How Oklahoma State football hiring Eric Morris has boosted energy for Cowboys fans

STILLWATER — When Luke Farno finished graduate school at Oklahoma State in 2005, Mike Gundy had recently become the Cowboys' newest football coach.

Twenty years later, Farno, stood in Row 2 of Section 109 of Boone Pickens Stadium with his wife, Sarah, and children Jacob and Noah, on Saturday looking forward to a new era of OSU football.

“Went through several coaching staffs, saw them do their length and then went through a lot with Coach Gundy and saw him bring the team into its light,” Farno said. “Excited to see what’s next.”

Eric Morris, North Texas’ coach, is what’s next, as OSU announced Tuesday it hired the 40-year-old from Shallowwater, Texas. Morris will follow the most successful coach in program history in Gundy, who was fired Sept. 23.

With Morris, whose Mean Green squad has clinched a spot in the American Athletic Conference championship game and has College Football Playoff hopes, there is an apparent energy boost in Stillwater.

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

OSU students’ perspective

Searching for the energy boost? Look no further than Row 4 of Section 35 with students Beau Raymond and Sam Wiesebabe.

Despite the lackluster crowd and cold Saturday morning weather as the Cowboys wrapped up a 1-11 season with a 20-13 loss to Iowa State, the juniors couldn’t help but smile when talking about the next coach.

“I’ll be honest, I didn’t know much of Eric Morris’ history ‘til after the hire, so then I kind of looked into his background, and I think he’s gonna be a really good fit for Stillwater (and) Oklahoma State,” Raymond said. “Being a Big 12 guy, him getting to develop Baker Mayfield, Patrick Mahomes, Cam Ward and then John Mateer. I’m really, really excited for what he has to bring.”

As Raymond mentioned, the UNT coach's rise in college football has largely come from the offenses and, more specifically, the quarterbacks under his coaching. As an offensive coordinator at Texas Tech — where he played wide receiver for Mike Leach — he coached Mayfield and Mahomes. Ward, an eventual No. 1 NFL Draft pick, took snaps for a Morris-led Incarnate Word team. Before going to Denton, Morris was the offensive coordinator for Washington State, where he coached now-OU quarterback Mateer.

UNT's quarterback, Drew Mestemaker, could be next on the list of star quarterbacks who played for Morris. The redshirt freshman is top three nationally in passing yards and touchdowns this season.

On Friday, after the Mean Green defeated Temple 52-25, Mestemaker said he hasn’t given much thought to whether he’d follow Morris to OSU, but Cowboy fans are hoping so.

With key pieces from UNT, Wiesebabe thinks the Cowboys could do what Indiana has done since Curt Cignetti became its coach in 2023. After five seasons at James Madison, Cignetti jumped to the Big Ten and has made football the thing in Bloomington; the No. 2 Hoosiers will play in their second straight CFP in the coming weeks.

Although asking for that caliber of a quick turnaround in Stillwater might be too much, Wiesebabe sees parallels.

“He kind of gives off Curt Cignetti,” Wiesebabe said. “Maybe not as quick of a reroute, but a hidden gem that other guys may have been looking at and didn’t take seriously. And now, (Morris) is coming here to a conference that loves shootouts, and that’s what his offense is doing. They put up, what, like 52 last night?”

As freshmen, Raymond and Wiesebabe watched OSU win the last Big 12 Bedlam, make the Big 12 title game and beat Texas A&M in the Texas Bowl. Since then, the “in-between,” as Wiesebabe called it, has been bleak. But now, there’s hope.

“It just gives me something to look forward to for my senior year,” Wiesebabe said.

More: New Oklahoma State football coach Eric Morris checks most important box | Carlson

The first fall

The Farno family in Section 109 made the 11-hour drive from Eaton, Ohio, to Stillwater this weekend. Jacob, a high school senior, was recently accepted to OSU. On Monday, he’ll take a campus tour in preparation for arriving next fall.

Jacob will soon sit in the student section of Boone Pickens Stadium, not Section 109. And he’ll watch Morris lead the Cowboys onto the field, not interim coach Doug Meacham.

When that happens, both he and Morris will officially be in a new chapter.

“I’ll have a whole new viewpoint from my dad as a student, and it’ll just be cool to see,” Jacob said.

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Hiring of new Oklahoma State football coach Eric Morris excites fans