‘We Were Keenly Interested in Him from the Start’: Regents Approve Morris’ Contract as OSU’s Next Football Coach

STILLWATER — Friday’s Board of Regents meeting was essentially a formality when it came to soon-to-be OSU football coach Eric Morris, but now it’s official.

The board approved Morris’ contract at its meeting Friday morning. Morris will make $3.8 million annually at Oklahoma State.

“Relieved,” OSU President Jim Hess told PFB on how it feels being on the other side of the search. “We’re deeply grateful to Chad Weiberg, our athletic director. He’s heavily engaged. Obviously we were entering the coaching search before others due to some previous actions that we took. That was helpful to us because there were still, excluding us, there were 12 other schools who were ultimately looking for coaches. Because of the number of coaching searches that were ongoing, we felt it important that we get ours done quickly. We knew that Coach Morris would be an asset that people would be excited to have, that we wouldn’t be the only ones excited to have Coach Morris.

“We were keenly interested in him from the start not just because his success that he’s had at the University of North Texas. That’s certainly a factor, but the greatest factor is because of the person that he is. He’s humble. He has a deep belief and dedication in his players, not as athletes but as individuals, as human beings. I was deeply impressed by that, and he has a great pedigree. Trained by Mike Leach, Kliff Kingsbury, Sonny Dykes — he knows offense. He knows how to run an offense, and he knows how to put together a roster of players.”

It had been a long search, with Oklahoma State firing longtime coach Mike Gundy on Sept. 23. Although some questioned the timing of the move, having ample time to perform the search ended up working well for OSU, as it ended up being an active coaching carousel.

OSU announced Morris’ hiring Nov. 25 — the Tuesday before the final week of the regular season. That weekend, the dominoes of other searches started tumbling quickly, but OSU was already out of the way.

Morris’ $3.8 million salary more than doubled his salary at UNT, according to the USA Today database, but it is still well under the about $6.9 million Gundy was set to make in 2025.

“The board is very excited and looking forward to the future with Coach Morris,” said regent Chris Franklin during the meeting. “We’d really like to thank President Hess and especially AD Chad Weiberg in moving quickly and decisively in a coaching market that has been unseen in recent memory. The way they executed, made a decision, and we think we got the best candidate in the country.”

OSU hired Morris off a three-year stint at North Texas, where he has led the Mean Green to a 22-15 record including going 11-1 thus far this season.

Morris is still with UNT. The Mean Green plays in the American title game Friday night against Tulane (7 p.m. on ABC) in what will essentially act as a College Football Playoff play-in game.

It’s a little odd that Morris is still actively coaching despite being hired by another school. Not every hire from around the country went that route (like Lane Kiffin’s move from Ole Miss to LSU). Although there would surely be some benefit to Morris getting to Stillwater as soon as possible, OSU’s president said Morris has earned the opportunity to take UNT as far has he can.

“He deserves it,” Hess said. “He has committed to his players and his team. … The Cowboy Code says we finish what we start, and I think he exemplifies that. I think he deserves the opportunity. He has molded this team — personally, not just athletically. Personally, he’s molded these young people, and he deserves the opportunity it see it through.

“He’s playing for a conference championship tonight, and we’ll be rooting for him. I’ll be watching it, as a matter of fact. He deserves the opportunity to finish what he started, and I’m all for it.”