‘Lucky to Have Him’: Why Eric Morris Kept Patrick Cobbs on Staff During North Texas Takeover

FRISCO, Texas — When Eric Morris took over at North Texas, he brought in an entirely new group of assistant coaches with one exception, UNT running backs coach Patrick Cobbs.

“I had heard great stuff about him and interviewed him,” Morris said last week at Big 12 Media Days. “Patrick’s the best running backs coach I’ve ever been with, and it’s not even close. His knowledge of the game, I think he’s gonna make a great coordinator someday and then eventually head coach.”

Selling Cobbs, a Tecumseh alum who rushed for 4,279 yards back in high school, on returning to work in his home state, was critical in securing the commitment from another in-state star as running back Caleb Hawkins made it clear he wanted to continue being coached by Cobbs.

“I fully committed to following coach (Patrick) Cobbs to Stillwater,” Hawkins said. “Because he’s the one that really gave me the chance on playing Division I football, so I feel like I owe my loyalty to him and everything he’s done for me.”

Cobbs was the only FBS coach to offer Hawkins, who finished his freshman season with an all-time freshman record for touchdowns scored (29).

Of course, Morris made the decision to retain the UNT legend long before Hawkins appeared on the scene. What did the Oklahoma State head coach see in those early days that led him to keep Cobbs around?

“I’d done enough research on him (to) figure out he understands ball and concepts and is a good coach, a good communicator, a good teacher,” Morris said. “I just really wanted to see if our personalities meshed, and during that process, there was a lot going on.

“He didn’t know if he had a job, if he didn’t have a job, this and that. You really don’t know until you get into battle with these people. I think just really growing and spending time with him, quality time, and watching him work and putting together these running back groups that he has. I’ve got the most confidence in the world in him.”

Various national media analysts, metric-driven sites like Pro Football Focus, the new video game from EA Sports and others have identified Hawkins as an even bigger deal than quarterback Drew Mestemaker.

While Hawkins is something of a proven commodity these days, Morris is trusting his running backs coach to get the most out of the sophomore and identify a capable rotation of backs that can spell him when needed.

“He understands all these concepts so well,” Morris said. “And he sees it from a holistic viewpoint, not just the run game, not just the stuff he’s involved in, but he understands the big picture of what we’re trying to accomplish. Patrick and I, because we’re so competitive, I would say our relationship wasn’t always great, and we’ve kinda grown so much closer and closer together as time goes on. I really respect the way he communicates with his players, I respect the way his players play, and so he gets a ton out of them. So, we’re lucky to have him.”