A historic North Texas season takes a hit as head coach Eric Morris departs for Oklahoma State, leaving behind a potential playoff berth.
It’s hard for Group of Five programs to enjoy success, as the moment a team reaches new heights, their head coach is often poached by a higher up Power Four program. That’s unfortunately the case for the North Texas Mean Green who are set to lose head coach Eric Morris to the Oklahoma State Cowboys, per Pete Thamel of ESPN.
He will take over for interim head coach Doug Meacham, who has been in place since Mike Gundy was fired on Sept. 23 after 21 seasons with the Cowboys. Gundy is the winningest coach in program history with a 170-90 record, but the last two seasons have been a disaster. They are currently 1-0, haven’t won a Big 12 game in two years, and are 0-17 against the Big 12 ahead of Saturday’s final game against the Iowa State Hawkeyes.
Morris has been a name to watch with his storied history of developing quarterbacks, with the latest in first-year starter Drew Mestemaker who didn’t make varsity in high school. He leads college football with 3,469 passing yards and has thrown 26 touchdowns to just four interceptions. The Mean Green have the No. 1 offense in the nation averaging 503.3 yards per game this year. Previously, Morris helped cultivate John Mateer with the Washington State Cougars, Cam Ward at Incarnate Word and later to the Cougars, helped sign Baker Mayfield as a walk-on with the Texas Tech Raiders, and was Patrick Mahomes’ offensive coordinator for three seasons.
Here is the full story from Oklahoma State Roundtable writer Thomas Bridges breaking down his storied history with Mahomes, including comments from the star quarterback on his former coordinator.
Patrick Mahomes Praises Oklahoma State Coaching Candidate Eric Morris
Chiefs’ Mahomes talks UNT head coach, Eric Morris
Morris reportedly accepted the job to become the next Oklahoma State coach on Tuesday in the midst of leading his team to a school-best 10-1 record. The Mean Green are one win over the Temple Owls away from a likely appearance in the American Conference title game. Even more, they’re strongly in contention for the College Football Playoff with an American title victory.
Now, Morris will remain ahead North Texas to see the rest of the season out, including those potential postseason appearances. They are currently in a three-way tie with the Navy Midshipmen and Tulane Green Wave in the American Conference race. Barring a bizarre shakeup in the Week 13 CFP rankings, that tie should be broken by the Green Wave first as the highest ranked team, with the Mean Green holding a head-to-head over the Midshipmen.
That tiebreaker only matters if they beat the Owls this weekend, and while it’s a more than beatable opponent, it risks the team’s heads not being in it. We’ve seen this song play out many times in the G5, and it’s dictated the last two conference title races. The news that former Tulane head coach Willie Fritz was going to the Houston Cougars broke mid-championship game in 2023. The Green Wave lost 26-14. They managed to get back to the title game under new head coach Jon Sumrall in the 2024 season. Rumors started swirling linking him to the UNC Tarheels especially, and all that distraction and noise may have played a role in Tulane’s consecutive championship loss.
It's a frustrating reality with the state of the college football calendar with the early signing period for high school recruits not moving from Dec. 3 to 5 – the final day being the same day as the American Conference championship. The transfer portal moved to Jan. 2, which played a massive factor in the timing of head coaching hires as well. But the system is still broken, and now North Texas will be the next to suffer as a result.
Morris currently has a 21-15 record with North Texas and went 24-18 as head coach at Incarnate Word with two FCS playoff berths. Morris has his team poised for his first FBS playoff appearance. But will they still be behind their coach who will be out the door in a few weeks time?