New on Sports Illustrated: Auburn Hires Chad Morris as Offensive Coordinator

Chad Morris joins Auburn after offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham left to go to Florida State.

Auburn has hired former Arkansas coach Chad Morris as its offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach,

head coach Gus Malzahn announced Tuesday.

Morris will replace Kenny Dillingham, who recently left the Tigers to become Florida State's offensive coordinator.

"I'm very grateful for the opportunity to join Coach Malzahn's staff at Auburn. I've known Gus since the early 2000s and consider him a dear friend and someone that helped me get into the profession at the college level," Morris said in a statement. "I've admired the success he's had at each of his stops and look forward to adding to the success that he, his staff and the players have built. We are excited about joining the Auburn family."

Morris and Malzahn have a close friendship dating back to their days of coaching high school football. The two first met in the early 2000s when Malzahn coached at Springdale High in Arkansas and Morris took over at Stephenville High in Texas. After Morris struggled in his first season at Stephenville, he reached out to Malzahn for ways to improve his offense. Morris spent time with Malzahn at Springdale's practices and the two became friends.

Morris joins the Tigers after being fired from Arkansas in November. He went 4–18 during 22 games across two seasons with the Razorbacks. Prior to his stint at Arkansas, he spent three seasons as the head coach at SMU, where he went 14–22. The Mustangs went 7–6 in his final season and earned a berth to the Frisco Bowl.

Auburn has a 9–3 record and will play against Minnesota in the Outback Bowl on Jan. 1.