Apr. 11—VERMILLION, S.D. — Former University of South Dakota football offensive coordinator Josh Davis revolutionized the program's offense over the past two seasons.
He took a unit that was one of the worst in FCS in 2022, and by 2024, USD was one of the top offenses in the country. However, Davis departed following last season to take the offensive coordinator position at FBS program Fresno State, leaving the Coyotes to find a replacement.
As they eventually did with Travis Johansen at head coach, the program found the answer internally. USD promoted tight end coach Tim Morrison to fill Davis' shoes, wanting to keep a level of continuity on staff.
Morrison came to Vermillion in 2023 after serving as an assistant head coach and offensive coordinator at Division II Upper Iowa. During his two seasons as the Coyotes' tight end coach, he oversaw J.J. Galbreath's ascension as one of the best at the position in the FCS, highlighted by a first-team All-American selection last year.
Morrison said that when the decision was made around Christmas, he was ecstatic to have the opportunity to take over as offensive coordinator.
"We were transitioning after the Montana State loss and knew that Coach Davis had moved on to a different opportunity. With Coach (Bob) Nielson and really talking through the process and the things that we've done here last two years, (Nielson) really wanted to keep it in-house," Morrison said. "It was an exciting day, and I'm looking forward to (the opportunity)."
Head coach Travis Johansen said Morrison was a clear choice to take the offensive reins, citing his importance and role in developing the offense with Davis last season.
"Coach Davis and Tim collaborated more than anybody on some of the successful things that we did," Johansen said. "Tim's got a lot of experience. Tim's done this for a long time, he's the oldest guy on staff, older than I am. Tim's been doing this at a high level, at a national level, year in and year out."
Morrison will be the third offensive coordinator and fourth play-caller for the Coyotes in the last four seasons. Ted Schlafke started the 2022 season as offensive coordinator but had his play-calling duties revoked after two games and left the program later that season. Nielson took over play-calling for the rest of the campaign, and the Coyotes finished with a bottom-15 scoring offense and bottom-10 total offense in the country.
Davis was brought in after serving as pass game coordinator and wide receivers coach for one season at South Dakota State in 2022. The offense took steps forward in 2023 before exploding last season, finishing top-10 in both scoring and total offense.
Continuing that upward trajectory won't be an easy task for Morrison, though. USD's offense only returns five starters from last season, having lost a talented group of seniors and players to the transfer portal. However, the Coyotes return to critical play-makers to lead the offense with quarterback Aidan Bouman, running back Charles Pierre and wide receiver Quaron Adams leading the way.
Bouman already gave Morrison his seal of approval during his short time at the helm, adding that he expects the offense to be equally as effective under his direction.
"Having him step into this role, it's been huge for us. He's done a great job," Bouman said. "We're still going to do what we do best, we're going to be an efficient offense, we're going to be able to run the ball, we're going to take shots and everything like that. There are some nuances and a little bit different terminology, but I always say this at the end of the day, 'football is football.'"
Morrison said he's eager to not only keep ...
