Eric Morris Reboots Oklahoma State With a North Texas Airlift
Oklahoma State bottomed out in 2025, finishing 1-11 and 0-9 in the Big 12 after firing Mike Gundy three games into the season and scratching together just 14.2 points per game. The rebuild belongs to new head coach Eric Morris, who arrives from North Texas with his coordinators, roughly 18 players from Denton and one of the most aggressive transfer classes in the country. Morris built quarterback Drew Mestemaker from scratch at his last stop, and reuniting that offense in Stillwater is the whole plan.
Offense
Everything runs through Drew Mestemaker, who led the nation in passing yards last season with 4,379 to go with 34 touchdowns and just nine interceptions while completing nearly 69 percent of his throws. He did it as a redshirt freshman, a former Vandegrift High walk-on out of Austin who took the Burlsworth Trophy as the best player in the country who began his career as a walk-on, and he earned first-team all-conference honors. He is a proven commodity operating in Morris' system and gives the Cowboys the most settled quarterback situation they have had in years. Grant Jordan, who has started at both North Texas and Massachusetts, backs him up.
Mestemaker's favorite target follows him east. Wyatt Young caught 1,264 yards worth of passes at 18.1 per grab last season and made first-team all-conference, and the built-in chemistry makes him the go-to man from day one. Chris Barnes arrives from Wake Forest and announced himself with a 98-yard score in the spring game, adding a big-play element after posting 547 yards and forcing missed tackles as a slot threat. Miles Coleman is another North Texas import who already knows the offense, Justin Bowick brings a four-star pedigree from Illinois, and Rodney Harris II adds production from Ohio. This is the deepest, most talented receiver room the program has fielded in a long time. At tight end, Donovan Green transfers in as a reliable target.
Caleb Hawkins gives the backfield a physical hammer to complement the passing game. He ran for 1,434 yards at better than six yards a carry and set an FBS freshman record for touchdowns at North Texas, and he steps in as the clear lead back. Tre Page III arrives after topping 800 yards at Tarleton State, Ayo Adeyi adds veteran depth, and freshman KD Jones headlines the recruiting class. The room combines for one of the more productive collections of transfer rushing yardage in the league.
Every projected starter up front is a portal addition, so the group is talented but has zero reps together in meaningful action. Jacob Sexton anchors the unit after starting at multiple spots for Oklahoma, Tyler Mercer comes from Kansas to play center, Joseph Hanson arrives from Coastal Carolina, Johnny Dickson III brings all-conference reps from North Texas, and Ashton Lepo adds experience from Michigan State. The talent is there; developing cohesion in a hurry to protect Mestemaker is the assignment.
Defense
New coordinator Skyler Cassity, at 32 one of the youngest in the country, favors multiple fronts and frequently deploys five defensive backs. He added roughly ten linemen through the portal, so the front is deep but unproven. Jaleel Johnson is the rare holdover, a returning end who slots in as a projected starter and provides continuity on a line that will be tested early. James Williams joins him off the edge after producing at Florida State, while Saadiq Clements arrives inside from North Texas and Jerry Lawson brings size from Louisville. The interior still needs to prove it can stuff the run.
The linebacking corps is the defense's most reassuring layer. Ethan Wesloski immediately upgrades the group after leading North Texas with 113 tackles and nine stops behind the line, and Isaiah Chisom joins him as an immediate contributor following an 84-tackle season and ten starts at UCLA. Tate Romney adds experience from Arizona State and Trip White brings depth from Ole Miss, giving Cassity a proven top rotation while he develops bodies behind it.
The secondary is the most proven unit on the roster and the one holdover story worth telling. Cornerback LaDainian Fields is one of the program's brightest returners, a legitimate lockdown piece to build around after grading as the team's best defender in 2025. Mo Horn provides experienced depth from Texas Tech, Quinton Hammonds and Evan Jackson bring safety production over from North Texas, and Christian Bodnar arrives as a nickel from Liberty. True freshman Braeden Presley, a headline signee, adds to the depth in the back end.
Morris overhauled the specialists. Placekicker Sam Keltner comes from SMU, where he hit 14 of 20 field goals as a redshirt freshman, and will be asked to sharpen his consistency. Australian punter Lachie Pozzobon arrives from FCS Stephen F. Austin after an all-American freshman season, averaging 41.8 yards with a strong net and a knack for pinning opponents deep. Barnes profiles as the biggest threat in the return game.
Overview and Prediction
The schedule opens September 5 at Tulsa before Oklahoma State hosts Oregon, an early measuring stick against a College Football Playoff contender before conference play begins. From there the slate runs through Murray State, at West Virginia, UCF, at Houston, Colorado, at Iowa State, at Kansas State, Texas Tech, at Arizona State and a finale against Kansas, a manageable draw that rates near the middle of the league in difficulty.
The Cowboys carry 19 straight Big 12 losses into the year, so the bar for improvement is on the floor. The consensus pegs them anywhere from sixth to eighth in the conference and somewhere in the national ranking picture, with the projection tools flagging Oklahoma State as one of the most improved teams in the country and a real threat to reach a bowl. The offense should at least double last year's output given the talent Morris imported. The verdict is straightforward: with Mestemaker triggering a loaded skill group, the points will come. The make-or-break sits with a brand-new offensive line finding chemistry fast and a portal-built defense jelling before the schedule turns, but the arrow points sharply up.