Denton County Magazine • Sept_Oct 23 • Eric Morris

New football coach at University of North Texas has deep ties to the Lone Star State.

Eric Morris hasn’t left Texas for long during his coaching career – two one-year stints, to be exact, in the Pacific Northwest at Washington State.

While in Pullman, Morris had his eye on a return as he crafted a plan should the opportunity arrive to head up a major college football program in Texas.

“My wife would ask which one,” Morris said of the football programs in Texas he most desired. “I told her I didn’t care. I just wanted to get here. There aren’t many of those jobs [12 in all]. The feeling and the buy-in from the state of Texas with football is different.”

No one knows that better than Morris, who is quickly putting his plan into practice in his debut season at UNT that began in early September.

Just about every football coach UNT has hired over the years has vowed to foster connections within a state that produces elite high school talent. Morris has enjoyed more success than most while filling out his staff with coaches and support ersonnel with Texas ties. The UNT football program has nine full-time staffers -- from assistant coaches to strength staff to recruiting personnel -- who are former Texas high school coaches.

UNT athletic director Jared Mosley wanted a coach who could foster those types of ties when he set out to find the school’s next coach.

“We wanted someone with head coaching experience, which we felt was critical,” Mosley said. “We also wanted someone who understands the recruiting landscape in Texas and has relationships with Texas high school coaches.”

It’s hard to imagine many coaches having deeper Texas ties than Morris. He was a standout receiver at Shallowater High School, where his father, Ray, was the longtime boys basketball coach.

Eric Morris hit the game-winning shot to push Shallowater past Argyle in the Class 2A state title game in 2004.

“He is a Texas kid who played Texas high school football and his dad coached,” said longtime Argyle coach Todd Rodgers. “His strong connections in Texas bode well for him.”

The payoff is already apparent. UNT signed a recruiting class filled with top Texas high school standouts earlier this year and has more elite in-state players on the way in 2024.

“North Texas is a booming area right now,” Morris said. “You have all the resources within 100 miles to be great.”

Morris has been laying out his strategy to capitalize for years. He’s got his chance now at UNT.

Morris was a star wide receiver at Texas Tech and played in the Canadian League, where he was teammate of UNT Hall of Fame wide receiver Johnny Quinn and former UNT offensive coordinator Graham Harrell.