Meet Eric Morris, QB guru who discovered Heisman contender Cameron Ward and has North Texas in AAC contention

DENTON, Texas — Eric Morris’s office at the University of North Texas is decorated with the reminders of his place in college football history. On one wall is a signed Patrick Mahomes jersey from the Kansas City Chiefs. Morris was Mahomes’ offensive coordinator under Kliff Kingsbury when he was recruited to Texas Tech and helped turn him into one of the most productive quarterbacks in history. 

There’s the jersey patch on his back wall labeled “Leach” in Washinton State crimson, a tribute to his former college coach, Mike Leach. Sandwiched between Wes Welker and Danny Amendola, Morris was the standout diminutive receiver of note for Leach at Texas Tech, posting nearly 2,000 yards receiving and 19 touchdowns. When it was time to move on from football, Leach gave Morris his first ever full-time coaching job as inside wide receivers coach at Wazzu. 

And then there’s the truly humble beginnings of being a coach, a handful of sparkling rings and two helmets on a shelf from the University of the Incarnate Word, a tiny private catholic school in north San Antonio. It was there where Morris really paid his dues in his first coaching job, carrying pads and picking up trash because there was no one else to do it. 

“If you’ve never been to Incarnate Word’s campus, you’re missing out,” Morris told CBS Sports. “My 2A high school’s stadium’s a lot better than Incarnate Word’s.” 

He’s not wrong, though Shallowater (outside of Lubbock) has moved to 3A since he graduated. 

But from San Antonio to the Palouse to North Texas, there’s been one constant: quarterbacks. The former Leach receiver has quietly created his own branch of the Air Raid quarterback development tree that’s starting to turn into a mighty oak. 

Four different quarterbacks Morris developed have started for FBS programs in 2024: Chandler Morris (North Texas), John Mateer (Washington State), Emmett Brown (San Jose State) and Cameron Ward (Miami). All four rank among the most productive quarterbacks in college football. 

QBs coached by Eric Morris

And on the back of a sensational passing offense, North Texas is off to its first 5-2 start since 2018, when the program made national headlines for beating both Arkansas and SMU behind quarterback Mason Fine. TCU transfer Chandler Morris has emerged as perhaps the AAC’s best quarterback to get this program back on track. 

“You’re only as good as the people around you, certainly, but you’ve got to have that guy back there that you have confidence in, that can go out and make plays and make decisions first and foremost,” North Texas quarterbacks coach Sean Brophy told CBS Sports. “I think that when you have that, you walk into the stadium every Saturday feeling like you’ve got a chance to win the football game.” 

Finding diamonds in the rough

The modest Benson Stadium at UIW is where Morris first saw Ward throw. He was a no-name recruit who failed to catch even the attention of Division II recruiters, partially thanks to limited film from playing in an option Slot-T system at Columbia (Texas). There would be flashes of wild arm talent and creativity, but it was hidden by throwing barely 12 passes a game. 

Morris noticed the ball jumping out of his hands while warming up. He told an assistant to write down his name. The footwork and fundamentals were terrible, but the arm ability jumped off the page. 

“He makes some throws on some outs and some field comebacks, and throws some go balls where everyone is just like, holy smokes,” Morris said. “Who the heck is that kid?” 

As soon as he could get off the field, Morris went to watch film in his cramped office. The film was limited, but effective. Really though, it was watching Ward play basketball that made Morris’s eyes widen. Ward, the son of Columbia’s women’s basketball coach Patrice Ward, was a physical guard who averaged more than 20 points per game and left as the leading scorer in school history. Leadership and aggressiveness are critical for a quarterback in a Morris offense. 

“I love basketball players,” Morris said. “I think they’re able to see space better than everybody. Mahomes, great basketball player. Cam Ward, great basketball player. Both were point guards who could see the floor.” 

Still, Morris waited. No one was coming for an option quarterback with barely 1,000 yardspassing  to his name through his junior season. There was no need to draw attention. Of course, this isn’t the 1990s anymore. In the age of Hudl and YouTube, hiding a player isn’t easy. But at the FCS level, playing in the Southland Conference, it wasn’t impossible. 

