The North Texas Mean Green has never enjoyed such a unique season. They set single-game and season attendance records for the show, with Denton, Texas, showing up in droves to watch the special spectacle brewing in the sky. North Texas defeated Temple 52-25 on Friday night to reach 11 wins in its first-ever season — the kind of win that has become so commonplace that it’s almost taken for granted for the nation’s No. 1 offense.
But the uniqueness of this season takes on a completely different form on Tuesday, Nov. 24, just three days before North Texas’ all-important regular-season home finale against Temple. Head coach Eric Morris has officially accepted the vacancy at Oklahoma State, effectively ending his three-year tenure in Denton. However, unlike most coaches who change jobs before the end of the year, Morris is determined to finish what he started, and he will remain as North Texas’ head coach through the end of the season — an unusual situation that hasn’t been seen in college football since Scott Frost coached Central Florida in the Peach Bowl, even though he was on Nebraska’s payroll.
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Morris elaborated on why he wants to be official at Oklahoma State now, objecting to letting rumors lurk in the coming weeks.
“Get it off our backs,” Morris said. “I don’t want to coach someone who believes in my game or my players and they don’t know what’s going on. Whether that’s right, wrong or irrelevant, I don’t know. You can attack me if you want, don’t attack our players because they did a great job trying to stop it and keep each other loyal.”
Morris’ first step as North Texas/Oklahoma State co-head coach was to beat Temple. Rather than letting the obvious distractions take over, North Texas took care of business. The Mean Green scored 50 points for their seventh game of the season and essentially clinched the win at halftime.
“First of all, I’m very proud of our kids,” Morris said. “It’s a players’ game – always has been, always will be. Obviously, there were a lot of distractions this week, really, starting with me. I’m not ignorant enough to not realize it. We’ve had a lot of distractions throughout the year, and for our coaches to continue to keep these kids focused in these moments and make history for this program, this team has been awesome. Our kids had a goal today and we went out and performed at a high level. Our secret to success today proved to be true.”
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Fans noticed an Easter egg during Morris’ press conference the day he accepted the job, as he was without North Texas gear for the first time all year. But even with the official move, the 40-year-old soon-to-be former head coach is putting the orange and black on the shelf for now, switching into a black and green North Texas hoodie paired with a white, neutral green visor.
“When this happened, I told (athletic director) Jared Mosley that I’m very committed to this team and continuing to fight for the playoffs,” Morris said. “There’s a lot of games to play next week. As long as we prepare and get this team ready to face a really good Tulane team, my commitment doesn’t change. We’re going to keep winning and see what happens. Hopefully it’s not a bowl game. Hopefully we make the College Football Playoff and this team has a few more chances.”
Morris understands the frustration or backlash fans may feel about taking another job, especially in the middle of one of the greatest seasons in North Texas history. While looking back on his time in Denton, he left a message for the Mean Green faithful, thanking them for their support that allowed North Texas to build to its current level.
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“I get it,” Morris said. “To our fans, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting me and supporting this team. The fans we have at home are amazing. It just goes to show what a football program can do for a community from the top down. You see our president and athletic director believe we can build here… I was sitting in my office before this game and looking at DATCU Stadium was hard for me because these people mean so much to me and Denton means so much to me and I’m forever grateful and forever grateful for every experience I’ve had here.”
He did have one major regret that haunted him throughout this process. Rather than delivering the news at a team meeting, North Texas players learned of Morris’ transfer to Oklahoma State via social media rather than directly from the source.
“I’ve always believed in transparency,” Morris said. “This is how I grew up. This is how my father taught me. This is what my grandfather taught me. I preach this all the time in these meetings, this is how you tell the truth and create something special. For me, I thought I would be a hypocrite, and unfortunately, as it turns out, we had a meeting on Tuesday afternoon There was a team meeting and it was posted on the internet before. I apologized. I apologized to the team that they didn’t hear that from me and it’s something I have to live with for the rest of my life and I think they handled it brilliantly but it’s never fun to find out about it on your phone.”
As for why he committed to Oklahoma State, the former Texas Tech wide receiver cited his Big 12 roots and the atmosphere in Stillwater, which was accustomed to successful 18-win seasons under Mike Gundy from 2006-23.
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“I grew up in the Big 12,” Morris said. “I was able to watch Coach Gundy build that thing, and I went there a lot. The atmosphere there was electric. I don’t think I’ve ever won a game there as a player or as a coach. That’s what makes it fun for me.”
But Morris remains North Texas’ head coach through the remainder of the 2025 season. His Mean Green faced Tulane on Friday night with a win that essentially guaranteed a spot in the College Football Playoff — an achievement that would have seemed unthinkable in North Texas a year ago.
“I always try to get myself out of situations because it’s about the kids,” Morris said. “I played college football myself and competed with my brothers. To me, I love football, I love game planning, I love all of those things, so just working with the work we’ve done all year long, game planning this week feels like it’s been all year long. It’s exciting for me, but now we’ve earned the right to play next week.”
