You won’t believe how North Texas fell into college football’s next big-time QB | Opinion
Eric Morris understands that with each 300-yard game and every touchdown that Drew Mestemaker throws, it increases the chances his team will win, and that his quarterback won’t be back next year.
As the head coach at the University of North Texas, or any Group of Five football team, he knows there is the scoreboard. And then there is the other scoreboard.
“Two or three years ago, I was mad and disgusted about it. You build them up and then they’re gone,” Morris said of the transfer portal in a phone interview this week.
“I’ve changed my attitude about it. I’m happy for them, if that’s what they want and they’re going to a better opportunity.”
After three weeks, Morris may be sitting on the next Group of Five QB with the charming backstory who will leave for a power conference school the second the regular season ends.
“If you look at [Tennessee Titans quarterback] Cam Ward or [Oklahoma quarterback] John Mateer, it worked for them,” Morris said of two quarterbacks whose respective careers started at Incarnate Word and Washington State.
Drew Mestemaker was a high school punter and safety with no “tape” as a quarterback whom Morris took a flyer on and offered him a spot as a walk-on. In about one year Mestemaker turned that point-nothing chance into the starting job, and UNT is 3-0 for the eighth time in the history of the program.
Even if Morris wanted to keep his QB under a blanket, and holed up Rapunzel-style at the top of the Denton County Courts Building, the word on Mestemaker was going to get out. UNT has won its first three games by the combined score of 143-40, and its redshirt freshman QB has passed for 764 yards with nine touchdowns and no interceptions.
People tend to notice these sorts of things. Particularly Power Four college coaches whose seats are getting toasty.
UNT plays at defending American Athletic Conference champion Army on Saturday, and do not be surprised if ESPN’s “College GameDay” crew takes notice of this one.
How a high school punter wound up a college quarterback
Morris was contacted by a friend who asked him to look at a high school player he thought might be a good quarterback.
At 6-foot-4 and 211 pounds, Mestemaker had a frame that would interest a coach or scout. The problem was there wasn’t much else to see.
At Class 6A Vandegrift High near Austin, Mestemaker was a defensive back and a punter. He was second-team all-district as a punter and honorable mention as a safety. When he did play QB, it wasn’t much. His only start in high school was for his ninth grade team. The B team.
As sophomore and junior, he was behind Brayden Buchanan, who is now a catcher at Baylor. When Mestemaker was a senior, he was behind Deuce Adams, who is now a quarterback at the University of Louisville.
Mestemaker realized he would have to knock on doors to play in college. He drove to Denton for what was essentially a tryout with Morris; after the meeting, the UNT coach offered this project a spot as a walk-on.
When Mestemaker arrived at UNT for fall camp in 2024, he was basically fifth string.
“I loved what we saw, and I did love the potential,” Morris said. “But when he came here, I didn’t know if he could process information. He was here to be an extra arm for us.”
UNT’s QB1 was former TCU starter Chandler Morris, who left Fort Worth for Denton after graduating in the spring of ‘24.
The more Mestemaker played, the more his coach realized he had something. He moved him up the depth chart, and by the third game of the season, Mestemaker was already the backup.
When the regular season ended, UNT had qualified for a bowl game, and Morris was gone. He transferred to the University of Virginia, where he is the starter in what feels like his ninth year of college.
Now Mestemaker would start against Texas State in the First Responder Bowl; before the game, he was put on scholarship. He threw for 393 yards and two touchdowns and ripped off a 70-yard run for another score.
UNT lost by two, but had its QB1.
Can North Texas keep its quarterback?
Morris knows his best chance to compete in this new game is relationships.
“Relationships give yourself a chance,” said Morris, who is in his third season at UNT. “That’s the only chance, if I have one.”
He gave Mestemaker a chance when no one else would. That’s still worth something. But Morris is well aware of what he is up against.
North Texas has invested heavily in football, some of its players do get paid, and it is a good place to attend and play football. It also doesn’t have access to the NIL and cash opportunities like a Power Four program.
“The majority of people are going to chase the money and the bigger stage,” he said. “I can’t blame them. That’s human nature.”
The problem he runs into, and it’s a frequent challenge of many coaches in his position, is that he knows what is coming for the player who wants to transfer to Oklahoma, Georgia, Florida State or some other big-name school. The kid may get some money, but the success he had at a North Texas may not translate “up.”
The kid may not play, and he may be a backup at a North Carolina whereas he was the starter at North Texas.
“The guys get mad at me all the time when I tell them that, and it’s not because I don’t believe in them. It’s because I am just trying to protect them,” Morris said. “I get it. That’s potentially a lot of money [to leave].”
Mestemaker has more to do this season, because three games are not 11.
Unlike when Mestemaker was a high school senior, when he had no tape, now there is film. So far it looks great.
And his head coach can’t lock him up and hope no one sees it.
This story was originally published September 18, 2025 at 2:00 PM.
