Oklahoma State football coach Eric Morris confessed to shooting and killing an armadillo that was damaging his yard. Morris, who was hired to lead the struggling program in Stillwater, detailed the encounter with the animal during a recent session with reporters.
"My brain's going constantly and so... I don´t sleep very well," Morris said Tuesday. "I've had a couple of armadillo problems tearing up my lawn. Finally, a couple of days ago I just popped up at 2:30am because I couldn't sleep and I thought it was a great opportunity for me to go outside and luckily I found him."
Morris described the armadillo as "crushing my yard, my flower beds, digging everything up." He added that it was his first encounter with the creature. After dealing with the animal, Morris sent a text message to his neighbors.
"I apologized for the gunshot. I am in the country, so it was legal. But I did get rid of him," he stated.
Morris joined Oklahoma State after a tenure at North Texas, where he compiled a 22-16 record over three seasons. He was hired to replace Mike Gundy, who was fired in September. Morris has a reputation for quarterback development, having coached or recruited players such as Patrick Mahomes and Baker Mayfield. He previously coached at Washington State under Mike Leach and later served as offensive coordinator for Texas Tech when Mahomes was the quarterback. His first head coaching role was at Incarnate Word, where he coached NFL draft pick Cam Ward.