Drew Mestemaker Hasn’t Lost ‘Goofy’ Side, but the QB Is Ready to Step Up in Second Season as a Starter

STILLWATER — Quarterback Drew Mestemaker has spent the last several months holding up high expectations for both Oklahoma State and himself.

If he can deliver on even half of those, he could find himself earning a starting job in the NFL as soon as next year.

Despite all that noise, coach Eric Morris still sees the same old kid he coached at North Texas.

“I see him as a goofy young kid still,” Morris said following the first practice of fall camp. “It’s so funny to see him kind of flip the switch on game day and turn into such a fierce competitor. Because off the field, in the office, he’s a guy that’s fun-loving, jokes around.

“His voice still hasn’t dropped yet. Somebody that has a quirky little voice. Dealt with the same thing with (Patrick) Mahomes always. Always picking fun at him. (Mestemaker) grew a mustache for camp. I told him, it’s not a great mustache. But he has a fun kid’s side on the side.”

Although his character has remained the same despite the move into the Big 12, Morris does expect an even better quarterback this fall in his second year as a starter.

“Drew is so far advanced in this offense and understanding what I like as a play caller,” Morris said. “He’s anticipating things so much faster. And then, two, it’s been fun to see his creative side come out this summer. When we did some player-run practices this summer, we allowed him to script the whole practice and put his spin on some stuff. Then the receivers are sending back a play of a design Drew had that scored a touchdown and going, ‘Coach, we should probably put this in.’ There’s still a fun aspect to it and allowing his brain to continue to think because he is so sharp.”

It has been a minute since Morris had a returning quarterback. Current NFL starter Cam Ward played for him at Incarnate Word in 2021 and Washington State when Morris took the offensive coordinator job there in 2022.

Statistically, Mestemaker is easily the best of Morris’ three UNT quarterbacks. He beat the next best UNT starter under Morris by more than 600 passing yards, and his 68.9% accuracy is nearly six points better.

Now that guy gets the chance to prove he can be even better, and Morris thinks that familiarity will help him as well.

“I know what he likes, and I know what he doesn’t like,” Morris said. “We always meet on Thursdays, and the quarterback brings in the thing, and he’s gonna list out his favorite plays, and he’s gonna list out his five least favorite plays. And usually, those five least favorite plays get cut. And it doesn’t matter if I love the play as the guy calling it. If he’s not comfortable with it, there’s no reason I should try to force it. We’re so far along in that in operation, and I already know there’s certain concepts he doesn’t like, doesn’t see well, doesn’t fit his style. He always wants answers and checkdowns. So we try to get those where they’re readily available for him.”

That’s not the only change Morris has noticed this fall.

“I think really building off leadership qualities, and you saw some of that today,” Morris said. “I mean, super vocal in the huddle, super vocal when a receiver’s split wasn’t where it was supposed to be. So he’s been able to take charge and almost be a coach out there, as opposed to a receivers coach screaming across the field that we’re lined up wrong, Drew sees it like that, and he’s able to go in and address that for us.”