 66th (28.3 ppg) and 107th in total offense (344.9 ypg) to 47th (415.3 ypg) in Lunney’s first season.

Dustin Fry - offensive line coach —> ???

One of several offensive assistants who followed Morris from SMU to Arkansas, Fry was the Razorbacks’ second straight offensive line coach without experience as a Power Five on-field assistant. He is the lone member of those staff who has yet to be announced with a new position.

John Chavis - defensive coordinator —> middle school assistant in Knoxville

A lengthy career as an SEC defensive coordinator ended with a dud for Chavis, as he led what was statistically the worst defense in UA history in 2019. The Razorbacks gave up 36.8 points on 450.7 yards per game that season. News broke last summer that he landed a new gig back home in Knoxville, Tenn., as an assistant at the middle school that feeds into West High.

Steve Caldwell - defensive ends coach —> Tennessee Assistant Director of Life Skills & Character Development

His tenure on Morris’ staff was actually Caldwell’s second stint with the Razorbacks, as he was also in Fayetteville from 2010-12. Following his most recent stint, he accepted a non-coaching position at Tennessee, where he coached for more than a decade. Caldwell is still with the Volunteers, despite the coaching turnover in Knoxville.

John Scott Jr. - defensive tackles coach —> Penn State defensive line coach

One of only two holdovers from Bret Bielema’s staff, Morris kept Scott on staff as the Razorbacks’ defensive tackles coach in 2018. However, after the season, he left to take a job at South Carolina as a defensive line coach. After just one year with the Gamecocks, Scott left the SEC entirely and took the same job at Penn State, where he is now entering his second season.

Kenny Ingram - defensive tackles coach —> UCF defensive ends coach

Following a year as a volunteer assistant at Arkansas State, Ingram - who replaced Scott at Arkansas - has resurfaced in an on-field role. He is reuniting with Malzahn at UCF, where he’ll serve as the defensive ends coach and “rush coach,” according to his Twitter bio.

Ron Cooper - safeties coach —> Alabama senior analyst

After not coaching anywhere last season, Cooper landed a job in a support staff capacity at Alabama earlier this month. A former head coach at Louisville, Eastern Michigan and Alabama A&M and defensive coordinator at Mississippi State and FIU, he is yet another analyst for the Crimson Tide.

Mark Smith - cornerbacks coach —> Colorado inside linebackers coach

Despite Arkansas being his first on-field assistant job at the collegiate level, Smith is one of only three Morris assistants - out of 11 - currently employed in an on-field role at a Power Five school. He spent the fall as the defensive coordinator at Long Island University, but never coached a game because most FCS programs did not play this fall. A former well-respected high school coach in Texas, Smith was hired by Colorado early last month and is expected to give the Buffaloes a presence in the Lone Star State.