$3.8 Million Head Coach Predicted to Turn Around Underperforming College Football Program

The turmoil that commenced as a result of the 2025-2026 head coaching carousel was unlike anything the college football world had ever seen. Over a five-month period, 34 different head coaching positions opened up across the FBS ranks.

One of the first head coaching vacancies in FBS opened when Oklahoma State parted ways with Mike Gundy. Oklahoma State posted a 3-9 overall record in 2024 and had lost badly at Oregon (69-3) and at home to Tulsa (19-12) when it moved on from Gundy.

Oklahoma State decided it wanted a proven head coach to succeed Gundy. The Cowboy turned to North Texas head coach Eric Morris, announcing his hiring in late November.

The former Texas Tech quarterback spent eight seasons working his way up the coaching ladder as an offensive assistant. Morris' first shot as a head coach came in the FCS ranks at Incarnate Word. In four seasons with the Cardinals, he posted a 24-18 mark, highlighted by a 10-3 season in 2021.

Morris was a major help in the journey of eventual No. 1 overall NFL draft pick Cam Ward. Incarnate Word started Ward at quarterback in 2021, and Ward followed Morris when Morris left to become Washington State's offensive coordinator in 2022.

Eric Morris during North Texas' 2025 game against USF. — North Texas Mean Green head coach Eric Morris stands on the sidelines against the South Florida Bulls | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

North Texas hired Morris as its head coach in the 2023 offseason. After a slight progression in his first two years on the job, the Mean Green stormed to the AAC Championship in 2025, finishing with a 12-2 overall record and boasting the leading passer in college football in Drew Mestemaker.

Morris brought multiple key pieces from the 2025 North Texas team with him to Oklahoma State. Multiple staffers and nearly a third of Oklahoma State's 53-man transfer portal class are from North Texas.

What Morris and his proven offense can accomplish in a fairly open conference has earned attention on the national level. Former Alabama quarterback and ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy discussed Oklahoma State's potential on "Always College Football."

“The Big 12 structure can allow for a bit of a fast rise if you have great quarterback play, and Morris’s entire bet is that the quarterback play is the shortcut. They’re going to be good at quarterback; we know that for sure," McElroy said.

"Now, can it be sustained week in and week out? That’s what we have to find out. But, this is a team that absolutely qualifies as a sleeper given some of the pieces that had success last year in Denton, Texas, with the Mean Green.”

The Cowboys face a pair of College Football Playoff participants in Oregon and Texas Tech on their 2026 schedule. Houston and Arizona State are the only other teams on Oklahoma State's schedule to participate in the 2025 postseason; six of its Big 12 opponents either finished with a losing record or opted out of a bowl game.

Eric Morris during his introductory press conference at Oklahoma State. — Oklahoma State University (OSU) introduces the new head football coach, Eric Morris, during a rally , Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. | DOUG HOKE/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images