Former SMU coach Chad Morris shares his thoughts on Mustangs

[AfricanMustang]

Former SMU head coach Chad Morris may have made the ultimate prediction when he took the Mustangs job, about how long it would take for the program to turn around.

"Well, you know, when I got there, the circumstances were a little bit different," Morris said Wednesday morning on the SEC coaches teleconference. "We took over a program that was 0-11, and won the last game after we got hired. I felt, as I mentioned as they hired me, that I felt it was gonna be a five-year flip."

That five-year flip has happened, though Morris is now in Year 2 of his new job as the Arkansas head coach, where he's a combined 4-13 with a recent home loss to San Jose State. His response above was to a question about if he ever thought it would be possible that SMU would be ranked.

The No. 24 Mustangs jumped into the national rankings this week for the first time since Oct. 25, 1986. Morris took over a 1-11 team in 2014, and spent three years getting the program relevant. He left after SMU went 7-5 in 2017.

"We were recruiting kids and selling a vision," Morris said. "We couldn't sell success there, we could sell previous success at other spots. We had to sell a vision, and that's what we did. And we went to work and we recruited. And it's great to see those kids really that bought into that vision having the success they're having."

Morris made sure to give the current coaching staff, led by Sonny Dykes, credit for what they've done.

It is true that some of the top contributing seniors and juniors on the team were recruited by Morris. And while he didn't outwardly say he deserved credit, his comments make it clear he believes he and his staff set the foundation for where SMU currently is, a 5-0 team that's got a chance to do even better.

"I don't want any of that," Morris said when asked if he felt he deserved credit. "I'm just excited for those players that bought into the vision, and the direction that we had for that program when we were recruiting them. Because that's all they had to go on."

https://www.dallasnews.com/sports/smu-m ... edit-flip/

[mr. pony]

SMU has 65 new players this year, I believe, including freshmen, walk-ons and transfers.
Morris’ contribution is nada.

What Sonny and his staff have done in getting all these new faces to gel is simply amazing.

[sbsmith]

It is true that some of the top contributing seniors and juniors on the team were recruited by Morris.

Some were also recruited by June Jones (James Proche, Myron Gailliard, Delontae Scott).

[ponyte]

SMU's success helps CM. CM can say he predicted and then started to build for a 5 year turn around. He can say the same about the Beloved Razorbacks. He can can claim he started the turn around with recruiting and a vision.

He needs all the help he can get right now so a good previous story helps

[Mustangs_Maroons]

Morris is acting butt-heart. SD had to change basically the entire roster in short order.

Selling a vision, yes, that is what you have to sell in many programs. There are very few blue-chip programs that almost sell themselves. There was a time when one also had to sell a vision of Clemson, not to the extent of SMU of course, but it's not like Morris wasn't paid a multi-million dollar salary while he was at SMU. And the fact is he failed, because his record here was terrible, and because he effectively didn't lay the foundation for the success we're having now given the complete overhaul of the roster.

If anything, Morris is using this as an opportunity as propaganda for his job at Arkansas that players have to believe in his vision and that eventually success will also come. I call BS, because while he's a decent recruiter, his recruiting on sub-par to compete in the SEC, and he's frankly not a good X's and O's head coach. His assistant coaches here at SMU were dog poop.

[SMU_Alum11]

SMU's success helps CM. CM can say he predicted and then started to build for a 5 year turn around. He can say the same about the Beloved Razorbacks. He can can claim he started the turn around with recruiting and a vision.

He needs all the help he can get right now so a good previous story helps

I agree. SMU's success is truly the best thing that has happened to Morris. No one will take the deep dive into our program to see that the transfers made the difference to get us to 5-0. That's not to take away from the current players as the biggest improvement was at QB by a mile and a half. Morris is looking for a life jacket and he found Sonny's red and blue one.

[max the wonder dog]

Serious question, How exactly did we wind up with 65 new players? As I understand it, there are four categories of players that can contribute to this number:

1. Redshirts
2. The 25 recruits in this recruiting cycle which ended May 31.
3. Transfers signed after May 31.
4. Walk-ons.

Also, with the transfers signed after May 31, how many recruits do we have room for in the current recruiting class?

[Topper]

Arkansas hired Chad because Jerry Jones wanted him and because they saw him as having good Texas recruiting connections. I think I counted 14 freshmen or red-shirt freshmen from Texas on his roster so on that count he is delivering pretty good numbers. I don't know anything about the quality of these recruits, but Arkansas should never lose to some of the teams that have beaten them at home this year or last. I thought that they looked pretty good against the Aggies but so far A&M hasn't proven anything to me yet. College Station is a whole other story when it comes to underperformance vs. expectations.

[gohogs14]

I think I counted 14 freshmen or red-shirt freshmen from Texas on his roster so on that count he is delivering pretty good numbers.

52 of them overall, 2nd youngest defense in the NCAA. Like Dykes, he completely flipped over the roster.

The problem is you shouldn't lose to San Jose State as an SEC team no matter how young you are.

[Pony ^]

take out the top 4 SEC teams, and the SEC is tuuurrrible

[Nacho]

really don't care about chad. just glad he is gone.

[Charleston Pony]

Chad took over a program that JJ had unfortunately left in a shambles. JJ had taken over a mediocre program and tore it down before improving on it but then got lazy and allowed it to completely collapse. Sonny took over a mediocre program and has improved on it. The question is whether he can take us to the next level, i.e., consistently ranked and competing for AAC Championships. I know a lot of posters don't like Chad or how he bailed on SMU, but it's hard to ignore the fact he inherited a mess from JJ and did help in rebuilding our roster.

[RunningStang]

Let’s give him credit for convincing Ben Hicks to transfer to Arkansas. Seriously big congratulations to Sonny Dykes and his staff. I hope that Rick Hart and Gerald Turner do everything they can to keep him here!! Go Mustangs!!

[Pony81]

Not sure why this board has all the Chad hate. He inherited a dumpster fire from JJ and in three years he built at least an AAC competitive roster. Never mind that JJ did his bowling in CUSA.....
So Chad leaves for a step up in prestige ( SEC school) and pay +1.5MM. How many on this board would turn down a better company at a better salary. Not many....
I’m hardly a Chad fan boy but cmon.... get real.
Sonny has been to P5 and knows it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. He can make a very nice living at SMU and go 8-4 and have a darn nice life. I bet Chad has come to the same conclusion.... P5 fan bases ... especially at UA where it’s the only game in town ... can be brutal.
Chad was invisible in Dallas - win or lose - but if you’re losing In Arkansas life can pretty miserable.

[PNW_Stang]

Not sure why this board has all the Chad hate. He inherited a dumpster fire from JJ and in three years he built at least an AAC competitive roster. Never mind that JJ did his bowling in CUSA.....
So Chad leaves for a step up in prestige ( SEC school) and pay +1.5MM. How many on this board would turn down a better company at a better salary. Not many....
I’m hardly a Chad fan boy but cmon.... get real.
Sonny has been to P5 and knows it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. He can make a very nice living at SMU and go 8-4 and have a darn nice life. I bet Chad has come to the same conclusion.... P5 fan bases ... especially at UA where it’s the only game in town ... can be brutal.
Chad was invisible in Dallas - win or lose - but if you’re losing In Arkansas life can pretty miserable.

The SMU coach doesn't have to be invisible. I bet most sports fans in Dallas know Sonny’s name by New Years.

Just my personal opinion, but I always thought Chad’s year 4 was going to be a serious step back.