What Oklahoma State’s Massive Roster Turnover Means to Cowboys’ 2026 Success

FRISCO, Texas — New Oklahoma State head coach Eric Morris knows that football programs turn over quick these days. But this quick?

On Tuesday at The Star in Frisco, Texas, he confirmed what The Athletic’s Sam Khan Jr. (subscription required) had reported earlier in the day — that the Cowboys have 87 new players this season. Khan’s research showed that it was the highest number of new players that any program has taken in during college football’s modern era.

How does that sit with Morris? He talked about it on Tuesday.

Eric Morris on Oklahoma State’s Massive Turnover

Eric Morris talked about his journey to OSU in the context of resources and how UIW and UNT shaped him. #OKState #GoPokes pic.twitter.com/WNZkC7rdMt
— Matthew Postins (@PostinsPostcard) July 7, 2026

He said to reporters that the program needed a “hard reset” after going 4-20 the past two seasons, including an 18-game Big 12 losing streak. As much respect as he has for former head coach Mike Gundy, the change was needed. That includes the 19 transfers he brought with him from North Texas, where he coached last year.

“It's helped that we're able to bring 19 guys with us from North Texas that really understand how we operate on the day-to-day, understand the standard of how we operate,” he said.

Morris said that many of the things he did were intentional. Most of his coach and support staff worked with him previously, either at North Texas or at Incarnate Word, where he started his coaching career. They put a premium on experience in the transfer portal — not on Big 12 experience or other conferences but on overall football experience.

They filled roster holes with players that had been there and done that, so to speak. It was partly about collective snaps.

“I think in returning snaps this year in college football were No. 3 in the whole entire nation and that was something we did intentionally in the portal,” Morris said. “So were really hoping that that experience pays off for us.”

The Cowboys went 1-11 last year. Morris has been a player and a coach in the Big 12 before had seeing Oklahoma State in that position is something he’s not used to. It’s part of why he put a premium on experienced talent. He wants to flip the program back to being successful as quickly as possible. He knows that Gundy set a tremendous standard, even though it didn’t end the way the former head coach wanted.

The massive roster turnover means that the Cowboys are more talented than they were a year ago. For the few Oklahoma State players that stuck around, that additional talent matters a great deal to the bottom line this year and the winning culture he wants to build this season and beyond. He feels for holdovers like LaDainian Fields and Jaleel Johnson and he kept that in mind as he built the roster.

“I had to sit back and realize that there are kids that hare in this program that have been here for two years and don’t know what it’s like to walk into a locker room after winning a conference game,” Morris said.

He’s out to change that in 2026 and that’s why he opted for a hard reset.

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