Eric Morris explains why he's leaving North Texas for Oklahoma State football coaching job

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.

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.

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.

More: Which Oklahoma State football players should new coach Eric Morris try to keep in 2026?

Morris is balancing two jobs: Coaching a contender at North Texas while already recruiting and laying the groundwork for a rebuild in Stillwater.

He wanted to make the news of his move to OSU official just to “get it off our back.”

“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 continuing to block it out.”

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 Gundy. The Cowboys have cratered in the past 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.

Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at [email protected]. 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