Morris Plans on Prioritizing High School QB Development Over Portal Reliance

STILLWATER — If Eric Morris had his way, the Cowboys won’t be going to the portal to get quarterbacks too often.

That’s a bit of a zig while others are zagging. The College Football Playoff semifinals included four quarterbacks who weren’t at their initial school. But with Morris’ well-documented track record of identifying and developing talent at that position, it’s hard to put up much of an argument with what he thinks makes a good QB. He said he’d prefer to keep it the old-fashioned way — developing high schoolers.

“I think now every year is different,” Morris said. “You never know what’s going to happen. Even with Drew (Mestemaker). I mean, Drew has a great year and comes out the NFL next year, then all of a sudden, you’re in a different market than what you thought you’re going to. So, I think you have to be flexible in this day and age, just with the volatility of where football is right now.

“But yeah, we’re focusing hard on getting us a high school kid in here to develop. We got Brodie (Vehrs) this year. I think Brodie’s really shown some promise for a young guy. We’ll always try to find the best high school guy and get him in here. And then obviously the retention piece of it’s the next piece.”

Drew Mestemaker has, justly, garnered all the Cowboys’ quarterback headlines this offseason, but he’s one of four guys in OSU offensive coordinator/QB coach Sean Brophy has in his room.

Morris mentioned Vehrs, one of two freshmen in the room.

Vehrs had been committed to Morris and Brophy at North Texas before a nerve-enducing Thanksgiving weekend saw him sign with the Cowboys.

Listed at 5-foot-11, 205 pounds, Vehrs was a three-star prospect who threw for more than 1,500 yards and had 18 touchdowns to three interceptions before an injury ended his high school career. As a high school junior, Vehrs completed 71% of his passes for nearly 3,000 yards and 27 TDs to two INTs.

“Brodie is somebody we had a longstanding relationship with, was committed to us at North Texas and is a really confident, confident quarterback,” Brophy said. “Is a super smooth thrower of the football, has won a lot of games in high school, comes from a great program at Basha (AZ). You can see his confidence just oozing out of him on the field.”

With an unquestioned starter already in place, it had to be tough to find an experienced passer to put behind Mestemaker, but Brophy and Co. found that in UMass transfer Grant Jordan.

A 6-foot-2, 217-pound redshirt senior, Jordan was Yale’s starter in 2024, where he earned All-Ivy honorable mention honors by throwing for 1,938 yards and 22 touchdowns while completing 66% of his passes. He also had 360 yards on the ground to go with five touchdowns.

He spent 2025 at UMass, where he played in seven games (two starts) where he threw for 595 yards and a pair of scores with 73 rushing yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

“Grant has played a lot of football, and he’s a smart guy,” Brophy said. “They don’t just let anybody graduate from Yale. Being the starting quarterback at Yale is a big deal. They put a lot on his plate mentally, and then I think physically he’s got a really nice skillset. He’s someone that’s athletic and that can move the pocket and can do some things with his legs. He’s a well-built kid. He’s got plenty of arm talent, plenty of arm strength, is an accurate passer of the football, and then his character, too.

“Came with good reviews from his coaches from Yale. Was in an interesting situation last year at UMass, and didn’t have a great experience there and was just looking for a fresh start. So the opportunity to come in here, what he felt like with this staff and this room to grow and develop as a quarterback, regardless of Drew being here, felt like the right fit for him being here for his last year.”

Luke Tepas, listed at 6-3, 207 from Illinois, is the other freshman on the roster.

Tepas had more high school quarterback experience than Mestemaker, but not by a ton. He wasn’t the full-time starter at Barrington High (IL) until his senior season, where he threw for 2,254 yards and 24 touchdowns while running for 313 yards and three more scores.

“Luke is somebody that just hasn’t played a ton of football,” Brophy said. “He’s big and 6-3 and can throw it really well, but is just super green. And once he’s able to fully put it together, that’s the hard part for me because I can see what he can become, obviously, and we’re trying to pull it out of him. But he’s doing a really nice job so far, too, and somebody that has an unbelievably high ceiling with what we think he can do and what we think he can become.”

Vehrs and Tepas had their first official college practices on Monday. Brophy noted that Mestemaker is mentoring the young crop, and he gave a shoutout to senior offensive assistant Kevin Kilmer, who had been an OC and QB coach at Angelo State, as a guy who will help in their development. But with Morris acting as the coach and playcaller, Brophy said that frees him up to do more of what he enjoys: coaching quarterbacks.

“I’m young, I’m 29,” Brophy said. “This is Coach Morris’ show. He’s gonna call plays, and I love coaching quarterbacks. That’s the best part of my job. So, I’m extremely hands-on with those guys. I’m gonna be in each of those meetings, obviously, running (individual drills), doing all those things with them, and Drew does a great job with them, Coach Kilmer does too, but I thought it showed a little bit today that this was their first college football practice. They were a little bit starry eyed, but both have a ton of potential.”