MGN couldn’t manage to send a correspondent to the presser, but we watched on twitter. It was a nice event, all told.
1 Eric Morris Has Some Enthusiasm and Jokes
All introductory press conferences have much in common. There is a lot of praise for the folks that hired them, thanks to their families, thanks to various people who have helped them along the way. Morris had that, but also some jokes and enthusiasm. North Texas isn’t broken, in contrast to the situations around the previous hires. NT had just come off a loss in the league title game and the bowl game. There is a lot to build on.
Morris, obviously affected by the loss of his mentor Mike Leach, told a fun story about how he first wore green and first got the nickname “Elf”. “But it’s coach Morris! The only one that can call me Elf is Mike!”, he joked.
There was a lot of excitement and a willingness to banter. It is refreshing after seven years of gruff. Programs can tend to swing from one extreme to another in the hiring of coaches, but public personality is one that is important in a head coach. The head guy is a salesman and you want someone that you want to hang out with for a lot of reasons. Morris has more than a hint of that kind of attitude.
2 Jared Mosley Is Calling You Out
Wren Baker changed old habits and put pressure on the fan base to donate and be better supporters of the program. Mosley continued to put pressure and particularly called out those who were sitting on the sidelines waiting for something good to happen.
3 Morris Is Waiting on The Portal
President Neal Smatresk said they wanted someone who checked a lot of boxes, and Morris did so. He has experience as a head coach (UIW) and built a program (UIW), and recruited Texas, etc. It was the kind of thing that NT wanted to continue to build the program. Morris is already putting some of that to good use– he said he wanted to wait on the portal that “last time I probably took too many guys the first window too soon” and that he would wait and get it right.
A lot of fans had been getting anxious at the lack of announcements, but there were and are a lot of things moving. MGN has been expecting more on the day of the presser (and he mentioned Patrick Cobbs and confirmed some of the rumored guys that were hinted at) and more are on the way. “I have to think about complementary football” is what he said, and that means a good defensive coordinator is key. We will learn more soon.
