STILLWATER – You could say that new Oklahoma State head football coach Eric Morris is a kid at heart. Yes, he grew up loving sports and dreaming of being a college athlete, but knowing deep down that he would have to work hard to make it happen. In Shallowater, Texas that took place.
Morris did make it. After working hard to convince Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach he deserved a scholarship, Morris was a Red Raider and was making plays from the inside receiver position. It was 2008 and Morris was getting more playing time. On the season, he had 74 receptions for 771-yards and nine touchdowns including one against Oklahoma State.
Later in the season, the “Elf” reference grew in stature, if an elf can actually do that, grow in stature. It came not because of a catch, but because of a mismatch block made by an undersized, tough West Texas product.
“It’s a pretty funny story. We were playing good ball and bad ball after a game and if you did something good, he pointed it out in front of the whole team, if you did something bad, he’d rip your a** in front of the whole team," Morris explained.
During a winning play against Oklahoma State (Tech went to 10-0), Morris dipped underneath a linebacker and, paused on post-game video footage, he looked tiny.
"This linebacker was 6-4, 240 pounds, I’m 5-foot-8, 165 pounds soaking wet and somebody in the background screamed, 'Hey, it’s a midget,'" Morris recalled in telling the story on national cable television, "and only in Leach fashion … he thought on his feet as good as anybody … and he’s like ... only magical creatures can (make this play). And little magical creatures are elves.'”
Leach came up with the idea of having an elf on the team and on the practice field. Literally, out came the costume including elf ears taped on his helmet.
“I said, 'Coach, I’m not doing this,' and he was like, 'Well, if you’re not practicing this week, you’re not playing,'” Morris recalled the exchange with his head coach. “So for three straight weeks, we’re ranked top five in the country, best season in Texas Tech history, and here I am on Thursdays, practicing in a damn elf outfit.”
It’s a great story, classic Mike Leach. It likely won’t be repeated in Stillwater under the regime of Morris, but raising the hero and object of that story could happen in Stillwater, Okla. Morris and his wife, Maggie, have Jack, the oldest son, 11-years-old, and George, five-years-old. Morris was looking not only for a school in the Power Four where he could coach and construct a winner. He was looking for a place his family could call home and his kids could be raised similar to the way he was in Shallowater.
“This day and age, for me to be able raise my family in a small town like this was something that was really important to me and still be able to have all the resources to win a national championship,” Morris said. “I think back to my memories playing in this place against Oklahoma State and seeing Boone Pickens on fire and the atmosphere.
“I think I really relate to the alumni here, just a bunch of blue-collar people that have had to earn things the hard way,” Morris continued. “I take great pride in the way I had to kinda navigate college football. I’ve been at some really good places, but then I’ve started at the bottom of some FCS programs and had to work my way up. I like the tough, gritty people to go hand and hand and work with every day.”
Toughness, values, good hard-working people, that embrace the family culture. I think to coaches like John Smith, Tom Holliday, and Mike Gundy, coaches that were successful in winning and in raising their family all the way through school in Stillwater. Kenny Gajewski in softball is doing it now, so is Josh Holliday in baseball.
Athletic director Chad Weiberg has seen his children grow up and finish high school in Stillwater. It can be the secret sauce to not just attracting coaches, but keeping them.
“That is absolutely the hope. I think one of the things that has been our magic here is the consistency that we have and you see that with a lot of our coaches and they are here for a long time,” Weiberg said of the family compatibility and attraction of Stillwater. “I’ve been asked do you worry about schools coming to get your coahc if he has success. I don’t worry about that either because that is a really, really good thing if that happens. It means something good is going on here. I also like our chances to keep them here with our ability to reward them when they are successful and just the community and what it’s like to raise your family here. That was attractive to Coach Morris.”
I don’t know about that nickname, Morris did embrace it, but his magic now isn’t realated to stature and bravery, but competitiveness and coaching ingenuity. The magic of Stillwater, it’s always there and Oklahoma State fans need to hope those two magics collide again.
