‘Everything’s Been So Peachy and Positive’: Morris Coaching Against Preseason Hype Surrounding Cowboys

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A contingent of Oklahoma State football fans has been riding the hype train since Eric Morris was named the head coach, and the train continued to fill up as he added more and more of his stars from North Texas to headline a Top 15 transfer portal class. Some talking heads are already tabbing the Cowboys as a Top 25 team and a potential playoff contender.

But inside the program, Morris wants things to be a bit more even-keel. They haven’t won anything yet.

Heading into OSU’s final weekend before the season kicks off, Morris made sure his team had some perspective.

“We actually had a team meeting a couple days ago, and that’s what we talked about and addressed,” Morris said. “Everything’s been so peachy and positive, and so many good responses, and everybody’s, like, kumbaya right now about what’s going on at Oklahoma State. And football’s such a physical game, and it all changes when somebody hits you in the mouth.”

The Cowboys get started on Sept. 5 with a trip to Tulsa and an opportunity to work out some bugs. A week later, they host No. 2 Oregon. Just the type of title contender apt to hit you in the mouth.

Even the most hyped of fans expect BPS might just be a buzzsaw in the Pokes’ home-opener. Oregon has gone 48-4 under head coach Dan Lanning, and there are more than a few experts tabbing this to be the year they final take home a national title. And that doesn’t mention a tough Big 12 schedule which includes matchups with the likes of Houston, Texas Tech and Arizona State.

In the preseason, the buzz is palpable. But the last thing Morris wants is for his guys to get too high before even stepping onto Lewis Field.

“Just a forewarning to our guys, like, ‘Hey, we’re gonna have things pop up, there’s gonna be adversity that comes in every single game, we’re gonna go into situations that don’t go our way,'” Morrisa said. “How we respond to all this stuff is gonna be key. … I’m looking forward to playing somebody else, really to figure out where we are, what we’re good at, what we can [hang] our hat on and then also as a coach, what we did poorly, what we’re gonna do poorly and how we start fixing all those problems that arise during the course of the game.”

Morris’ rise through coaching has been impressive and there’s plenty of reason to believe he can follow that trajectory at the Power Four level. But it’s hard to turn around a program in a calendar year, even by Morris’ standards.

North Texas went 5-7 in his first year, and 6-7 his second, ending with a bowl loss before the Mean Green exploded onto college football’s scene last season. At his first head coaching gig at Incarnate Word, his team went 6-5 and earned an FCS Playoffs berth but followed that up by going 5-7 and 3-3 (Covid) before hitting a 10-win season in 2021.

So while it’s easy to look at his career as a one-way meteoric rise, there have been rough patches, and there will be rough patches in Stillwater. Something Morris is used to and expects.

“It’s really easy to lead when you’re winning, and I think everybody’s having fun, and everybody’s looking at you the same way,” Morris said. “And so I think what’s really difficult and hard is to lead when things aren’t going well, and when the adversity does hit. And so I like to get in front of it.”