Name Dropping NFL QBs Proves Eric Morris Has What Oklahoma State Missed

STILLWATER — During a 25-minute sit-down with the media on Monday, Oklahoma State coach Eric Morris mentioned Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes three times, Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward three times and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield twice.

“In the summers, Mahomes will bring all the Chiefs down, and my son (Jack Morris) snaps the ball for Mahomes in the indoor and will be able to tell his kids that,” Morris said. “We went to the draft. He (Jack) was the first kid under 12 years old that was in the green room at the draft because Cam Ward wanted him sitting next to him.”

Other than one question about Ward’s recruitment, that was what the conversation looked like when media members weren’t asking him about quarterback development.

Morris can casually reference two of the NFL’s top quarterbacks and Ward, a rookie who went No. 1 overall in the 2025 NFL Draft, because he coached each of them as either an offensive coordinator or head coach.

Mahomes even praised Morris during an interview with the media in the middle of November, well before he was announced as the new head coach of Oklahoma State.

“Obviously, he can see talent,” Mahomes said. “Look at all the quarterbacks he’s been with through all the different stops he’s been in. But he gives you confidence to go out there and be yourself. … It is not surprising to me that he’s had so much success.”

“He gives you confidence to go out there, be yourself, and play the game the way you’re supposed to play, and he’ll change the offense for that.”

Patrick Mahomes on why his former Texas Tech OC — now @MeanGreenFB head coach @__CoachMorris — is one of the best at developing… pic.twitter.com/VrzclWcSub

— KC Sports Network (@KCSportsNetwork) November 12, 2025

​It might not be possible to buy a more valuable endorsement than that, outside of Lubbock at least.

All three of those NFL starters went in the first round and have combined to start in 254 regular-season games and another 26 postseason ones, including Mahomes’ five Super Bowl appearances.

To put those numbers in context, the entire league plays 272 regular-season games and 13 postseason competitions in one year.

“To watch the way Cam Ward and Patrick Mahomes and Baker Mayfield handle themselves as human beings now with so much money and to watch them be great husbands and great fathers, that makes me so proud,” Morris said in another unprompted reference. “Just knowing after being in the trenches with those guys just how they’ve developed as great men.”

For all of former OSU coach Mike Gundy’s success, recruiting and developing NFL-caliber quarterbacks wasn’t one of them.

Three of his guys, Zac Robinson, Brandon Weeden and Mason Rudolph, heard their names called in various NFL Drafts, with only Weeden earning the distinction of being a first-round pick when he went 22nd overall in 2012. Rudolph is still active, usually in a reserve role for the Steelers, but to date, Gundy’s trio has started 44 regular-season games and two postseason competitions.

Although none of those guys turned into superstars at the professional level, they were sorely missed in recent seasons.

Inconsistency has plagued Oklahoma State at the quarterback position for a number of years, but things have been especially dark during the recent two losing seasons, as six guys started at least one game in the last two years. In 13 of the program’s last 24 games, OSU’s leading passer failed to throw for even 200 yards, resulting in one victory.

To put that in perspective, 72 quarterbacks in the country averaged 200-plus passing yards per game.

In his last eight seasons, including the 2022 year as Washington State’s offensive coordinator, Morris’ leading passer finished under 200 yards only 14 times.

In those games, Morris’ record is still an impressive 7-7, though if you factor out two losses to Power Conference teams at North Texas and three losses to FBS foes while coaching Incarnate Word, then Morris quarterbacks have failed to top 200 passing yards only nine times in nearly eight complete seasons against equal or inferior competition.

It’s safe to say Oklahoma State would happily take that.