Eric Morris Describes How Oklahoma State, UCLA and Kentucky Are Having Success Under First-Year Coaches

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STILLWATER ​— Six weeks into the regular season only 40 programs in the country have one loss or fewer.

At least three teams will leave that club this weekend as the two SEC matchups and No. 18 Oklahoma State’s trip to No. 20 Houston pit one-loss teams against each other.

“I think obviously we both positioned ourselves right now to play in a really meaningful game early in the season,” OSU coach Eric Morris said. “I told the team today this is where we want to be. These are the games that you dream about playing in and playing on the road against another Top 25 team and to be able to go play in these atmospheres and on national TV and all the things that come along with it.”

The winner of Saturday’s game will join No. 8 BYU, No. 10 Texas Tech and No. 11 Utah as the midway favorites for the Big 12 Championship game. The winner could also be in line to finally move up the rankings a bit bolstered both by the win itself and the fact that several teams ranked between 11-17 find themselves as slight favorites or even underdogs this weekend.

Of those 40 one-loss or better teams, 30 are at the Power Four level. Five of those are coached by guys like Morris who are in their first year at a new school.

Morris was asked specifically about two of those other first-year coaches in charge of No. 12 UCLA (5-0, 3-0 Big Ten) and No. 15 Kentucky (5-1, 3-1 SEC).

“Yeah I mean culturally it just has to be done so fast,” said Morris explaining what it takes to have year one success other than rebuilding a roster. “All those processes, building relationships, are expedited. If you did a poll within those teams of Kentucky and UCLA, I would think that they’d have a ton of respect for those coaches and the energy and the passion they bring every single day.

“I think both of those squads have really good quarterbacks. I think Nico (Iamaleava)’s a great quarterback that you can do a ton with. Kentucky did a great job bringing in (Kenny) Minchey, I think is the kid’s name, who’s played phenomenal this year. A ton of respect for those guys.”

When Morris spoke to the press in the early days of the offseason he spent a ton of time talking about relationship building both with and within his team and culture. So it’s not surprising to hear Morris guess that those other programs have built their success around a belief in the coaching staff and good quarterback play.

Although where Kentucky coach Will Stein is concerned, Morris’ observations might not be a total shot in the dark.

“I’ve known Will for a long time,” Morris said. “I don’t know Bob (Chesney), but obviously a lot of admiration from afar of what he’s been able to do. Will’s been a friend. I met him when he was a coordinator here in Austin, Texas, high school level (at Lake Travis in 2018-19). Moved on to UTSA (as pass-game coordinator), did phenomenal things at UTSA, then (offensive coordinator at) Oregon. It’s been fun to watch those guys kind of progress and come from lower ranks. I think you learn so much, I know I did as a coach, without having resourcing and how to solve problems in different ways, right, when you don’t have resources. Those guys aren’t guys that are gonna make excuses. They just find ways to win games.”