Drew Mestemaker wanted to hear other programs.
The former movie star turned star had every right. He was coming off a legendary season as a quarterback at North Texas in 2025, in which he led the nation in passing as a redshirt freshman. He wasn’t even on recruiting radars coming out of Vandegrift High School in Austin, Texas, and now he was suddenly the hot commodity in the transfer portal that every program was looking for.
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Mestemaker following coach Eric Morris, hired by Oklahoma State on Nov. 25, was an obvious decision — and perhaps even an inevitability — but he told Morris he intended to explore the market. Several schools were linked to Mestemaker and reports of offers and financial figures were circulating. In the span of a year, he went from almost no attention to capturing all the attention as a five-star portal recruit.
“I was learning new things about myself every day on social media and I was getting this much money from this school and this much money from this school,” Mestemaker said Thursday in his first media availability as a Cowboy. “It was all things that I didn’t even think about. … It was crazy. I kind of learned pretty quickly that you have to keep a small circle. You hear things about yourself that you didn’t even know were happening.”
Mestemaker committed to OSU on Jan. 3, less than a week after announcing his intention to enter the transfer portal. For him, the decision came down to two things: confidence and Morris. After Mestemaker’s breakout season as one of college football’s fastest rising stars, it made all the difference, and now he’s where he wants to be.
“Confidence is one of the most important things you’ll ever have in a football program,” Morris said Feb. 4. “And I think you need confidence.”
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Mestemaker’s story has now been widely told. He never started a varsity game in high school and received little to no interest from college coaches at any level. At one point, he visited Laney College, a college in California, and thought it was his first stop.
Then a connection with a Sam Houston coach landed him a walk-on offer there, and he quickly received another walk-on offer from Morris at UNT. It was a crazy dream for Mestemaker to chase, but it started to come true like he said he knew it would.
“Some people probably called me crazy for thinking that, but I think that’s kind of the mentality to have,” Mestemaker said. “I remember having calls with D-III coaches who wanted me to come be an athlete and play on both sides of the ball, and I remember telling them my goal was to play Power Four football. not how that would happen. I will be forever grateful to Coach Morris for taking my chance.”
The occasion went well on both sides. Mestemaker was a backup during his freshman season, then made his first start in the First Responder Bowl, where he passed for 393 yards and two touchdowns.
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That’s when the whirlwind really started.
“It’s crazy to think that this game was 13 months ago and my life has done a complete 180,” Mestemaker said.
Since then, everyone knows what Mestemaker has become – a star who threw for 4,379 yards and 34 touchdowns this season while leading UNT to a 12-2 season.
“Drew’s story is so compelling, and I think America kind of picked up on Drew’s story this year as she grew up,” Morris said. “Simply remarkable.”
And Morris had been a part of Mestemaker’s story and believed in him from day one, which helped create the success. Ultimately, it weighed heavily.
“I knew from the beginning that Coach Morris was going to be a huge factor, and wherever he went, that was probably where I was going,” Mestemaker said.
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Mestemaker’s underdog story also excited Cowboys fans, once OSU announced the hiring of Morris on November 25. After OSU went 4-20 over the last two seasons, the idea of bringing in a rising star coach and one of the best QBs in the country was all too enticing.
The Cowboys haven’t had a starting quarterback in every game in a season since 2018, and the QB play hasn’t been consistent recently. Last season, OSU started three different QBs and played five, and the unit combined to throw six touchdowns and nine interceptions.
“Obviously we struggled a little bit at quarterback positioning,” said Jaleel Johnson, a senior defensive end who has spent his entire career at OSU. “I see great potential in (Mestemaker). Even during the morning races, I saw him step up and take control of the team. I can’t wait to see what he does for us.”
Although Mestemaker has been in Stillwater for a little over a month, he is already building relationships with his teammates, which he says is important. And his play on the field also boosts their confidence.
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“When you have a guy who can throw the ball like that, you walk around with a different type of aura, I guess. And you can feel it,” defensive end Malik Charles said. “You can see it in the team races. You can see how he presents himself. He’s a leader.”
Just a few years after not knowing where his football career was going, Mestemaker now finds himself holding the keys to Oklahoma State’s offense and, indeed, rebuilding the program. Just a year ago, this scenario was just a dream.
This is the kind of opportunity Mestemaker wanted, and he’s in a program and with a coaching staff he trusts to help him take advantage of it.
“I’ve always dreamed of being in this position, and for it to happen this quickly, I didn’t expect it,” Mestemaker said. “But I’ve been ready for it the whole time. That’s all I could ask for at the moment.”
