C.J. O’Grady always hated Alabama, but the former Arkansas tight end absolutely loved “Bama.”

That was the name of O’Grady’s favorite play during his nearly two seasons playing tight end in Chad Morris’ offense at Arkansas, where the 6-foot-4, 253-pounder turned into one of the Razorbacks’ top weapons in the passing attack.

“I actually love Chad Morris’ offense,” O’Grady said Tuesday at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. “It kind of sounds selfish, but I got the ball a lot. There were a lot of plays drawn up for me and, really, I think it helped me get to where I am today. I’ll forever be grateful for that.”

O’Grady played in 17 games for Morris before leaving the team in early November — less than a week before Morris was fired by the program — and totaled 63 receptions for 772 yards and nine touchdowns, averaging 12.3 yards per catch and nearly four catches per game. He was one of two offensive players at this week’s NFL Combine who has played in Morris’ offense, with the other being former SMU receiver James Proche.

Each gave a bit of insight into what Auburn should expect from its new offensive coordinator, whom Gus Malzahn entrusted with play-calling duties in 2020, as far as the passing game is concerned.

“Get in shape,” Proche said. “Get in shape. Get ready to run, man. Get ready to run.”

Proche spent the last four seasons at SMU, playing for Morris during the 2016 and 2017 campaigns before the coach accepted the head coaching position at Arkansas. During his freshman and sophomore seasons under Morris, Proche appeared in all 25 of the Mustangs’ games. He was SMU’s second-leading receiver his freshman year, catching 57 passes for 709 yards and six touchdowns while averaging 12.44 yards per reception, and he followed it up with a sophomore campaign that included fewer receptions (40) but more yards (816) — averaging 20.4 yards per catch — and the same number of receiving touchdowns as the year prior.

“We were always going to throw the ball 40 times a game,” Proche said. “But even if you’re not getting the ball, you’re working on your routes in practice, running your routes on air for three periods. Really, you had to develop yourself and work on your craft.”

While Morris was at SMU, the Mustangs threw the ball north of 35 times per game and averaged 260 passing yards per game — including 294.1 yards per game during his third and final season with the program — while throwing the ball 47.2 percent of the time. While Auburn threw the ball just 41.9 percent of the time last season, the arrival of Morris on the Plains should signify some changes coming to the passing game, even though he and Malzahn run similar systems and are likeminded from philosophical standpoint offensively.

“There’s a lot of same but different in our offense,” Morris said in December. “A whole lot of same, but there’s a little bit different. I think I’ll be able to add to — obviously there’s a lot of really good things and Coach (Malzahn), as I mentioned earlier, is an incredible offensive mind, he’s got great, great, the way he thinks is incredible — when you can bring two people in that think a lot alike but have a few different ideas whether that’s in some of the things we can add and we do a little bit different or have done a little bit different in the passing game. Bring some value there, bring in some new ideas, but still be able to what our players can do.”

Those changes could be both in how often Auburn passes — potentially more in line with how the Tigers used Bo Nix at times later in the season last year, relying less on the run and more on the freshman quarterback’s passing ability to spread the ball — and the manner in which it utilizes its personnel at receiver and, most notably, tight end.

Auburn’s usage of tight ends in the passing game has been notably absent in recent years, with no Tigers tight end finishing a season with double-digit receptions since C.J. Uzomah had 11 during the 2013 season; by comparison, O’Grady had 10 through his first three games last season. During Malzahn’s tenure at Auburn, tight ends have accounted for just 38 receptions for 456 yards and 11 touchdowns in seven seasons — or just 2.6 percent of the team’s catches, 2.4 percent of its receiving yards and 8.6 percent of its touchdown receptions over that time.

Morris, meanwhile, has always emphasized the use of tight ends in the passing game, whether at Arkansas, SMU or Clemson. According to Malzahn, that will carry over to Auburn, finally, after years of lip service about the position’s role in the offense.

As O’Grady explained Tuesday, Morris’ offense not only used a lot of single- and multiple-tight end sets during his two seasons in Fayetteville, but found an array of ways to incorporate the position into the gameplan and try to create mismatches, whether it was on tight end screens or more advanced routes — including that “Bama” play-call that O’Grady was so fond of.

“It was probably my favorite play, even though we hated Bama,” O’Grady said. “We were looking for man coverage to get the tight end on an out-and-up on the linebacker or the safety. We used the tight end a lot…. We love tight ends in that offense.”

Proche said playing in Morris’ system was similar to playing under Rhett Lashlee — who spent the last two seasons as offensive coordinator for SMU following Morris’ departure for Arkansas — just with different terminologies. That stands to reason, since Lashlee, like Morris, comes from the same coaching tree.

Lashlee, of course, came up under Malzahn’s tutelage and spent four seasons as Auburn’s offensive coordinator from 2013-16 before moving on and trying to branch out more on his own. In his two years at SMU, the Mustangs has a near 50/50 run-pass split — with Proche the leading receiver each season, as well as an added emphasis on tight end usage last season.

“It was very, very similar (to Morris’ offense), just different terminology, different names,” Proche said. “But very similar.”

Proche expects more of the same from Morris at Auburn, but he was mostly just happy to see his former coach, who reached out to him to wish him luck ahead of the Combine, get another opportunity after things went south at Arkansas.

“Coach Morris is the type of guy who was always going to land on his feet,” Proche said. “I feel like he can talk his way into any room, and he’s very personable. Most importantly, he knows his football, man. He’s a great football mind. I wish they would’ve gave him more time at Arkansas.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.