Oklahoma State Director of Athletics Chad Weiberg has hired Eric Morris as the school's 25th head football coach, pending board approval.

An elite offensive mind and talent developer, Morris has been the head coach at North Texas since 2023. His hire marks the first time since 1969 that Oklahoma State has hired a sitting head coach and the first time in school history OSU has hired a sitting head coach from a school that is in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

When it comes to quarterbacks alone, Morris has coached, developed or recruited Patrick Mahomes, Baker Mayfield, John Mateer, Cam Ward, Chandler Morris, Drew Mestemaker and more.

"Today begins the next era of Oklahoma State Football," Weiberg said. "I am thrilled to introduce Eric Morris, his wife Maggie and their boys Jack and George to the OSU Family. Coach Morris has proven his ability to build and lead winning football programs. He has consistently identified, recruited and developed some of the best players in college football."

In three seasons at UNT, Morris built the Mean Green from a 5-7 record in his first season to a team that sits at 10-1 in year three and is still in contention for a conference championship and College Football Playoff berth. Those three seasons have produced three of the top four seasons for total offense per game in North Texas history.

Including this season, Morris has spent the past 13 seasons as a head coach or offensive coordinator. During that stretch, his teams have produced a top-five passing offense in the country nine times, ranked in the top-10 in total offense 10 times and ranked in the top-25 scoring offense 10 times.

His offense leads the country in scoring offense and total offense this year. He also had the top FBS offense in 2016 at Texas Tech and the top FCS offense in 2020 at Incarnate Word. UNT finished sixth in the country in total offense in 2023 and third in 2024.

"For many reasons, including the kind of person he is and the lasting relationships he builds with his players, Coach Morris is the perfect fit as the next leader of Cowboy Football," Weiberg said. "The future is bright for OSU Football and I look forward to introducing him and his family to our team, our former players and all Cowboy fans."

In 2025, Morris is one of just five coaches from Group of 5 programs to be named a national semifinalist for the George Munger Coach of the Year award.

His No. 21 Mean Green team leads the FBS in scoring offense and total offense and among the top five in passing offense (second), pass efficiency (third), first downs (third), turnover margin (second), fewest interceptions thrown (fifth) and more.

The 2025 team has also reached the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time since 1959, has won 10 games in a season for the first time in school history, and has set a record for most points scored in a season.

His 2025 quarterback at North Texas, Drew Mestemaker, came in as a walk-on and was a backup quarterback his senior year of high school. Only a redshirt freshman now, he leads the FBS in passing yards, passing yards per game and yards per pass attempt. Mestemaker also ranks in the top 10 nationally in pass efficiency (fourth), passing touchdowns (fifth) and more.

In his second season at North Texas in 2024, Morris led the Mean Green to its 15th bowl game in program history with an appearance in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl. Despite adding an FBS-high 77 new players to the roster from 2023 to 2024, the Mean Green started the season 5-1, tied for the best start through six games for the Mean Green since 1967. Since 1989, UNT had only started the year 5-1 or better one other time (2018).

The Mean Green offense was stellar, finishing the season third in the FBS in total offense, fourth in passing offense and 23rd in scoring offense. UNT set a program record with 328.2 passing yards per game while the 488.8 total yards per game ranked third in program history and the 33.5 points per game ranked seventh.

In 2023, Morris quickly developed UNT into one of the top offenses in the American and the nation in his first season as head coach of the Mean Green. Under his leadership, North Texas boasted one of only four offenses nationally during the regular season to include a 3,000-yard passer, a 1,000-yard rusher and a 1,000-yard receiver. UNT finished led the AAC and ranked No. 6 nationally in total offense (495.8), No. 12 in passing offense (304.7) and No. 21 in both rushing offense (191.2) and scoring (34.5). The Mean Green were one of only five FBS teams ranked inside the top 25 in scoring, rushing, passing and total offense in 2023.

A record-setting offensive play-caller with extensive experience in the state of Texas, Morris went to UNT following one season as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Washington State. He previously served as head coach at Incarnate Word in San Antonio for four seasons from 2018-21.

