The University of North Texas held a press conference to introduce new head football coach Eric Morris and new Vice President and Director of Athletics Jared Mosley on Wednesday afternoon at the Lovelace and McNutt Families Indoor Practice Facility in Denton.
The room was buzzing with excitement as university leaders emphasized the importance of a new era of Mean Green football.
“This is an exciting time to turn the page in Mean Green athletics, and some exciting changes that have occurred really in a fast period of time,” said former UNT Deputy Athletic Director Hank Dickenson as he welcomed everyone to the press conference.
Mosley was introduced first by President Neal Smatresk, who revealed that the school had talked to eight candidates for the Athletic Director position.
“His experience, strong record of achievement, and familiarity with the program were incredible,” Smatresk said of Mosley. “He has a great rapport with our student-athletes and a great rapport with our coaches. No one is going to outwork this guy, and if hard work moves you up, we’re going to move up really fast.”
Smatresk also emphasized that he determined it was “in our best interest” to hire someone who “I knew I had confidence in and can take us to the next level as we enter the American Athletic Conference.”
Mosley spoke on his goals for the overall athletic department, which included competing in the American Athletic Conference, building the UNT brand nationally, expanding athletic resources, and increasing fan, alums, and student involvement.
“Our transition to the American Athletic Conference is exciting and the platform that we will have to continue to build our brand nationally and to create a championship culture will be our focus,” he said in his opening remarks. “I believe we are on the cusp of the most exciting era in UNT athletics history.”
Mosley also revealed the criteria the university was looking for in its next head coach: someone with head coaching experience who understands recruiting in Texas, has relationships with Texas high schools, can develop talent, has experience being creative and accomplishing things at multiple levels, and knows how to lead a community.
After “about 16 calls in the last two weeks,” Mosley determined Washington State offensive coordinator Eric Morris was the man for the job.
“I recognize that finding the right leader for our football program is a critical component of our future success,” said Mosley. “He [Morris] was detailed in his vision for this program. His experience and track record of success in the areas that matched our hiring criteria were a perfect fit, and his heart for cultivating relationships fit very well with what we want.”
“It’s an exciting time for Mean Green football as we transition into one of the premier conferences in all of America,” Morris told the crowd. “I couldn’t be more excited to take on that challenge, and I think we have some things in place right now that we can bring this thing to the top level and bring championships back to Denton.”
Morris also detailed how he plans to build his program by emphasizing relationships with staff, players, and the community, recruiting local talent, focusing on details, and doing the little things correctly.
So far, that staff includes former UNT running back Patrick Cobbs and former University of Incarnate Word assistants Sean Brophy, Jordan Davis, and Rolando Surita. Morris has acknowledged that hiring the right coordinators and strength and conditioning coaches will be paramount to his team’s success.
Morris also emphasized playing complementary football.
“You have to be just as excited about stopping someone and play great defense and special teams are critical. We’ve got to make great plays at critical times… We need to be great on all sides of the ball to win championship football.”
North Texas ranked in the top 35 offenses in the country this season but had one of the worst defenses, ranking 124th out of 131 schools in total yards allowed per game. The porous defense caught up with the team several times throughout the 2022 season, including the second half of last week’s Frisco Bowl loss.
Coach Morris sees this as an opportunity to make his mentor, the late Mike Leach, proud.
“He’s a man I owe everything to,” Morris said while thanking Leach in his opening statement. “He gave me every opportunity as a player and as a coach. I was actually sitting at Mike’s old desk at Washington State when Jared called me to offer the job. That, to me, was like Mike looking down on me and my opportunity to continue his legacy. I’m forever grateful to Coach Leach.”
With the administration and athletic department behind him, Morris will get the chance to make Leach proud as North Texas football enters a new chapter.
