Title-bound Eric Morris balances North Texas with Oklahoma State

The North Texas Mean Green has never had such a unique season. They set the program’s single-game and season attendance record, as Denton, Texas, showed up in droves to watch something special brew in the air. North Texas generated its first-ever 11-win season Friday night by handling Temple 52-25 — a winning style that has become so common for the nation’s No. 1 offense that it’s almost taken for granted.

But the uniqueness of this season took on an entirely different form on Tuesday, Nov. 24, just three days before North Texas’ regular-season home finale against Temple. Head coach Eric Morris has officially accepted the opening at Oklahoma State, concluding his three-year tenure in Denton. However, unlike most coaches who change positions before the end of the year, Morris is determined to finish what he started, and he will remain North Texas’ head coach until the end of the season – an unusual circumstance that hasn’t been seen in the college football universe since Scott Frost coached UCF to the Peach Bowl, despite operating under Nebraska’s payroll.

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Morris explained why he wanted to make his position at Oklahoma State official now, opposed to letting the rumors lie dormant for the next few weeks.

“To get rid of them,” Morris said. “I don’t want to coach games or players that believe in me and don’t know what’s going on. Whether it’s good, bad or indifferent, I don’t know. You can attack me if you want, don’t attack our players because they’ve done a phenomenal job trying to block this out and stay committed to each other.”

Morris’ first step as co-head coach of North Texas and Oklahoma State was defeating Temple. North Texas didn’t let the obvious distractions prevail and instead took care of business. The Mean Green tallied their seventh 50-point game of the season and essentially clinched the victory by halftime.

“Above all, I’m very proud of our kids,” Morris said. “It’s a players’ game – always has been, always will be. Obviously, a ton of distractions this week, and really, it starts with me. I’m not ignorant enough not to realize that. We’ve had so many distractions throughout the year and for our coaches to continue to keep these kids tuned into those moments and create history for this program, this team has just been phenomenal. Our kids had one goal in mind today, and we are We went out and played at a high level. Our recipe for success proved to be true today.

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Fans noticed a certain Easter egg in Morris’ press conference the day he accepted the job, as he was without North Texas equipment for the first time all year. But even with that official decision, the 40-year-old future head coach kept the orange and black on the shelf for now, wearing a black and green North Texas hoodie with a white Mean Green visor.

“I told (athletic director) Jared Mosley when all this happened that I was so committed to this team and continuing to fight for the playoffs,” Morris said. “There’s so much to play for next week as well. My commitment won’t change at all as far as preparing and getting this team ready to go out and potentially take on a really good Tulane team. We’re going to continue to win and see what happens and what happens. I hope it’s not a bowl game. I hope we go to the College Football Playoff and there’s so much more to come for this team.”

Morris understands any frustration or backlash from fans in taking another job, especially in the midst of the greatest season in North Texas history. While reflecting on his time in Denton, he left a message for the Mean Green faithful, grateful for the support that allowed North Texas to grow to the level it currently resides.

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“I understand,” Morris said. “To our fans, I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart for supporting me, for supporting this team. Our home crowd was phenomenal. It just shows what a football program can do for a community aligned from top to bottom. You watch our president and our athletic director believe in what we could build here…And I was sitting in my office before that game, and it was hard for me to look at DATCU Stadium because these people mean so much to me, Denton means so much to me, and I am forever grateful and forever grateful for all the experiences I have had here.

He has one significant regret throughout the process, which continues to eat away at him. Rather than relaying the news in a team meeting, North Texas players found out about Morris’ move to Oklahoma State through social media, rather than directly from the source.

“I’ve always believed in transparency,” Morris said. “That’s how I was raised. That’s what my dad taught me. That’s what my grandfather taught me. I preach that all the time in these meetings, and that’s how you tell the truth and build something special. For me, I thought I would have been a hypocrite, and unfortunately, the way everything went, we called a team meeting for Tuesday afternoon and it was released on the internet a little bit before and I apologize. I apologize to the team for not hearing it from me, and that’s something I’ll have to live with that for the rest of my life. I thought they handled that phenomenally, but it’s never fun finding out on your phone.

As for why he accepted Oklahoma State, the former Texas Tech wide receiver cited his Big 12 roots and the Stillwater atmosphere that had become so accustomed to success during their 18 straight winning seasons under Mike Gundy from 2006-23.

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“I grew up in the Big 12,” Morris said. “I got to watch Coach Gundy build that thing, and I’ve been there a lot. The atmosphere is electric. I don’t think I’ve ever won a game there as a player or coach. That’s what intrigued me.”

But for the remainder of the 2025 season, Morris is still the head coach at North Texas. His Mean Green faces Tulane on Friday night, and a win essentially secures a spot in the College Football Playoff — something that would have seemed like an unthinkable feat in North Texas a year ago.

“I always try to talk my way out of situations because it’s about the kids,” Morris said. “I’ve had my moments myself playing college football and being out there and competing with my brothers. For me, I love football, I love game planning, I love all those things, so staying in rhythm with the guys that we’ve done all year as far as game planning this week has been like it’s been all year. Emotional for me, but now we’ve earned the right to go play next week.”