Ward was exploring JUCO options when he received the UIW offer on Jan. 23, 2020. Five days later, he committed. UIW had a quarterback, a really good one who earned freshman and sophomore All-America honors named Jon Copeland. After practicing all fall without playing games due to the pandemic, Ward kept catching up. By the time the spring season rolled around, he won the starting job. 

In six games, Ward threw for 2,260 yards and 24 touchdowns to win the Jerry Rice Award as the best freshman in FCS. The rest is history. Morris led UIW to its first Division I playoffs appearance in 2018 and helped key a run to 10-3 and a No. 12 national finish in the AP/STATS FCS Poll. When Morris moved from UIW to Washington State, Ward was one of his first calls. Three years and three schools later, Ward is a Heisman Trophy contender at Miami with a serious chance to be the first quarterback picked in the 2025 NFL Draft. 

Almost every Morris quarterback has a unique story. Mahomes was seen as a flight risk to play baseball like his dad. Mateer was committed to Central Arkansas and failed to stand out on a struggling DFW high school team. Brown turned down reported offers to walk on at Washington State. Copeland was a gamer with nowhere to go after tearing his ACL. Morris dealt with injuries at Oklahoma and TCU. 

The styles ultimately differ between all of his quarterbacks, but similar traits remain. Accuracy is a priority. Processing ability comes at a premium. In the modern game, athleticism is a must to keep plays alive. But more than anything, patience to find the right fit stands apart. 

“I really think where we’ve benefitted is that quarterback recruiting happens so fast,” Morris said. “I think we’ve always been patient. All these guys get ranked early based on how they threw at a camp or Elite 11. We strip it down a little bit more. I don’t offer anyone that I haven’t seen them throw in person, I’ve always been a big believer in that … there’s not a perfect science to it.” 

How Morris creates mismatches

Few people in history have learned from greater quarterback minds than Chandler Morris. In high school, it was legendary Highland Park coach Randy Allen (who produced Matthew Stafford) and his father, longtime college coach Chad Morris. Between Oklahoma and TCU, he learned under both Lincoln and Garrett Riley, along with Kendal Briles. 

For various reasons, many of them health-related, things didn’t work out for Morris in Fort Worth. When he entered the transfer portal, the choice was easy. 

“I told [Morris] back in January, I want to come play for you,” Chandler said. “I want to play for this offense. I was finishing up school and there were a lot of schools reaching out, but he believed in me and trusted me that I was going to come play for him.” 

In short order, Morris is playing the best football of his career. Outside of a disastrous loss to Texas Tech, Morris has cleared 300 yards and two touchdowns in every single game. The Mean Green are No. 3 in passing offense and No. 29 in passer rating as a team. 

It’s the freedom that stands out the most for the quarterback, while the coach is constantly thinking about how to help his players process ever faster. At times, it’s simply counting the box and giving options. Other times, it’s simplifying what his quarterbacks see. The ease of the offense mixed with copious film study means that the game slows down. During practice, there’s a premium put on mimicking real game action and skills. 

“The progression reads just come naturally, if that makes any sense,” Chandler Morris said. “It’s very natural and kind of taking educated shots down the field and knowing when to do that. It’s trying to really simplify football and it makes your job easier.” 

From a physical perspective, the strength and conditioning program under Morris puts great priority on hip and shoulder mobility to help train quarterbacks to get the ball out with ease. This isn’t an early 2000s Air Raid where much of the game can happen within 10 yards. The quarterbacks leave with major velocity. Practice only emphasizes these traits with priority put on preparing action that a quarterback will actually use during games. Even when players leave this offense — Brown plays in a Run-and-Shoot at SJSU, Ward is in a spread at Miami — the traits stay with them. 

Remember, this is at a time when defenses have slowly started to win in major football. Defensive coordinators are running out two-safety shells and base nickel or dime looks. For Morris, every challenge presented just creates the opportunity for a new solution. 

Brophy, 28, was an active quarterback at UIW when Morris took over the program. He has seen Morris’s brilliance from both a coaching and playing perspective. Morris’s background as a crafty Air Raid slot receiver gives him a unique perspective on building offense and creating creases where the defense never thinks to look. 

