Can 21 Former North Texas Players and 10 Coaches Jumpstart Oklahoma State’s Offseason?

STILLWATER — When Oklahoma State is discussed this offseason, the b-roll footage should have an overwhelming green hue as most analysts will likely, and rightfully, discuss the players and schemes that powered North Texas to the doorstep of the College Football Playoff.

But in only his second appearance as the Oklahoma State coach, Eric Morris made it clear he’s done looking back.

“This is not North Texas, and this is the last time I’m gonna talk, actually, about North Texas,” Morris said. “Just because this is all about 2026, the Oklahoma State Cowboy football team. Our identity is starting to be built right now. Nothing that we’ve done in the past is going to translate to us winning games in the Big 12.”

The first step in forging that new identity started when Morris addressed the 2026 Oklahoma State team for the first time.

“All 21 of the North Texas people were sitting on one side, and then we had everybody else over here,” Morris said. “Before I even started getting into anything, I made everybody stand up, and everybody had to sit by somebody that they didn’t know in this room.”

That was an easy task for most, considering 61 players on the 106-man roster didn’t play for North Texas or Oklahoma State (which returned 25 players to edge out UNT) last season.

“We have to continue to build what this room’s identity is gonna be this year, and they’re (the 21 from UNT) gonna be a big part of it,” Morris said. “And they’re gonna help bring it all together. But no time will this ever be us vs. them. It’s all about this group individually coming together as a unit starting now.”

Players are just the beginning of what Morris brought from North Texas. Ten of the 12 position coaches worked at UNT last season. The only new additions are wide receivers coach Nick Edwards (Wake Forest) and Mike O’Guin, who appears to be one of two assistant defensive line coaches working under former Cowboy Greg Richmond.

“I always think continuity in this sport is huge,” Morris said. “It was really important for me to be able to bring the coaching staff over, and you pick up where you left off. The biggest challenge for the coaching staff now, and something that I’ve harped with those guys, is we can’t assume. We have to start with a blank slate and assume no one in your meeting room knows anything.”

But the reality is, 21 of those guys have heard most of this before. That can be a strength for the Cowboys. Morris is leaning on quarterback Drew Mestemaker to begin the install process well ahead of spring practice.

Morris said all of those guys can almost be like coaches this spring as every coach, player and support staffer attempts to jumpstart his system in Stillwater.

“So all guys that are familiar with what we do, not only schematically but how we run the program, the standards that we have, the communication styles, what’s expected in the offseason,” Morris said. “We run, really, a tough program in the offseason, and we want things to be extremely hard for them. I think any time you have guys that have already bought into that culture, and you have an extra 21 people that ultimately know the way that we think, the way that we operate. Then obviously they’ve had success in this system.

“I think the confidence that they’re gonna bring as we get into the installs and we learn how to communicate with one another, and we learn how to build relationships.”