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Arkansas Football: 3 reasons Chad Morris will make Razorbacks contenders

By Connor Muldowney

DALLAS, TX - OCTOBER 22: Head coach Chad Morris of the Southern Methodist Mustangs leads the Mustangs against the Houston Cougars in the second half at Gerald J. Ford Stadium on October 22, 2016 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
DALLAS, TX - OCTOBER 22: Head coach Chad Morris of the Southern Methodist Mustangs leads the Mustangs against the Houston Cougars in the second half at Gerald J. Ford Stadium on October 22, 2016 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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DALLAS, TX – OCTOBER 22: Head coach Chad Morris of the Southern Methodist Mustangs leads the Mustangs against the Houston Cougars in the second half at Gerald J. Ford Stadium on October 22, 2016 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
DALLAS, TX – OCTOBER 22: Head coach Chad Morris of the Southern Methodist Mustangs leads the Mustangs against the Houston Cougars in the second half at Gerald J. Ford Stadium on October 22, 2016 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

1. He turned SMU around

If you think Arkansas is farther gone than SMU was when he took over, then you probably haven’t been paying attention much to college football. Sure, Arkansas isn’t where it should be, but neither were the Mustangs when he took that job in 2015.

In year one, SMU went just 2-10 and it looked like he would never get the Mustangs to bowl eligibility. In his second season, SMU was 5-7 and tripled its conference victories. Finally, in 2017, the Mustangs went 7-5 and earned a trip to the Frisco Bowl. It was their first bowl bid since 2012 when SMU was still in Conference USA.

The Mustangs were 1-11 in the year before his arrival, won two games in his first season and now are a seven-win team on the verge of eight victories for the first time since 2011. If he can turn that program around, he can do wonders with a four-win team that was out-coached consistently and has plenty of talent.

Hiring a coach that has risen through the ranks like Morris has usually pays off for programs. He went from being a high school coach to Tulsa’s offensive coordinator to Clemson’s offensive coordinator to SMU and now Arkansas.

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Morris knows how to win and he doesn’t take anything for granted. He’s a hard worker and he’s not going to rest easy until Arkansas is a contender.

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