Oklahoma State Doesn't Need Nine Wins for Eric Morris' First Season to Be a Success
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The hype train is rolling in Stillwater.
Maybe a little too fast.
Drew Mestemaker has generated national attention.
Caleb Hawkins gives Oklahoma State another proven offensive weapon.
Eric Morris has brought optimism back to a program desperately needing it.
But how much improvement should actually be expected in Year 1?
Jerry Ramsey, an Oklahoma City radio host joined Tyler Jones on The Jones Report, offered perhaps the most reasonable answer during a recent interview.
Six wins.
A bowl game.
And tangible evidence that Oklahoma State is building something sustainable.
Forget nine wins.
As Ramsey joked, if the Cowboys win nine games, he'll be partying on The Strip in Stillwater.
The Franchise OKC Radio Host Jerry Ramsey 8-7-26The Jones Report · Episode
Curt Cignetti Changed Expectations
Fair or not, first-year rebuilds are viewed differently now.
Curt Cignetti helped change that.
Indiana showed how quickly a program can transform when a successful coach brings his system—and many of his players—from a lower level of college football into the Power Four.
That's essentially the blueprint Oklahoma State followed with Morris.
Go find a coach who has already built an explosive offense.
Let him bring players who understand his system.
Then see how quickly it translates.
That doesn't mean Oklahoma State should expect an Indiana-style transformation immediately.
But it does increase the pressure.
The days of automatically giving a new coach three years before expecting results are disappearing.
Morris Isn't Running Away From Oklahoma State's Past
Something else Ramsey highlighted deserves attention.
Morris hasn't arrived in Stillwater pretending Oklahoma State football began when he took the job.
He's embraced what came before him.
He's publicly paid tribute to Mike Gundy and acknowledged what the previous era accomplished.
That's important.
Gundy is the winningest coach in Oklahoma State history. Morris doesn't need to erase that history to establish his own identity.
He can respect what Oklahoma State became under Gundy while building something different for the future.
That's probably the healthiest way to handle a coaching transition of this magnitude.
The Offense Should Be Fun Again
This is where the optimism feels justified.
Ramsey believes Oklahoma State will be fine offensively.
Mestemaker already knows Morris' system.
He impressed people at the Manning Passing Academy.
There are legitimate weapons surrounding him.
And everything we've learned throughout the offseason suggests Oklahoma State intends to play aggressively.
Tyler offered an interesting comparison during the conversation.
Maybe this begins to resemble those old Oklahoma State offenses led by Brandon Weeden and later Mason Rudolph.
Not necessarily in victories.
Not necessarily in championships.
But stylistically?
Explosive.
Aggressive.
Fun.
That brand of Oklahoma State football could be coming back.
Let's Keep Expectations Reasonable
This is where Ramsey's perspective is especially valuable.
Can Oklahoma State improve dramatically?
Absolutely.
Can the Cowboys be considerably better than they were last season?
They should be.
Does that automatically mean nine wins?
Probably not.
There are still too many unknowns.
New coaching staff.
New players.
A quarterback adjusting to a higher level of competition.
A defense that still has to prove it can consistently stop Big 12 offenses.
That's why six wins shouldn't feel disappointing.
It should feel like progress.
Reach a bowl game in Year 1 and suddenly Morris has a foundation to build upon entering 2027.
The Defense Determines the Ceiling
This might be the biggest question of them all.
Ramsey put it pretty simply.
If Oklahoma State shows any signs of having a functional defense, he believes the Cowboys can finish inside the top 10 of the Big 12.
If not?
Get ready for some wild Saturdays.
Because Oklahoma State may have to win games 45-42.
And strangely enough, the Big 12 might be the perfect conference for that approach.
Welcome to the Wild Wild West
Ramsey described the Big 12 perfectly.
The Wild Wild West.
There are teams like Texas Tech capable of playing strong defense.
BYU and Utah will bring physicality.
But this isn't a conference where Oklahoma State necessarily needs an elite defense to compete every Saturday.
Sometimes you can simply outscore people.
Put 45 on the scoreboard.
Create a couple of defensive stops.
Get out of town with a win.
It might not always be pretty.
It could be incredibly entertaining.
Six Wins Can Mean More Than Six Wins
This is why evaluating Oklahoma State's season requires context.
A six-win season by itself doesn't sound extraordinary.
For Year 1 of a complete program reset?
It could mean considerably more.
It would mean Oklahoma State returned to a bowl game.
It would mean Morris' offense translated to the Big 12.
It would mean the Cowboys established something tangible to sell recruits and transfers.
Most importantly, it would create momentum.
Then you enter Year 2 with greater familiarity, another recruiting class and another offseason inside the system.
That's when expectations can really begin rising.
Final Thoughts
It's easy to get carried away with Oklahoma State right now.
There's a new coach.
An exciting quarterback.
Explosive offensive weapons.
And genuine optimism surrounding the program again.
Enjoy it.
Just don't confuse optimism with expectations.
Nine wins would be an unbelievable first season.
Six wins and a bowl appearance would be a successful one.
Because Year 1 doesn't need to prove Oklahoma State's rebuild is finished.
It needs to prove the rebuild is working.
And if Morris can restore an exciting brand of football while getting the Cowboys back into the postseason?
That's a tremendous starting point.
Oklahoma State doesn't need to become a contender overnight.
It just needs to show everyone where this program could be headed next.
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