Eric Morris at Oklahoma State: Bringing a renewed vigor to Stillwater

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Eric Morris at Oklahoma State: Bringing a renewed vigor to Stillwater originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

There is not much new head coach Eric Morris can do to disappoint Cowboys fans more than Mike Gundy did for his final two seasons in Stillwater.

Through alienating players with his overt politics by making nonsensical comments about drunk driving in press conferences, it was time for Gundy to retire to one of his many properties. The final straw was his 1-11 record in 2025. Losing all 11 of his games against FCS opponents.

Not to mention being crazy enough to call out Oregon and their NIL machine the same week the Cowboys traveled to Eugene to play the Ducks. For those who do not remember, Oregon won the game 69-3 in a barn burner that was close through the first five minutes of the first quarter. Then Oregon started to pull away and never looked back.

Morris will be bringing with him a star QB in Drew Mestemaker who, while never starting a game in high school, was still recruited to North Texas by Morris on the advice of his friend.
After hearing about him, per Morris, he went to a high school showcase and saw him catching passes as a wide receiver. He told his friend he was okay, but not a college wide receiver. His friend responded that he would be a college QB and not a wide receiver.

Morris did not offer him a scholarship, but Mestemaker came anyway and won the starting QB job for the Mean Green. He finished 2025 first in the country with 4,379 yards. He tied for second with 34 passing TDs and had just nine INTs in his first year playing as a QB. His 319 completions on 463 pass attempts led to a 68.9 completion percentage and his 9.45 yards/attempt was also impressive.

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Mestemaker will be the leader of the offense Morris will bring into Oklahoma City in hopes of bringing some excitement back to the sidelines in Stillwater. He will also have Mestemaker for two more seasons if the boosters provide the finances needed to keep him from entering the portal again after the 2026 season.

A successful season for Morris will make sure the Cowboys get back to a bowl game. Anything more than this would be even more evidence that Oklahoma State hired the correct coach. It may also be detrimental as it could land Morris an even bigger position on the coaching carousel next offseason. But at least for this season, Morris will have the offense to make things exciting and bring Oklahoma State back from the brink of disaster.

More Oklahoma State Football news​

• North Texas QB Drew Mestemaker announces transfer decision
• Mike Gundy's dramatically reduced buyout favors Oklahoma State
• Why Mike Gundy fired off 'I'm a man, I'm 40' rant as Oklahoma State coach
• Tulsa snaps 74-year drought with win over Oklahoma State in Stillwater

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