Morris Describes Watching Mestemaker Grow from High-Upside Walk-On into Nation’s Leading Passer

STILLWATER — When quarterback Drew Mestemaker arrived in Denton, Texas, Eric Morris found himself staring down a quarterback who had been told “no” a lot.

​Mestemaker was infamously never given the starting job in high school, and he was hard-pressed to even get a last-minute walk-on opportunity at North Texas.

“I think there was more frustration,” Morris said, describing Mestemaker’s mindset back in those days. “But then too, getting the opportunity at that level, like he was just so happy to be in the conversation and be in the room and thankful at that point.”

Of course, Mestemaker earned his place at UNT in large part because he made a great first impression on Morris.

“Just super polished as a passer,” Morris said. “You know, there was zero wasted movement in his throwing motion, which is something we look for. … Drew was as good as anybody I’d seen, just as far as some of those mechanics were.”

At this point during Saturday’s press conference, Morris sidetracked a bit while praising QB1 and revealed a little bit of his process for recruiting and developing quarterbacks. He didn’t elaborate on specific mechanics, but Morris did say Mestemaker checked a lot of boxes on the “little things, detail-wise” that he looks for when recruiting quarterbacks.

High praise given Morris’ track record with quarterbacks, and it was the second or third time since December that the Cowboys’ head coach has stopped just short of suggesting he prioritizes different things than most of his peers when evaluating high school quarterbacks.

“When they get to this level, these kids have thrown so many footballs,” Morris said. “We really don’t try to tweak their upper body mechanics. You know, we’ll try to speed some things up, make them faster, but really think we can really fine-tune some things in the lower half and how that works together.”

Numerous times, Mestemaker has insisted he never lost faith that his football journey would lead him to a starting gig in college and eventually the NFL. Although even he can appreciate how that must sound to everyone else.

“Some people probably called me crazy for thinking that,” Mestemaker said in February. “But I think that’s kind of the mentality you have to have. … I’m forever grateful for Coach Morris for taking a chance on me.”

Although he never gave up, Morris said the version of Mestemaker that first stepped foot on UNT’s campus needed the kind of confidence boost that only comes through experience on the football field.

“I think he was a little gun-shy at that point,” Morris said. “I mean, I think you know, obviously, you gain confidence by going out there and proving yourself on Saturdays.

“Now, that was something I saw grow throughout camp, and we got into scrimmages. You could really see, as he started learning, gaining more confidence by the time that last scrimmage comes and he knew he was battling for the number two position. That was probably the first time you’re like, okay, like this kid’s got some fight in him.”​

That fight eventually put Mestemaker in the driver’s seat to become UNT’s starting quarterback in 2025, which allowed him to finish first nationally in passing yards (4,379), second in passing touchdowns (34) and 14th in completion percentage (68.9%).

Morris knew Mestemaker had the physical tools immediately, but the coach didn’t realize how smart he was until a couple of weeks or more had passed.

“How well he retained information,” Morris said, describing the mental traits that set Mestemaker apart. “How well he processed when the bullets were flying, when things were moving in front of him. And so that’s been the fun part for me.”

Morris added that he’s excited to be working with a quarterback for a third season. Mestemaker only started one game as a freshman in 2024, a 30-28 loss to Texas State that saw him finish 24-of-41 for 393 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also rushed nine times for 55 yards and a touchdown.

He only played a reserve role in four other games that season, but his entire college career has been in the Morris offense.

“I haven’t had the opportunity to coach a third-year quarterback in a really, really long time,” Morris said Saturday. “And so I think just the familiarity of it. Yesterday after practice, I was watching Tulsa, and Drew came in and sat down, and we sat there for 45 minutes, being able to talk through things.

“And he’s starting to see things like we are, and asking questions, ‘Hey, coach, what do you think about this? You know, if we motion this guy here, how are they going to trade it off?’ And so, just the wheels are always spinning. Really high football IQ, and so it’s been fun to see that (growth) happen in real time.”