‘It Gives Hope to Everybody’: Morris Reflects on What Cignetti’s Success at Indiana Means for OSU

STILLWATER — Oklahoma State spent the last two seasons wandering the college football wilderness, searching in vain for a conference win.

“I had breakfast with Luke Webb yesterday, and he’s been here for two years,” Eric Morris said. “He’s a redshirt freshman. … Like, this is a kid that’s been here and loves his place, and he’s never won a conference game. Like that’s personal to me now.”

There are two silver linings that Morris, Webb and all Oklahoma State fans can hold onto this offseason. First, the Cowboys have the No. 7 transfer class according to 247Sports.

Second, Indiana, a program that until recently was literally the biggest loser in the history of the sport, which also lacked a single 10-win season, is the reigning national champion.

“I think for college football fans across America, it gives hope to everybody,” Morris said of the Hoosiers’ championship.

For 23 years, it was virtually impossible to win a national championship for most of the country. From 2006-24, Morris referenced the dominance displayed by Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia, Clemson and LSU. Those teams combined to win 18 national championships in a 23-year span, and they lost that game another 10 times.

That means those teams took up 57% of the national title spots during a more-than-two-decade run. While others mixed in throughout that stretch, none came so clearly out of nowhere as Curt Cignetti’s Hoosier program, which went 3-9 in 2023 before his arrival.

Since then, Indiana has gone 27-2 with back-to-back playoff appearances.

“The parity that it has made in college football,” Morris said. “The revenue share has made these recruits go to so many different places than they did in the past. … Now it has allowed it (national championships) to spread out, you know, all across the nation. And I think it’s exciting for coaches, and exciting that someone’s now done it.

“And there’s a blueprint to do it now. Is it easy? Hell no.”

Even though he understandably doesn’t seem keen on inviting the comparisons, there’s no question Morris is on the Cignetti path, at least when it comes to transfer portal recruiting. Cignetti’s 13 JMU transfers got a lot of credit for helping their coach spark the quick turnaround.

Morris brought 18 guys with him directly from North Texas, not to mention the other three who took alternate paths from Denton, Texas, to Stillwater.

“Indiana being able to do it this year, I think, put a bunch of people on watch,” Morris said. “And now, do I think we were going to be able to go in all of a sudden now because Indiana did it? No, absolutely not. Like Curt Cignetti deserves so much credit not only for the roster he built, but just the brand of football that they played.”

One thing Morris didn’t shy away from discussing was Cignetti’s ability to replicate a winning culture at both JMU and Indiana using the same players and how he can port over what he developed at North Texas.

Morris already guided last year’s first overall pick in the NFL Draft through the FCS to FBS jump when Cam Ward followed him from Incarnate Word to Washington State in 2022. Morris said he had no reservations about Ward at the time.

On Wednesday, the Cowboys coach spoke confidently of quarterback Drew Mestemaker’s ability to handle the jump to the power conference level with similar success.

“When you bring players with you at times,” Morris said. “I think obviously when you’ve been around enough ball and you’ve been at different levels, you know the guys and the caliber of athletes that come in and they can produce at that level, (and) at the next level.”