Title-bound Eric Morris balances North Texas with Oklahoma State

The North Texas Mean Green had never enjoyed a season this unique. They set the program single-game and season attendance record, as Denton, TX is showing up in droves to watch something special brew in the air. North Texas generated its first-ever 11-win season Friday evening when handling Temple in 52-25 fashion — a style of win that’s become so routine for the nation’s No. 1 offense that it’s almost being taken for granted.

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

Morris elaborated why he wanted to make his position at Oklahoma State official now, opposed to let the rumors lurk for the next several weeks.

“To get it off our back,” Morris said. “I don’t want to coach games or players that believe in me and them not know what’s going on. Whether that’s right, wrong, 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 it out and stay committed to each other.”

Morris’ first step as the co-North Texas/Oklahoma State head coach involved defeating Temple. North Texas didn’t let the obvious distractions prevail and instead handled business. The Mean Green collected their seventh 50-point game of the season and essentially wrapped up the victory by halftime.

“I’m 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. We’ve had so many distractions throughout the course of the year and for our coaches to continue to keep these kids dialed in for these moments and create history for this program, this team has just been phenomenal. Our kids had an objective in mind today, and we went out and performed at a high level. Our recipe for success proved to be true today.”

Fans noticed a certain Easter egg in Morris’ press conference the day he accepted the job, as he was devoid of North Texas gear for the first time all year. But even with the move official, the 40-year old soon-to-be-former head coach kept the orange and black on the shelf for now, repping 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’m so committed to this team and continuing to fight for the postseason,” Morris said. “There’s so much to play for next week as well. My commitment won’t change at all as far as us preparing and getting this team ready to go out and face potentially a really good Tulane team. We’re gonna keep winning and see what happens and transpires. Hopefully it’s not a bowl game. Hopefully we’re going to the College Football Playoff and there’s so much more ahead of this team.”

Morris understands any frustration or backlash from the fanbase with accepting another job, especially in the middle of North Texas’ greatest season in history. While reflecting on his time in Denton, he left a message for the Mean Green faithful, thankful for the support that allowed North Texas to build to the level where it currently resides.

“I get it,” Morris said. “To our fans out there, I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting me, for supporting this team. Our home crowds were phenomenal. It just shows what a football program can do for a community with alignment from the top down. You look at our president and our athletic director believing what we could build here… And I sat in my office before this game, and it was hard for me looking out on DATCU Stadium because these people mean so much to me, Denton means so much to me, and I’m forever grateful and forever thankful of every experienced I’ve had here.”

He does have one significant regret throughout the process, which continues to eat at him. Rather than communicating the news in a team meeting, the North Texas players found out about Morris’ move to Oklahoma State through social media, as opposed to straight from the source.

“I’ve always believed in being transparent,” Morris said. “That’s the way I was raised. That’s what my father taught me. That’s what my grandfather taught me. I preach that in these meetings all the time, 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 it all turned out, we called a team meeting for Tuesday afternoon and it hit the internet a little bit before. And I apologize. I apologize to the team that they didn’t hear it from me, and it’s something I’ll have to live with for the rest of my life. I thought they handled it phenomenal, but it’s never fun to find out on your phone.”

As far as 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.

“I grew up in the Big 12,” Morris said. “I was able to watch Coach Gundy build that thing, and I went there a ton. The atmosphere is electric. I don’t think I ever won a game there as a player or a coach. That’s what made it intriguing for me.”

But for the remainder of the 2025 season, Morris is still the head coach at North Texas. His Mean Green face Tulane on Friday night, and a victory essentially secures a spot in the College Football Playoff — which would have seemed like an unthinkable achievement at North Texas as recently one year ago.

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