Texas Tech hires Kingsbury; Dabo Swinney: 'It's a Clemson offense, not a Chad Morris offense'

CLEMSON — Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris will likely remain at Clemson in 2013 after Texas Tech football announced Wednesday evening it hired Kliff Kingsbury to be its head coach.

Morris interviewed for the Texas Tech job on Tuesday.

But Clemson coach Dabo Swinney knows Morris is unlikely to remain at Clemson for the long term, judging by the amount of interest Morris attracted after the regular season, interviewing with both N.C. State and Texas Tech.

Swinney revealed Wednesday that even if Morris eventually leaves the program, the up-tempo, no-huddle offensive philosophy will remain.

“It's a Clemson offense, not a Chad Morris offense,” Swinney said. “We hired Chad because it's what we wanted to do philosophically,”

Morris was hired from Tulsa after Clemson's poor offensive showing in 2010 and led Clemson to the nation's No. 9 offense this season.

Swinney thinks the Clemson offense can continue to be productive whenever the program enters the post-Morris Era.

“I think one thing we've hopefully demonstrated in four years is we can take players and be creative with them and have success,” Swinney said. “My first year, in '09, we had three pretty dynamic guys in (Jacoby) Ford, (C.J.) Spiller and Michael Palmer. I think it's well documented we used those guys in a lot of ways and set school record for scoring with a little different way of doing things.

“(After 2010) I really knew what I wanted to go do. It was just a matter of the right timing and having the personnel. The only candidates I was considering were guys that fit (up-tempo, no-huddle) philosophy. That's who we are. That's the personnel we have. That's who we'll continue to be.”

Swinney said Wednesday he was already working on contingency plans in the event Morris left for a head-coaching job. The Post and Courier was told by a source close to Swinney this fall that wide receivers Jeff Scott could be considered for Morris' position if Morris should depart Clemson.

“I think in this position you always have an idea of what you want to do,” Swinney said. “You have a Plan A, B, C, D, how many letters are there in the alphabet?”

Extra points
Swinney said he's not in a rush to hire a replacement for defensive backs coach Charlie Harbison who left for Auburn earlier this month. “We have no shortage of great candidates,” Swinney said. … Swinney said WR Martavis Bryant was suspended for the bowl game because he broke a team academic policy, not one related to university policies or standards. “You have to follow the rules. We have study hall rule you have to follow here,” Swinney said.