Arkansas fired football coach Chad Morris on Sunday after 22 games and no Southeastern Conference victories over nearly two lackluster seasons.
Morris finished 4-18 and 0-14 in the SEC. Arkansas made the move less than 24 hours after a 45-19 home loss to a Western Kentucky team quarterbacked by Ty Storey, a former Razorback. The only Arkansas victories under Morris came against Eastern Illinois, Portland State - both Football Championship Subdivision teams - Colorado State and Tulsa.
"As part of my continued evaluation, I have come to the conclusion that a change in leadership is necessary to move our football program forward and position it for success," athletic director Hunter Yurachek said in a released statement. "It is clear that we have not made the progress necessary to compete and win, especially within the Southeastern Conference."
Yurachek said a national search for the next coach will begin immediately. Assistant coach and former Razorbacks quarterback Barry Lunney Jr. will serve as interim head coach for the rest of the season.
Morris is the second Power Five conference coach to be fired after less than two seasons on the job in eight days. Florida State fired Willie Taggart after 21 games last Sunday.
A year after a $160 million stadium renovation and expansion, Arkansas had its two lowest-attended games since a previous expansion in 2001.
Morris was hired from SMU in December 2017 after Arkansas fired Bret Bielema. SMU went 14-22 in three seasons under Morris, though the Mustangs improved each year and went 7-5 in 2017. Before that, Morris was offensive coordinator at Clemson.
A Texas native, he was a successful high school coach for years before becoming offensive coordinator at Tulsa. After one year there, he was hired by Clemson, where he recruited and coached quarterback Deshaun Watson, a two-time Heisman Trophy finalist who led the Tigers to the 2016 national championship and became a first-round NFL draft pick for the Houston Texans.
Morris was the Razorbacks' choice after former Arkansas offensive coordinator and current Auburn coach Gus Malzahn declined it. Morris was hired on Dec. 6, 2017, just weeks after Arkansas hired Yurachek.
Arkansas owes Morris just more than $10 million in buying out his contract. The university is still paying Bielema as part of an $11.8 million buyout. Earlier this month, the Razorback Foundation, a private organization that handles payments for the buyout, asked Bielema to repay the $4.2 million paid him so far, believing Bielema's job as defensive line coach for the New England Patriots negated the terms of the deal.