Oklahoma State’s Secret Weapon to Tailor How Cowboys Coaches Teach Players

Like an educator, Oklahoma State head coach Eric Morris is taking different approaches to making sure his players learn.

Oklahoma State Cowboys quarterback Drew Mestemaker. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Believe it or not, at their root, coaches are teachers. Oklahoma State head coach Eric Morris clearly believes that.

And, like any good education, he knows that his players don’t learn one way.

There are many reasons why the Cowboys (5-3, 3-2 in Big 12) are a win away from clinching bowl eligibility. That could come on Saturday against Kansas State in Manhattan. One reason lies in how he tests his players — not on the field, but in the classroom.

It just takes one test to give him and his coaching staff everything he needs.

The Test Helping the Cowboys Teach and Win

Oklahoma State coach Eric Morris/. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

On Tuesday, Morris was asked about something he mentioned during a radio show — his quarterback, Drew Mestemaker, taking the AIQ test, or the Athletic Intelligence Quotient exam. Created by psychologists Scott Goldman and Jim Bowman, the test is designed to “… evaluate an athlete's sport-specific mental skills rather than academic knowledge.”

This isn’t the famed Wonderlic test that NFL draft picks take at the combine. It’s used to evaluate how athletes learn. Morris uses it that way.

“It allows us to determine things they’re really good at and how they learn,” Morris said. “It’s really figuring out, ‘Hey, what’s the best way to teach these guys once they get here?’ Are they visual learners” There are so many different things. It will actually tell you, based off their scores. It’s not pass-fail. It’s to be able to know how they retain information in the best way that we can give it to them so they can react fast.”

Morris said that Mestemaker scored “extremely high” on the test, which lines up with Morris’ consistent feedback that the redshirt sophomore processes information faster than any quarterback he’s coached. But by using it as a tool for his entire team, it allows him and the staff to determine the best method to “reach” players when teaching them everything from tackling to the game plan.

While Morris didn’t talk about other players and the test, some players are having career seasons with the Cowboys and some of that could be due to new teaching approaches. Wide receiver Justin Bowick — who was just named to the Biletnikoff Award watch list — has 41 catches for 731 yards and nine touchdowns, which are career highs in every category.

Holdover cornerback LaDainian Fields, who had two interceptions last year as a part-time starter, leads the Big 12 with five interceptions, four of which have come in the last three games.

The use of a test like this is consistent with how Morris runs his program — he looks for every strategic edge. If one test can help him and his staff reach a player just a little bit faster and help him retain one additional piece of critical information for game day, then in his eyes it’s worth it.