The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Eric Morris

Followed Seth Littrell. Eric Morris moved North Texas from Regional Program IV to Regional Program III in 3 seasons.

22–16
2023–now · 2 stints
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In his own words

Whoever practices the best this week
Being a double legacy, I’m super excited about getting to Stillwater. I grew up going to games at Boone Pickens and can’t wait to get back. I’m excited to see the turnaround that Coach Morris and staff will have this year
Akin · On3
Being a double legacy, I’m super excited about getting to Stillwater. I grew up going to games at Boone Pickens and can’t wait to get back. I’m excited to see the turnaround that Coach Morris and staff will have this year
Akin · On3
North Texas is not the same team as last year. Coach Eric Morris and the majority of the team moved on to Oklahoma State
Feazel · FOX Sports

Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Stature score reached, by season of his head-coaching careerNORTH TEXASOKLAHOMA STATENational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelNorth Texas, 2023: 5-7, Regional Program IV2023North Texas, 2024: 6-7, Regional Program IV2024North Texas, 2025: 11-2, Regional Program III2025+3.6Oklahoma State, 2026: in progress, National Program II2026+0.0One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached National Program in his 4th career season — faster than 19% of the 675 FBS coaches who have ever reached National Program (rank #505 of 675 by seasons-to-arrival).

North Texas, 3 seasons (active)
+3.6
Regional Program IV → Regional Program III.

Style position and drift

Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.

50%60%North Texas2023–2025▼ 2.6ptOklahoma State2026–2026– 0.0pt
Pass rate — share of offensive plays that were pass attemptsfirst covered seasonmost recent covered seasonfull season-to-season range (3+ covered seasons)
How much that is, against every other stint

Season-to-season pass-rate range for all 258 FBS coaching stints with at least three covered seasons, 2014–2025.

Typical stint7.010.2 median13.9middle half of all stints
North Texas11.1pt#105 of 258 · a typical amount

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

One-score games
4–7
36.4% · margin ≤8
Performance by opponent class
Power Program
1–0 100.0%
National Program
0–8 0.0%
Regional Program
6–5 54.5%

His own effect, isolated

A statistical estimate of this coach’s contribution to team performance, separated from that season’s roster talent, returning production, and his coordinators — pooled across his whole head-coaching career.

Offense marginal impact
+0.20
#84 of 319 · a typical amount
Defense marginal impact
-0.32
#298 of 325 · less than most

Model fit as of 2026-09-04.

Coaching career

2026–now
Oklahoma State
too new to grade yet

7th-best Oklahoma State tenure of 15 by the numbers.

Followed Mike Gundy (2005–2025).

Roster construction · portal era

A portal-built roster.

Portal arrivals
55
3.1★ avg rating
Portal departures
65
left via the portal
Net portal flow
-10
#1 of 187 FBS stints
Notable portal arrivals with a modeled NIL value
Drew Mestemaker On3 modeled · $3,500,000
On3’s modeled estimate (social reach / exposure), not money actually paid — shown per player, never totaled.
Who they bring in

Typical size for position, once adjusted for position mix.

A typical class-year mix of incoming transfers.

Avg. size (raw)
6′2″, 237 lbs
across 45 of 55 arrivals — unadjusted for position mix
Size vs. position-typical
+4.1 lbs
#119 of 255 · a typical amount
Avg. class year
Jr
#162 of 255 · a typical amount
Top states: TX (23), CA (4), FL (3), OK (3), MO (2)
Who won the portal our read
Talent added
59.5
position-weighted
Talent lost
55.9
position-weighted
Net
+3.6
arrivals minus departures
Best addition: Drew Mestemaker (QB) from North Texas
Biggest loss: Hauss Hejny (QB) to Colorado State
Position-value-weighted (QB/CB weighted highest, depth-decayed within each position) — the same scoring engine as the Portal Heat feed, not a separate grade.
Where the roster comes from, by position
Buys Linebacker via the portal
100%
#1 of 225 stints
Buys Tight end via the portal
100%
#1 of 188 stints
0–0
2023–now
North Texascaretaker🏆 coach of the year
Regional Program IV → Regional Program III
Eric Morris moved North Texas from Regional Program IV to Regional Program III in 3 seasons.

8th-best North Texas tenure of 16 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Outperforms his recruiting talent on offense and underperforms his recruiting talent on defense.

Offense vs. talent
+32.9 pts
#12 of 208 · more than most
Defense vs. talent
-27.7 pts
#194 of 208 · less than most
Recruiting talent is team-wide (no offense/defense split exists in the source data) -- both sides are scored against the same talent input, only the outcome is side-specific.

Followed Seth Littrell (2016–2022).

Season202320242025Trend
Record & result
Record5–76–71–0
PostseasonL bowlW bowl
Recruiting rank#98#70#112
Style — pass rate
Pass rate50.859.348.2
Coordinators
OCJordan DavisJordan DavisJordan Davis
DCMatt CaponiMatt CaponiSkyler Cassity
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense755999
Defense12626
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only)
1st-down pass%50.858.145.1
Red-zone pass%50.851.945.3
4th-down go%opp. territory60.458.561.3
Roster construction · portal era

A portal-built roster.

Portal arrivals
69
3.0★ avg rating
Portal departures
100
left via the portal
Net portal flow
-31
#31 of 187 FBS stints
Who they bring in

Brings in smaller-than-position-typical players than most.

A typical class-year mix of incoming transfers.

Avg. size (raw)
6′1″, 231 lbs
across 56 of 69 arrivals — unadjusted for position mix
Size vs. position-typical
-2.4 lbs
#244 of 255 · less than most
Avg. class year
Jr
#159 of 255 · a typical amount
Top states: TX (28), CA (4), LA (4), MI (3), MS (3)
Who won the portal our read
Talent added
53.7
position-weighted
Talent lost
57.4
position-weighted
Net
-3.7
arrivals minus departures
Best addition: Chandler Morris (QB) from TCU
Biggest loss: Chandler Rogers (QB) to California
Position-value-weighted (QB/CB weighted highest, depth-decayed within each position) — the same scoring engine as the Portal Heat feed, not a separate grade.
Roster size, by position
Skill positions · usage-weighted (real participation)
Quarterback
203 lbs
6′1″ avg · #635 of 767 · less than most
Running back
204 lbs
5′11″ avg · #509 of 791 · a typical amount
Wide receiver
187 lbs
5′11″ avg · #650 of 791 · less than most
Tight end
235 lbs
6′4″ avg · #667 of 731 · less than most
Trench & secondary · recruited roster, not confirmed starters
Interior line
301 lbs
6′4″ avg · #667 of 779 · less than most
D-line
272 lbs
6′2″ avg · #628 of 753 · less than most
Linebacker
228 lbs
6′1″ avg · #389 of 772 · a typical amount
Cornerback
183 lbs
5′11″ avg · #693 of 771 · less than most
Safety
194 lbs
6′0″ avg · #244 of 346 · a typical amount
Offensive-line size is one undifferentiated bucket — the source data almost never distinguishes tackle from guard from center, so we can't split them out.
Where the roster comes from, by position
Buys Edge via the portal
86%
#7 of 208 stints
Buys Safety via the portal
71%
#21 of 218 stints
Postseason detail2024: Lost to Texas State 28–30 SERVPRO First Responder Bowl2025: Beat San Diego State 49–47 Isleta New Mexico Bowl

Coach of the Year: AAC Coach of the Year (2025)

22–16
How to read this. Bands and archetypes come from the Zeitgeist List’s season-by-season stature model, and only apply once a stint clears 3 coached seasons in our ledger — a newer stint shows its real record with no stature judgment yet.