“I think that Coach Morris is the best I’ve been around at seeing space and being creative with manipulating space,” Brophy said. “It all kind of goes back to Mike Leach and that tree … there’s a lot of nuance and intricacies when it comes to building up the game plan, but I think that he does an elite job seeing space, attacking space and finding matchups against the defense’s weaknesses.” 

Sometimes that will mean taking shots down the field. In a 41-37 comeback victory against FAU, Morris connected on eight passes of 19 yards or more with an average depth of target (ADOT) of 9.5 yards. In a 52-38 win over South Alabama in Week 1, Morris found creases more in the short game, averaging an ADOT of only 6.7 yards. 

The days of using tempo as a primary tool are largely over, but it’s a tool Morris keeps in his back pocket. At other times, it’s motion and unique formations, or run-pass options keeping defenses on their heels. Pieces of it are window dressing, but that helps keep the quarterback’s job manageable. 

“I think the way that the offense is built, when you’re in the game and when bullets are flying, you’ve got a bunch of answers and outlets,” Brophy said. “He does a great job of designing resilient game plans that aren’t too game plan specific for certain looks.” 

Every one of these factors came together in one play in the wild win over FAU. Facing third-and-goal with only one minute remaining, Chandler made his own play call: “Cooper Kupp.” North Texas set up a bunch set to the field and motioned a slot to the boundary. Then, Morris was able to use his self-professed best skill — throwing on the run — to find a breaking DT Sheffield at the goal line for the game-winning touchdown with 58 seconds remaining. North Texas came home with an unbelievable victory. 

“I think he [Morris] kind of takes the handcuffs off you,” Chandler said. “There’s times in my career where I felt like I was kind of cuffed and he really understands my strengths and puts it in the game plan every single week.” 

Preparing for the moment

The stage is a little bigger now after trading in 6,000-seat Benson Stadium in San Antonio for 30,000-seat DATCU Stadium in Denton. The indoor facility is bigger than the total football facilities at his old school. He traded fluorescent lights for a stadium view and plenty more space to host his next great quarterback. There’s no more roughing it. 

Year 1 for Morris was inconsistent at best as UNT missed a bowl for only the second time since 2016. He responded by adding 77 new players to the roster, an unusual move for a second-year head coach. The results are slowly starting to follow. 

Despite a tight 52-44 loss to preseason AAC favorite Memphis on Saturday, North Texas has quietly become a factor in the conference title race. The Mean Green boast the best passing offense in the conference by nearly 100 yards over Memphis. A critical two-game stretch with Tulane and No. 23 Army on the schedule creates major opportunity. 

And by the way, Morris’s success at UIW was transformational. After he left, the program decided to stay young and offense-driven by hiring G.J. Kinne, who has since transformed into one of the hottest FBS coaching candidates at Texas State. The active coach of UIW is 31-year-old Clint Killough, a former Cardinals player who coached under Morris as inside receivers coach. In two seasons, he is 13-4 and 8-1 in Southland Conference play. UIW is quietly becoming a mini cradle of coaches. 

Chandler is a junior and can return in 2025 to help UNT continue its standard of success. But when Morris is done, his coach might have yet another great story on his hands. 

Drew Mestemaker waited his turn to play quarterback at Austin Vandegrift High School, but never got his chance after now-Louisville quarterback Deuce Adams transferred into the program. Instead, he opted to be a good soldier and played both safety and backup quarterback. 

“He could have started at probably 99.4% of other schools in Texas,” Brophy said. “But he’s just a tough kid, a good kid.” 

As a true freshman, Mestmaker has received the primary backup snaps, throwing five passes in some of the only live action of his life against Texas Tech and Wyoming. He connected with Miles Coleman for a 49-yard completion against the Red Raiders to set up a touchdown drive. 

If things go right, Mestemaker has a chance to be another Morris success story. 

“I get enjoyment watching these guys and seeing them have success,” Morris said. “To know that you’re a small part of them getting there, I think that’s a joyful moment as a coach.”