What Would Success Look Like for Oklahoma State in Eric Morris' First Season?

The Cowboys will be ready to rebound from their 1-11 season when 2026 comes around.

Oct 10, 2025; Denton, Texas, USA; North Texas Mean Green head coach Eric Morris stands on the sidelines against the South Florida Bulls during the second half of a game at DATCU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

Oklahoma State has been one of the worst programs in college football over the past two years, but a new era is beginning.

Last week, OSU announced that it is hiring Eric Morris as the next head coach of Cowboy football. After three successful years as the head man at North Texas, Morris will be looking to find similar success in Stillwater.

No stranger to the Big 12, Morris was a standout receiver at Texas Tech and will be looking to bring another era of big-time success to OSU. Of course, following Mike Gundy will be a tough task for the Mean Green’s head coach, but expectations might not be as high as they would’ve been for a new coach only a couple of years ago.

Say the Cowboys were interested in moving on from Gundy ahead of the 2024 season, a new coach would’ve had the pressure to come in and be a Big 12 contender immediately. Of course, that’s not the case going into 2026.

With only four wins over the past two seasons, including only two against FBS competition and no Big 12 wins, Morris will have little to no pressure to even put a decent product on the field next year. Still, the Cowboys would love to be competitive next season in a way they were unable to in 2025, particularly with how quickly the transfer portal can swing things for a program in OSU’s position.

With Morris still coaching North Texas on its potential path to the College Football Playoff, he likely won’t be coming in with the expectation that another losing season will be good enough for a program of this caliber. Throughout the past two decades, Gundy transformed OSU football into what it is today and raised expectations in Stillwater to a level before thought impossible.

Morris will be looking to do the same, but it will take some time. Next season, simply being in a position to compete with the Big 12’s best on a consistent basis and be a player in the conference title race would easily exceed expectations, but is on the table.

As the Pokes look to rebound from their awful 1-11 season, getting back to a bowl game should be the goal in Stillwater. It’s undeniable that it would make for a successful 2026, but only time will tell how long simply getting to a bowl game will be considered a success in the Morris era.

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