In 2022 at Washington State, Morris engineered an offense that ranked first in the Pac-12 and 10th nationally in red zone efficiency, scoring on 91.5% of its trips inside the 20. The Cougars' 52 points at Stanford were the most scored in a conference game since 2019 and the most in a road conference game since 2018.

Under his guidance, quarterback Cam Ward, who followed Morris from UIW, passed for 23 touchdowns (6th in the Pac-12; 29th in the FBS) and completed 298 passes (2nd in the Pac-12; 10th in the FBS). Ward posted five games with at least one rushing and one passing touchdown.
Ward finished the regular season with 3,094 passing yards and 23 touchdowns to go with 285 rushing yards and five scores. He completed 64.1% of his passes.

The Cougars also displayed a rejuvenated ground game, as Jaylen Jenkins became the first WSU freshman with 100 or more rushing yards in a game since 2005 with 130 against USC. Nakia Watson was the first rusher with consecutive 100-yards games following 166 at Stanford and 116 in a win over Arizona State.

In his UIW tenure, Morris was twice named the Southland Conference Coach of the Year (2018, 2021). He led the Cardinals to two conference titles (2018, 2021), twice reached the FCS playoffs, and left UIW as the program record holder for victories with 24.

During his time in San Antonio, Morris posted a 24-18 record and orchestrated an offense that finished in the top 10 nationally for total offense in three of his four seasons, including leading the nation in 2020-21 at 552.3 yards per game. His teams finished in the top five in scoring both of his final two seasons, third in 2020-21 (42.0 ppg) and fifth in 2021 at 39.5 ppg.

In 2021, Morris guided the Cardinals to the Southland Conference title, reached the NCAA FCS Second Round and finished with a 10-3 record, the winningest record in program history. Morris mentored longtime pupil Ward, who finished the season garnering Stats Perform FCS All-America Second Team honors as well as being named to the Hero Sports 2021 Sophomore All-American Team. Ward also received Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Year honors after breaking UIW program records for most career passing touchdowns and career passing yards, Ward was also a finalist for the Walter Payton Award.

Morris oversaw the development of wide receiver Taylor Grimes, who earned multiple All-America honors in 2021 and was named Southland Conference Newcomer of the Year after setting single-season records for receiving yards (1,145) and touchdown receptions (15).

He guided the Cardinals to one of the best turnarounds in the FCS, being named the 2018 American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Regional Coach of the Year, the 2018 Southland Conference Coach of the Year and an Eddie Robinson Award finalist. That season he guided UIW to a 6-4 regular season record, a conference championship and the program's first FCS Playoff appearance in his first season.

Prior to Incarnate Word, Morris spent five seasons (2013-17) as the offensive coordinator at his alma mater, Texas Tech. During that time, Morris helped the Red Raiders to three bowl games and guided one of the top offenses in the nation. From 2013-17, Texas Tech's offense scored over 30 points per game all five seasons, and all five years was ranked among the top 16 teams in total offense, including leading the nation in 2016 at 564.4 yards per game. The Tech offense was highlighted by quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who Morris recruited and coached in Lubbock.

Morris, a native of Shallowater, Texas, returned to his roots in West Texas after spending the 2012 season as the inside receivers coach for former Tech head coach Mike Leach at Washington State.

Prior to Pullman, Morris spent two years at the University of Houston, first as an offensive graduate assistant in 2010 and then as the offensive quality control assistant in 2011. Before joining the coaching profession, Morris played in the Canadian Football League in 2009.

Morris was a versatile, all-around player during his four seasons as a Red Raider wide receiver from 2005-08. He was an All-Big 12 punt returner as a senior and was also a member of the 2007 Academic All-Big 12 first team.

Morris arrived at TTU following a stellar prep career at Shallowater High School where he was named the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal All-South Plains Super Team Offensive Player of the Year as a senior in 2003.

Morris received his bachelor's degree in communications studies from Texas Tech in 2008. He and his wife, Maggie, are parents to two sons, Jack and George.

Eric Morris's Head Coach Career Records