This is the Most Important Season of Oklahoma State Football Coach Eric Morris' Tenure

Yes, Eric Morris is new. But for Oklahoma State’s football future, his debut is as important as it will get for his tenure.

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

Before the transfer portal era, the expectations around new Oklahoma State head coach Eric Morris would be muted.

Consider when Mike Gundy was elevated to head coach in 2005. He succeeded Les Miles, who led the Cowboys to a 7-5 season in 2004 but led them to three straight bowl games. Gundy was working with Miles’ recruits, some of which he helped recruit as Miles’ offensive coordinator.

But players didn’t bolt for the transfer portal. If they graduated, they left. If they were under scholarship, they stayed. But there was a learning curve for Gundy as head coach. He went 4-7 his first year. Then in 2006 the Cowboys started a streak of 18 straight seasons with a bowl game.

Morris won’t get that grace. In this era, teams can go from the outhouse to the penthouse in one year. Just look at what Indiana did. Morris may spend 20 years with the Cowboys like Gundy did, but this season will be his most important.

Why Year 1 Is Most Important for Morris

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

Gundy inherited a solid program from Miles. Gundy didn’t do Morris the same favor.

Gundy took the Cowboys to the 2023 Big 12 title game, the second time in three years they got there. After that? Oklahoma State went 4-10, including a 1-11 season last year that cost him his job three games into the season. Within that is an 18-game Big 12 regular-season losing streak. Gundy was slow to adjust to the transfer portal and NIL era and it cost him his job.

Morris is 40 years old and has already been a head coach at two programs that didn’t have OSU’s resources — Incarnate Word and North Texas. He built winners at both programs. With the Cowboys’ resources Morris took an all-in approach to rebuild the program and make it competitive now, as opposed to two or three years from now.

That started with the transfer portal. He took over in December and knew building a recruiting class would be tough. He leaned into the portal and ended up with 92 new players. Nearly 20 of them came with him from North Texas, including an incredible trio of offensive skill players — quarterback Drew Mestemaker, running back Caleb Hawkins and wide receiver Wyatt Young.

He and his staff put an emphasis on experience and measured it by snap count. The Cowboys have one of the most experienced rosters by snap count, among the Top 10 in the country. He also made sure to nurture the relationships with the 25 Cowboys that stayed from last year’s team.

Morris leaned into his Big 12 roots — he played and coached at Texas Tech — to connect with Cowboys fans, saying he remembers their glory days, what Boone Pickens Stadium was like when he played and wants to get back there.

Morris has set his own expectations. He wants the program to be competitive now. Everything he has done from his start date has been to build toward this moment — the season.

It’s critical the Cowboys have a good year. If they meet expectations — say 7-5, it shows recruits, potential transfer portal targets and fans that the program is moving in the right direction after two dismal seasons. Falling below expectations — say, 5-7 — puts Morris on the defensive as those same people will question whether his plan will work.

To this point, everything about the Cowboys turnaround has been theoretical. Starting on Saturday against Tulsa, it gets tangible. Everything gets graded. For Morris to get Oklahoma State where he wants it, those grades need to be good.