North Texas is back on the hunt for a new football coach for the second time in four seasons as news that Eric Morris will take over the Oklahoma State Cowboys after the season broke on Tuesday. Morris has the Mean Green on the doorstep of an American Conference championship and a trip to the College Football Playoff in his third season in Denton, America. 

Athletic director Jared Mosley and the university brass shouldn’t find a shortage of qualified candidates knocking at the door. North Texas possesses numerous advantages in the G5 ranks, including an indoor facility, motivated donors, and proximity to talent from the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. UNT is arguably the top G5 job in Texas and the Lone Star State is one of the best places to work in college football, illustrated by the five programs still in CFP contention entering Week 14. 

Programs typically try and find candidates with similar profiles to the departing coach when he was successful. Morris was a high-octane offensive coordinator at Washington State with a history as a head coach in the non-FBS ranks and significant roots in Texas. We expect Mosley & Co. to follow a similar blueprint and home in on candidates that check those types of boxes.  

Here are some early names to monitor in the head coaching search. The names will be updated as more news comes available. 

BIG SWING 

Billy Napier – The former head coach at Florida doesn’t check the Texas ties box, but he has won big in the G5 ranks, winning over 10 games in three of his four seasons in charge of Louisiana in the Sun Belt. He won 33 games and two conference championships over his last three seasons and won the West Division all four years. He’s a former quarterback who calls his own plays and is known as a great recruiter. His Power Four stock might’ve dropped with a 22-23 mark at Florida, but that shouldn’t stop the Mean Green from swinging big. 

REALISTIC 

Neal Brown – Brown is another play caller who could be looking for a G5 ramp back into a head coaching chair. He won 35 games in four seasons at Troy, including the Sun Belt championship in 2017. He won double-digit games in each of his last three seasons as a G5 head coach before leading West Virginia for six seasons. His high-water mark in Morgantown was a 9-4 campaign in 2023. There is also a North Texas tie because former UNT athletic director Wren Baker and Brown’s relationship. Brown spent a couple of seasons at Texas Tech, so he isn’t a stranger to the Lone Star State.  

Garrett Riley – The current Clemson offensive coordinator was reportedly the runner-up for the North Texas job in late 2022 when Morris was hired. That was when Riley was coming off a trip to the national championship game as the play caller at nearby TCU. Clemson has fallen on hard times in 2025, but the Tigers did win the ACC with Riley on the sidelines last year. He’s already been vetted by the Mean Green and that might put him back in the hunt this time around. 

Ra’Shaad Samples – Samples is one of the bright, young stars in coaching and his connection to the area can’t be overlooked. His dad, Reginald Samples, is South Dallas royalty and a multiple-time state championship coach at Duncanville. Those ties would help Samples recruit the hell out of the Metroplex. He’s spent time at Texas, SMU, and in the NFL. He’s currently the assistant head coach and running backs coach at Oregon.  

Todd Whitten – He’s a Kimball graduate who played at SFA in the 1980s before working his way up the ranks as an assistant in the state as stops like Texas Tech, Sam Houston, and UTEP. Whitten is currently the head coach at Tarleton where he has the Texans positioned s the best FCS team in Texas and on the cusp of an FBS invite. He’s won 150 games in his career and has eclipsed the 10-win mark four times since 2018. 

Keith Patterson – The Abilene Christian head coach is a name to watch because of his ties with Mosley, who spent a decade at ACU before moving to UNT as the AD. Patterson was the defensive coordinator at Texas Tech from 2019-21 before becoming the head coach at ACU. He also spent time in the DFW area as an assistant coach at Allen HS at the turn of the century. His Wildcats are in the FCS playoffs and have won conference titles in three of the last four seasons. 

Kendal Briles – Speaking of play callers at TCU, Briles is another young offensive coordinator that will likely throw his name into the ring at North Texas. He possesses an offensive background and clearly knows the area. He fits the profile of what we expect North Texas to search for.  

Clint Killough – The Incarnate Word coaching pipeline has paid dividends at North Texas with Morris and Killough is one of his emerging protegees. He became the head coach in 2023 after Kinne moved to Texas State and led the Cardinals to nine wins in 2023 and 11 wins in 2024, which included a Southland Conference championship. UIW struggled in 2025 and that might’ve removed some of his shine, but I’d imagine Morris & Co. will put in a good word for Killough with the North Texas brass. 

Kris McCullough – Maybe the jump from Division II to FBS is too large, but don’t overlook the head coach at UTPB. He’s won 10-plus games in two of his three seasons leading the Falcons and has them in the second round of the playoffs for the first time in school history. He’s reached the postseason in all four seasons as a head coach. He just turned 30 and is one of the best offensive minds in football. 

DCTF PICK

Mack Leftwich – If the goal for North Texas is to keep the ball rolling from the Morris era without as many changes as possible, Leftwich would be my first call. He worked for Morris at UIW and G.J. Kinne at UIW and Texas State before taking over as offensive coordinator for Texas Tech in 2025. He’d run a similar style of offense and score a boatload of points. North Texas is first in the FBS in scoring with 46.3 points per game. Leftwich’s Red Raiders are third with 42.6. At Texas State, his offenses ranked seventh in 2024 and 11th in 2023. 

WILDCARD 

Skyler Cassity – No person meant more to North Texas’ success in 2025 than its first-year defensive coordinator. He helped Sam Houston win 10 games and reach a bowl game in his only season in Huntsville and has performed a similar turnaround with the Mean Green. The Mean Green allowed 34.2 points per game in 2024, ranking 119th in the FBS. The unit is only allowing 24.1 points per game in 2025 and they’re fifth in the nation in turnovers forced with 24. Cassity could help keep some of the staff together, especially on the defensive side of the ball.