A new era of Oklahoma State football is officially underway.
New head coach Eric Morris and the Cowboys held their first spring practice Monday afternoon at the Sherman E. Smith Training Center with a total of 81 new players. It was typical Day 1 stuff, but it didn’t play out like many might have predicted a practice with offensive guru Morris to go.
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Morris said the defense “got after” the offense for much of the day, on an afternoon with sunny skies but winds approaching 20 mph.
“I didn’t think we adjusted very well to that,” Morris said. “Threw a bunch of balls over the receivers’ heads today. Had some guys open, but the wideouts did a nice job. But at quarterback, I thought we were pretty sporadic. Some of these guys that haven’t been here yet, kinda the first day trying to do too much, not settling into the system. So, to be honest with you, pretty poor on offense today, and I thought the defense had a nice day to start.”
That’s not easy for an offensive guy like Morris to admit, but he said he’s learned how to deal with it and understand that’s a good sign for the new defense under defensive coordinator Skyler Cassity.
On offense, Morris said there weren’t presnap issues, just more of a lack of execution on their first day not inside with controlled environments. It was the first day of practice in a new system with a new group, though, so he’s confident they can build off of Monday.
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“And that’s why we’re here. That’s why we’re doing spring ball. All-time record 81 new guys for college football. So, that’s why these are so important right here, and you don’t want to waste a day,” Morris said.
“I thought it was good for us to get outside today and see how they handle it. It didn’t go as planned, but that’s the good thing about sports, that’s the good thing about football. You wake up tomorrow and you start correcting things, especially in spring ball. We’ll have a day off and be able to walk through and correct a lot of things and see how we come back to compete on Day 2 on Wednesday.”
Mestemaker’s big spring
Of all the new players on the team, quarterback Drew Mestemaker appears to be one of the more likely sure-fire hits. He led the nation in passing a year ago at North Texas and has high expectations in 2026.
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But entering this spring, Mestemaker is still only a redshirt sophomore who has started 15 games.
“And although you had so much success last year, I think he’s still in such a growth phase of his life,” Morris said. “And then obviously, the speed of the game is going to be a little bit faster playing P4 football, and being able to adjust to the speed of the game and realize how much faster he has to get some balls out, anticipate a little bit more, how much tighter some of the man coverage stuff is going to be.
“I think this is going to be a big spring for him to grow a ton after playing only (15) games.”
Mestemaker has some familiar targets, like former UNT wide receiver Wyatt Young, and an understanding of the offense. He also has his quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator Sean Brophy, who coached him the past two seasons.
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That doesn’t mean the adjustment to a new program and to Power Four football will be a walk in the park, and Brophy said this spring, summer and fall are big for Mestemaker’s development.
“To sit here and say, ‘Oh, Drew was really good last year. I’m gonna kick my feet up and not coach him. I gotta coach these young guys and get him ready.’ That’s not the case at all,” Brophy said. “If anything, we’re more detail-oriented in our approach with Drew in what we do.
“… He loves to be coached hard. The way we coach him and how we have to coach him now is completely different than what it was the first or second year with him. At the highest level now, the most intricacies of the game is what we’re talking about.”
Facilities keep upgrading for Morris
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Monday was Morris’ first official practice at the indoor Sherman E. Smith Training Center, which also features three outdoor practice fields. Morris called the facilities “phenomenal” and said there’s plenty of room to hold practice.
“There is almost too much space, I would say,” Morris joked.
Morris began his coaching career at Incarnate Word, so most facilities after that are an upgrade.
“We had one field – one practice field, one game field, one any field – on the whole entire campus,” Morris said. “And so we had to share that with soccer and track and field at the same time.”
Morris took another upgrade at UNT, where there was a practice space with two fields and an indoor practice field.
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“I didn’t know what to do when I saw that. It was all ours,” Morris said. “And then you get here. So every stop along the way, I double up on space.”
No ruling on Iman Oates
A month ago, Morris said senior defensive tackle Iman Oates was awaiting an eligibility ruling for an extra year from the NCAA.
Oates has made 39 tackles, two sacks and forced one fumble in two seasons with the Cowboys. His experience and 6-foot-3, 315-pound frame made him an easy candidate for Morris and Co. to try to keep around.
As of Monday, there’s still no ruling, but Oates remains listed on the OSU roster.
“Still up in the air,” Morris said of Oates’ situation. “All these things with the NCAA, everything changes. Judges, injunctions, the NCAA comes back, sues people. … You’ll probably know if he’s eligible before I will, because it’s going to come out on social media. But we should know in the next couple of weeks is what the judge is telling us right now.”
