Eric Morris arrives at Oklahoma State with no luxury of a slow build.
That’s the reality of coaching in the transfer portal era, where a program can flip fast and patience is in short supply. Morris may be in Stillwater for the long haul, but this season is the one that will tell the story of his first run with the Cowboys.
The contrast with Mike Gundy’s arrival in 2005 says plenty. Gundy inherited a stable program from Les Miles, who had just finished 7-5 in 2004 and had already put together three straight bowl trips.
He was working with familiar faces, including players he had helped recruit while serving as Miles’ offensive coordinator. Even then, Gundy needed time.
Oklahoma State went 4-7 in his first season before beginning an 18-year stretch of bowl appearances in 2006.
Morris doesn’t get that kind of runway. This version of college football can change in a hurry, and Oklahoma State’s recent collapse only raises the stakes.
Gundy had just taken the Cowboys to the 2023 Big 12 title game - their second trip in three years - before the bottom fell out. Oklahoma State went 4-10 after that, including a 1-11 season last year that got Gundy dismissed three games into the year.
Buried in that stretch was an 18-game Big 12 regular-season losing streak.
That’s the mess Morris walked into.
The 40-year-old has already proven he can build programs at a lower level. He was the head coach at Incarnate Word and North Texas, two places without Oklahoma State’s resources, and he won at both. Now he has leaned into a full-scale rebuild, choosing urgency over a drawn-out reset.
The portal was the first big move. Morris arrived in December knowing a traditional recruiting class would be hard to assemble, so he went hard after immediate help and ended up bringing in 92 new players. Almost 20 of them followed him from North Texas, including quarterback Drew Mestemaker, running back Caleb Hawkins and wide receiver Wyatt Young.
Experience became another pillar of the overhaul. Morris and his staff measured it by snap count, and the result is one of the most seasoned rosters in the country, with the Cowboys ranked among the Top 10 nationally in that category. At the same time, Morris made a point of keeping the 25 players who stayed from last year’s team connected and valued.
He has also worked to meet Oklahoma State fans on their own turf. A Texas Tech background gives him Big 12 roots, and he has used that connection to talk about remembering the Cowboys’ glory days, what Boone Pickens Stadium was like when he played, and his desire to bring that feeling back.
The message from Morris has been clear from the start: this program has to be competitive now.
That’s why this season matters so much. A finish around 7-5 would show recruits, transfer targets and fans that the direction is right after two ugly years. Drop to something like 5-7, and the questions start immediately about whether the plan can really work.
For now, all of the rebuilding has lived in theory. On Saturday against Tulsa, it becomes real. From there, every game is a test, every result a grade, and Morris needs those marks to come back strong if Oklahoma State is going to get where he wants it to go.
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Oklahoma States New Era Starts With A Test Cowboys Fans Will Feel
Oklahoma States next chapter now has a date attached to it, and it starts with a familiar in-state measuring stick. The Cowboys will open the 2026 season against Tulsa, giving Eric Morris his first game as head coach after taking over for Mike Gundy following the 2025 season. It is the kind of matchup that instantly frames a new era, with local stakes, early expectations and plenty of attention on how quickly the program can settle in under new leadership.
For fans, it also marks the beginning of a schedule that has already been laid out in full, which only sharpens the anticipation around what this team will look like from week to week. Ticket information is available as the countdown begins, but the bigger draw is the uncertainty that comes with a coaching change and an opener that should tell a lot about where Oklahoma State is headed next. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma States Realignment Hope May Come Down To One Simple Fix
Brett McMurphy, an Oklahoma State graduate and longtime college football insider, recently offered a blunt read on where the Cowboys fit in the next wave of conference realignment. From his perspective, the path to gaining traction is not about flashy rumors or geography-driven wish lists, but about doing the one thing every league values most: winning enough games to make the brand harder to ignore.
McMurphy was skeptical that Oklahoma State is positioned for one of the sport's biggest jumps, even as realignment talk continues to swirl around the college landscape. He pointed instead to a broader shakeup that could reshape multiple leagues, with the SEC and Big Ten looking elsewhere if they do expand, while the Cowboys keep trying to make themselves a more appealing option by building results on the field. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma State Recruiting Buzz Builds Around A Big Oregon Visit Weekend
Oklahoma State has made the Sept. 12 home opener against Oregon a clear centerpiece of its recruiting calendar, and the Cowboys are already lining up visitors for the kind of early-season showcase that can shape a class. The program has invited several prospects to come through this fall, using the atmosphere in Stillwater to get an early look at the next wave of talent while the staff continues building around its Class of 2027 haul.
Among the recruits set to be in attendance is Lane Simpson of Cushing, giving the Cowboys another in-state name to watch as the weekend approaches. Oklahoma State already has 12 commitments in the class, a group that includes prospects from both inside and outside the state, but none of those pledges becomes official until the early signing period in December, which keeps the door open for more movement as the season gets going. [Read more 🡒]