When I wrote about Chad Morris back in October, I said that while things had been bad, there were some tangible signs of progress during the season. Since writing that, Arkansas went 1-4 in their last five games, with the lone win coming over Tulsa.
They lost by two touchdowns to Vanderbilt, hung tough against LSU, and then got mercilessly dismantled by Mississippi State and Missouri to wrap up a putrid 2-10 campaign with an 0-8 mark in the SEC.
Making the switch from Bret Bielema’s style of offense – the heavy offensive formations with a power running game, to Morris’ hurry-up spread was never going to be a seamless transition, but even that doesn’t explain a loss to 3-9 Colorado State and a blowout home defeat at the hands of North Texas.
Morris was a curious hire for Arkansas from the get-go after he parlayed a successful tenure as Clemson’s offensive coordinator into the head coaching job at SMU. Morris was largely thought to be a fast-rising up-and-comer who would be in line for a power-five job soon enough, but the wins never came with the Mustangs like they were expected to.
While SMU improved every year of his three seasons on the sideline, he still compiled just a 15-22 mark with only a single winning season. His inability to figure out the defensive side of the ball was the impetus for his struggles in Dallas, and that didn’t change in Fayetteville in 2018.
Even with respected defensive coordinator John Chavis, the Razorbacks ranked 80th in defensive S&P+. The offensive struggles were the real surprise with Morris’ reputation as an offensive guru. The Hogs weren’t good through the air or on the ground, and finished 98th in offensive S&P+.
The job going forward will be for Morris to identify a serviceable QB after the triumvirate that he utilized in year one all produced mediocre results.
He’ll be given the requisite time to get this sorted out, but marked improvement will be necessary next season or Morris will find himself coaching for his job in 2020.