FAYETTEVILLE — The details are a little fuzzy now, but once upon a time, Chad Morris’ jump to the collegiate level nearly happened three years earlier and with Ed Orgeron.
The pair’s relationship began when Morris was at Stephenville High School in Texas and Orgeron was at Ole Miss, way back in 2006.
Jevan Snead, a four-star quarterback for Morris, was looking for a new school after losing the quarterback battle with Colt McCoy and deciding to transfer from Texas. While on an official visit at Ole Miss, Snead made a call to his former high school coach.
“I called Coach Morris Friday night and told him that this was the place for me, but I wanted him to come up and make sure he was seeing what I was and that he felt the same way,” Snead told Rivals in January 2007.
Morris hopped on a plane the next day and went through the rest of Snead’s visit with him, but it turned into more than that.
Eventually Morris found himself at a Waffle House - or maybe it was a Huddle House - and interviewing for a position - Tight ends coach? Receivers coach? Morris doesn’t remember exactly - on Orgeron’s staff. He was looking for a replacement for wide receivers coach Matt Lubick, who had taken a job at Arizona State and is now a co-offensive coordinator at Washington.
Orgeron also had Morris over to his house and gave him a follow-up interview at the American Football Coaches Association convention in San Antonio, where Orgeron was involved in a Texas high school social.
Ultimately, Orgeron moved Hugh Freeze from tight ends to wide receivers coach, reshuffled some of his other staff and brought in John Thompson as his defensive coordinator.
Morris spent one more year at Stephenville before moving on to Lake Travis, where he won back-to-back state titles. It wasn’t until 2010 that he made the jump, breaking into the collegiate ranks as Tulsa’s offensive coordinator. After stops at Clemson as offensive coordinator and SMU as head coach, Morris is finally in the SEC as the Razorbacks’ head coach.
“I always had a good relationship with Coach Morris,” Orgeron said. “I think he’s an excellent coach. He’s an excellent recruiter. He knows everybody in Texas. He did a tremendous job at Clemson. I consider him a friend and I know he’s going to have a lot of success there.”
When they talk before Saturday’s game - which kicks off at 6:30 p.m. on the SEC Network - there’s a chance Morris might bring up the interview that happened 12 years ago, but it’s something the two can joke about now.
“I remind him of that every now and then when I see him that he didn’t hire me,” Morris said. “He said, ‘It worked out pretty good anyway.’”
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