Eric Morris Discusses Drew Mestemaker’s Super Power, What Is Possible the Cowboys’ QB in 2026

STILLWATER — Drew Mestemaker was always going to be the foundation of Eric Morris’ first year, but the starting quarterback doesn’t have to wait for week one or even the first spring practice to make a difference.

“This Saturday, he’s going to take them all out, and he’s going to do day one, two and three installs,” Morris said on Wednesday. “Like, coaches can’t be there. Drew’s like a coach on the field, right. I mean, he can explain all this stuff and allow us to practice in times where coaches really aren’t allowed to be out there.”

Morris said the Cowboys plan to open spring practice either on or March 9th in the days that follow. Meaning Mestemaker’s arrival in Stillwater gives the players a month’s head start that would be tougher, if not impossible, without him.

Keeping a starting quarterback paired up with their playcaller, in this case Morris, feels like an exceedingly rare occurrence these days in college football. It’s certainly a strength for any program in that position, and it might be especially beneficial for a coach building a program from the ground up in their first year.

“It’s huge,” Morris said. “And as we get into spring ball and really start installing everything, his knowledge of the system is going to help the whole entire offense. … He’s the one that verbally communicates everything. He does all the hand signals. And so his knowledge is going to help bring along not only the other quarterbacks that are learning, but the running back that’s standing right beside him, the offensive line making sure they’re getting the right calls, the receivers that are getting the nonverbal cues from Drew so, yeah. I mean, I think it’ll allow us to operate on such a faster pace early on in the spring.”

Morris and Mestemaker are hoping to pick up where they left off last season, when North Texas led the nation, averaging 512 yards per game, thanks in large part to Mestemaker’s nation-leading 4,397 passing yards.

On3 ranked Mestemaker as the No. 2 quarterback and the No. 7 overall prospect in the portal, while 247Sports ranked him third at his position and overall.

On Thursday, at the coach’s first press conference since the transfer portal opened, Morris was asked about the negotiations with his quarterback, who was very likely in high demand this offseason.

“Trust is one of the most important things that you’ll ever have in a football program,” Morris said. “And I think you need trust. … And I think it takes time to build trust.”

Some lucky Cowboy fans got their first chance to meet the new quarterback in town on Sunday when Oklahoma State, as Morris so eloquently put it, “beat the dog out of Iowa State” in wrestling. Morris added that he thought it was cool getting to see his quarterback lead the Cowboys into Gallagher-Iba Arena ahead of the dual.

This will be Mestemaker’s first offseason as the guy on campus. He officially threw his hat into the ring after throwing for 393 yards and two touchdowns to go along with 55 rushing yards and an additional score in North Texas’ bowl game following the 2024 season.

This will be Morris’ first time with a returning starter since first-overall pick Cam Ward followed him from Incarnate Word to Washington State in 2022.

Morris said he sees similarities with what Ward did and the challenges that lie ahead for Mestemaker.

“I think the game is going to be faster,” Morris said. “I think obviously us being able to practice against, you know, our defense is going to be a huge advantage for us during the course of spring ball. But, you know, I thought Cam adapted really fast and was able to, you know, obviously, there’s going to be some bumps and bruises along the way.”

Morris referenced a game against what he imagines will be “top three or four” team in Oregon traveling to Stillwater during Week 2 as one of the reasons his quarterback will have to adjust quickly.

Ward’s passing touchdown numbers took a huge hit, dropping from 47 to 23. Otherwise, his stats mostly remained the same, with completion percentage dropping by less than 1%.

Considering Mestemaker completed 68.9% of his passes, better than all but 13 quarterbacks last season, it probably shouldn’t be a surprise that Morris remains so confident that his QB1 can follow a similar path of success to Ward.

“Drew, I think his superpower is anticipation and how fast he processes information on the field,” Morris said. “And so having all these game reps underneath him and then just understanding, hey, it’s going to happen even a little bit faster at this next level is something I think he’ll be able to adapt to pretty fast.”