Oklahoma State football had been in a familiar spot for years, but it’s now entering uncharted territory.

Over the past few months, OSU football has undergone some massive changes. With Eric Morris coming in as Mike Gundy’s successor and significant changes to the rest of the coaching staff and the roster, OSU is almost unrecognizable from where it was just a year ago.

Of course, change can be difficult at times, but it becomes much easier when the changes come after winning four games in a two-season span. Still, OSU football is simply in uncharted territory, well beyond the simple aspect of having a new coach and roster.

While the significant year-to-year roster changes are more of a product of the current transfer portal era of college football than anything else, OSU is no stranger to the coaching change side of things, even if it’s been quite some time since the last time. Of course, that last time came in 2005 when Gundy took over for Les Miles, who departed for LSU. 

While the Cowboys have brought in plenty of new head coaches throughout their long history, Morris will be the first coach walking into this version of the program. Before Gundy’s two decades of success and national relevancy in Stillwater, OSU was far from the program it is now.

Morris is the only coach in school history to have expectations based upon not only his body of work, but the standards of the program as well. Gundy transformed the OSU program and made it a national contender for many years, but it was time to move on as both sides outgrew each other.

Now, Morris gets to step into the spotlight and try to continue the golden era of Cowboy football, even if it took a couple of steps back in 2024 and 2025. There’s no doubt that Morris is a coach ready to take on the challenge of bringing OSU back into the Big 12 title picture, and some signs even point to him being able to do that in his first season.

While there is plenty of cliches in the sports world, “pressure is a privilege” is one of the most used by coaches and players, and for good reason. The Cowboys have some pressure to get back to the highest level of competition in the Big 12, and Morris is the first coach in OSU history to see that type of pressure. Of course, that’s because every other coach was tasked with trying to get to that level for the first time in OSU history.