The Top 5 Quotes from Eric Morris’ Wednesday Media Availability

STILLWATER — The Cowboys beat the Wednesday storms and are officially seven practices into the Eric Morris Era.

Oklahoma State’s coach met with reporters after Wednesday’s practice to give updates on how things are going. Here are five things that stood out. You can watch Morris’ full media scrum below.

1. ‘ROI Is Like a Real Thing’

It makes sense that with college football being more businesslike that business terms would start to work their way into football talk.

Morris mentioned ROI (return on investment) on Wednesday.

He made note that he has a good idea of a lot of the starters at this point in the spring, but that others will still substitute in during practice, in part to give opportunities and in part to keep everyone as fresh as possible.

“ROI is like a real thing in college football,” Morris said. “These guys, you gotta look at it as an investment because we are investing in these guys. At the end of the day, when these Saturdays come in the fall, we need our money to be on the field, and I tell our coaches that right now. So there’s certain points when we do throw people in the fire right there, we might know who our starter is, but, ‘Hey, let’s put this guy in with the ones and see how he responds and see if he’s somebody we can count on.'”

And though Morris might think he has a good idea on who will play now, it is only March. And just because you’re making the most money, doesn’t mean you’ll be on the field.

“I think there are always surprises,” Morris said. “Guys that you’re like ‘Holy smokes, didn’t think he’d be making these plays like he is right now.’ This is a long process of us really figuring it out before we get on the bus, driving an hour east from here to Tulsa is figuring it out. Two, I think depth is such a key thing in college football these days. We’ve seen that in the transfer portal, rev share and NIL days. You can’t just have a ton of guys that you’re holding back that are a bunch of twos and threes. Guys are moving on.

“That’s why we talked about ROI and money on the field, but at the same time, we’re going to play who gives us the best chance to win, no matter what kind of money we’re making. We proved that last year with Drew Mestemaker, Caleb Hawkins and those guys. Even though they might not have been who we thought they were coming into that camp, they were the guys that gave us the best chance to win.”

2. Still Deciding on a Run Scheme

After producing a Doak Walker-winning running back in 2023, the Cowboys’ rushing attack has been straight up bad the past two seasons.

In 2024, OSU ranked 14th (of 16) in the Big 12 in rushing yards per game with 111.8, while OSU’s 3.7 yards per carry was 15th in the league. That was with Ollie Gordon still on the team. With Gordon’s absence last season, OSU finished at the bottom of the Big 12 in both of those stats.

OSU’s 2026 rushing attack is off to a solid start with the addition of North Texas transfer Caleb Hawkins. As for what run scheme the Cowboys will implement, that seems to still be up in the air.

“For us right now, we gotta figure out what our guys can execute at a high level,” Morris said. “It’s been different every year for us. Year 1 at North Texas and even back to Incarnate Word, we were a really good counter team. Our guys were athletic, they pulled well. Two years ago, we were a really good inside zone team. This past year, it’s the best we’ve ever been at outside zone because that fit our personnel.

“Right now, we’re throwing a ton at them schematically. Once we do get into the season, we’re gonna have to hone in on some stuff and be able to really hone in and get really good at whatever scheme we are picking.”

3. How Does OSU Stack Up?

Morris might have a decent idea of how good his squad can be, but with north of 80 new players on the roster, it’s hard to know for sure.

“Unfortunately, I don’t have a crystal ball,” Morris said. “If I did, I’d have a lot more money. I wouldn’t be a football coach right now stressing over the things I’m stressing about. I think that’s part of the anxiety of being a coach and being new and trying to figure out, ‘Hey, how do we match up against the guys we’re playing?’

“We’re gonna find out really early in the season. I think going on the road, obviously to play Tulsa Week 1, but then we’ll probably have a top two or three team (Oregon) in Boone Pickens for our first test at home. So, we’re gonna figure that out really fast in the season, which I love. That allows us to have a measuring stick and where are we and what are the areas we need to improve on.”

4. Spring Game Format

OSU’s spring games have taken a lot of different shapes over recent years.

Sometimes it’s one team vs. another. Other times it was more just an open practice in Boone Pickens Stadium. Then while the stadium was getting worked on, there weren’t spring games at all.

The first spring game of the Morris Era is scheduled for April 18, but Morris said they’re still kicking around ideas as to what it will look like.

“Really trying to decide what the format’s gonna be,” Morris said. “I’d like to be able to split up into two teams, I just don’t know depth-wise if we’re gonna have the ability. It’s looking right now where we’ll probably do offense vs. defense, put a bunch of situations on them and see how they respond without the coaches out there.”

5. Depth Standing Out at WR and DE

Coaches would like to hit on every player they bring into their program, but that’s probably an unrealistic aspiration.

But through these opening seven practices, it sounds like OSU is healthy at wide receiver and on the ends of the defensive line. And it sounds like some of the standouts of those groups are guys who were already in Stillwater when Morris got here.

“Younger guys, we’ve had a couple guys step up in the receiver room,” Morris said. “It’s been good to see (Matrail) Lopez out there and made some plays for us. Kam (Powell) has been and made some plays for us. A couple of the holdover guys.

“I think our defensive line, the edges right now have been really pleasantly surprising to me. It’s been tough for us to block them on the edge at tackle at times. It’s a sign of good things. The pass rush aspect of it. Coach (Greg) Richmond has done a phenomenal job with that whole group. We have some guys who were here in the past that have been injured and we’ve gotten them back. Like Jaleel (Johnson) and DeSean Brown, but having the speed on the edge — it might be the deepest room we have at the time. Defensive end in particular, moreso than the interior.”