Eric Morris explains why he's leaving North Texas for Oklahoma State football coaching job
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DENTON, TX — Asked what drew him to the Oklahoma State football job, North Texas coach Eric Morris spoke of his Big 12 roots.
“I was able to watch Coach (Mike) Gundy build that thing,” Morris said. “I played there a ton and the atmosphere is electric. I don’t think I ever won a game there as a player or a coach.”
Morris addressed his move on Friday night after North Texas beat Temple 52-25 in the Mean Green’s regular-season finale. It was the first time Morris had spoken publicly since OSU announced his hiring on Tuesday.
“Super proud of our kids, first and foremost,” Morris said. “This is a players’ game — always has been, always will be. Obviously a ton of distractions this week, and really that starts with me. I’m not ignorant enough to not realize that.”
Morris called a team meeting Tuesday, hoping to tell his players of his impending departure before the news broke.
“It hit the internet a little bit before, and so I apologized,” Morris said. “I apologized to our team that they didn’t hear that from me, and to be quite honest with you, it’s something I’ll have to live with for the rest of my life.”
Morris plans to coach the Mean Green (11-1) in the American Conference championship game next weekend. With a win there, North Texas is likely bound for the College Football Playoff. Morris will stay in his role until the Mean Green is eliminated either in the American title game or in the CFP.
“Super bittersweet for me,” Morris said. “This is such a special place for my family and I. We’ve created phenomenal relationships here.
“To our fans out there, I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting me, supporting this team … It just shows what a football program can do for a community with alignment from the top down.”
North Texas, playing on ESPN in a regular-season game for the first time ever, secured the first 11-win season in program history in its rout of Temple. The Mean Green is ranked No. 21 in the AP Poll. The last time UNT was ranked before this season was in 1959.
While Morris is still trying to lead the Mean Green to a conference championship and College Football Playoff berth, he’s also recruiting for the Cowboys and trying to lay the groundwork for a new era of OSU football.
For now, though, Morris is taking a cautious approach before going all-in on his new gig.
“I need time to really dissect and get into the weeds on some things before I start making super important decisions,” Morris said.
Morris said he wanted to make the news of his move to OSU official on Tuesday just to “get it off our back” rather than waiting until the weekend.
“I don’t want to coach players who believe in me and them not knowing what’s going on,” Morris said. “Whether that’s right, wrong, indifferent, I don’t know. You can attack me if you want, don’t attack our players. They’ve done a phenomenal job finding a way to continue to block it out and stay committed to one another.”
The 40-year-old Morris, from Shallowater, Texas, is taking over an OSU program that had unprecedented success for the better part of two decades under former coach Mike Gundy. The Cowboys have cratered in the last two years, though, which led to Gundy’s dismissal in late September.
OSU athletic director Chad Weiberg tabbed Morris as Gundy’s successor. Morris has gone 22-15 (13-11 American) in three years at North Texas.
The former Texas Tech wide receiver and Mike Leach disciple is known as a premier quarterback developer. North Texas this season has the top offense in college football, averaging north of 500 yards per game.
Friday marked Morris’ last regular-season game as North Texas’ head coach.
Before kickoff, he stared out from his office overlooking DATCU Stadium.
“These people mean so much to me,” Morris said. “Denton means so much to me. I’m forever grateful, forever thankful of every experience I’ve had here.”
Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Eric Morris explains why he's leaving North Texas for OSU football
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