Morris and select players spoke to the media on Tuesday and discussed, among other things, the excitement of a new season full of new faces, a new quarterback looking for a fresh start and a walk-on nickelback turned team captain in a veteran group of linebackers.
New season, new faces
In the current era of college football, it is not uncommon to see several new faces at key positions at the beginning of a season.
When the Mean Green took the field in Mobile, Alabama, on Saturday to begin the 2024 season and the second year of the Eric Morris era, they will correspond to this current trend.
After several players graduated and entered the transfer portal, Morris filled the roster with key additions, most notably a new playmaker in the form of the former Oklahoma and TCU quarterback. Chandler Morriswho shined in the DFW Metroplex and won a state championship as an outstanding quarterback in Highland Park.
“That’s why I’m so excited, worried and nervous about this week,” Eric Morris said. “It’s just the unknown and how we’re going to react to certain situations — how we play together and how we react to good things and bad things. The energy of the first game is obviously going to be really good, I think. It was good to see some of those Week Zero games last week. We took clips to show the guys — some mistakes that happened, whether it was a guy losing his composure or there were miscommunications. The more things we can do and the faster we can learn together, the better. The unknown until we get the ball going is something I’ll be thinking about day and night.”
UNT, which finished 5-7 last season, including five one-point losses, leads the entire FBS this year with 77 new recruits – 41 freshmen and 36 transfers.
Chandler Morris knows a lot about new faces at the start of a season, as he spent a year at Oklahoma before transferring to TCU and started the season opener in both 2022 and 2023 before ultimately losing his job due to injuries.
He said the first game of a season always brings with it a certain amount of uncertainty, but even more so when a team has 77 rookies, including himself.
“It seems like it’s like this every year,” he said. “I’ve started the last three first games of the season. I think that’s how it is these days with the portal. You’re going to see so many new faces. I’ve said it – the first game is the hardest of the year. You have to find your identity and figure out who you are, so it’s definitely a challenge.”
The Mean Green offense produced brilliant results last year, having a 3,000-yard passer, a 1,000-yard rusher and a 1,000-yard receiver for the first time in program history. Now all of those players are gone, but Chandler Morris said expectations remained the same despite the new faces.
“We know what we have on offense,” said the junior quarterback. “Pressure is a privilege. We’re under a lot of pressure, but it’s a privilege. We have a lot of good players and a coach who pushes us and puts us in the best position possible.”
Morris hopes for a new start in Denton
Chandler Morris is the first to admit that he has been very lucky in his football career.
The son of Chad Morris, a legendary Texas high school coach who became an FBS head coach at SMU and Arkansas and currently works as a wide receivers coach/passing game coordinator at Texas State, he played a key role at top Texas team Highland Park and won a state championship before moving on to Oklahoma.
More bad things probably happened to him than he was allowed to.
He left Oklahoma after one year to go to TCU, where he was named the starter for the 2022 season. The Horned Frogs played in the national championship game that year, but that was long after Morris’ season ended due to injury. He again won the starting job last year, but was again replaced due to injury.
Now he is hoping for a fresh start and is confident he will succeed thanks to what he calls a great culture under a coach who believes in him and his abilities.
It goes without saying that he is still happy with his decision to transfer to UNT.
“Absolutely,” he said. “I’m having a lot of fun with these guys. Coach has a lot of confidence in me. I can go out there and play freely and just play ball. All you could ask for is a coach that has a lot of confidence in you and lets you play what you see. I’m excited about it. I’m a competitor. All you could ask for is an opportunity, and I’m grateful for that opportunity.”
When he steps onto the field on Saturday to begin his fresh start with the Mean Green, Morris says he will tell himself the same thing he has been telling himself since the difficult times began.
“I just have to have that mentality of not backing down,” he said. “A lot of things have happened to me in my career – unfortunate things and a lot of good things too. I’ve just stayed calm and collected and not shied away from things that have been thrown my way. Just stay boring. When good or bad happens, keep the same expression on your face and stay collected.”
From extra to captain
Experienced linebacker Jaylen Smith has come quite a way to get to where he is now when the 2024 season begins.
A native of Hamilton, Ontario, Smith grew up playing football on the BC Lions, Roughriders and Ti-Cats—named after Canadian Football League teams rather than the minor teams with NFL nicknames that kids here may be more familiar with.
He visited high school in Connecticut to compete and was offered a walk-on spot at Denton before eventually earning a scholarship. Now he’s been voted team captain by his teammates, and he won’t disappoint them.
“I was surprised,” said Smith, who began his college career as a nickelback on UNT’s former defense. “I didn’t expect this. It’s a blessing. I’m so grateful for this honor. I want to show these guys that I’m the leader that was chosen and do the job that was given to me.”
His head coach knows he is up to the task and said he has been impressed by Smith’s ability to overcome adversity throughout his life.
“We didn’t expect to have seven captains – we wanted three on each side of the ball,” Eric Morris said. “But he deserves it. He’s never had it easy. He’s from Canada and had to go to high school in the States to get recruited, he worked his way up from a walk-on to first base and earned a scholarship – everything he’s accomplished in his life, I think he’s done the hard way. … It wasn’t meant to be another captain on defense, but it speaks volumes about what he means to this team.”
