Only a few weeks have passed since North Texas coach Eric Morris took time to praise Stone Earle as he looked forward to an offseason quarterback battle that would also feature TCU transfer Chandler Morris.
“Stone has stayed, battled and worked on his throwing motion,” Eric Morris said after UNT’s spring game. “It will be fun to watch those guys battle over the summer.”
That battle between Earle and Chandler Morris came to an unexpected end Wednesday, just days after UNT’s players reported for the beginning of summer workouts.
Stone Earle
Earle has left the program, adding yet another twist in a wild journey for the Mean Green since Eric Morris arrived in December 2022 as far as the quarterback position goes.
Multiple sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed Earle’s departure to the Denton Record-Chronicle on Wednesday morning.
Since Eric Morris’ arrival the Mean Green have signed Louisiana-Monroe transfer quarterback Chandler Rogers, went through an offseason competition, named Earle the starter, switched to Rogers, saw both Rogers and Earle enter the transfer portal, watched as Rogers left for Cal, talked Earle into backing out of a decision to transfer to Abilene Christian, added Chandler Morris and Liberty transfer Reece Mooney as well as midterm high school enrollee Cash McCollum, lost Mooney to Louisiana-Monroe and now seen Earle depart.
We’re not even to the middle of June.
Stability in the world of college football is elusive for just about every program these days.
UNT thought it had found just that a few weeks ago in spring practice.
“We have a guy returning with Stone, a transfer guy coming in with Morris and a couple of guys we can develop,” quarterbacks coach Sean Brophy said, “We sign a 2025 kid and were set up for success down the road.”
That pecking order doesn’t look nearly the same now without Mooney and particularly Earle.
The Keller native threw for 274 yards and four touchdowns in 2023. He was benched after turning the ball over three times in a loss to Florida International in the second game of the season.
Earle’s value to UNT went well beyond his contributions on the field. He was voted a team captain ahead of last season.
That leadership ability was one of the reasons Morris was excited about the prospect of Earle returning for the 2024 season.
“He has proven a lot around here, is super competitive and a great teammate,” Eric Morris said. “We love having him around the building and love that he is coming back.”
Earle entered the offseason atop the Mean Green’s depth chart pending the arrival of Chandler Morris. While the expectation was that Morris would win the job, the return of Earle was seen as a win for UNT. He was set to provide the Mean Green a seasoned backup.
Earle started eight games at Abilene Christian before transferring to UNT.
The Mean Green now face the prospect of an uncertain situation when it comes to a backup if Morris wins the job heading into his debut season at UNT.
McCollum showed potential over the course of spring but is entering his freshman season and has never taken a snap on the college level.
The only two other quarterbacks on the roster are walk-ons Tom von Grote and Drew Mestemaker.
Morris was sidelined due to injury in each of the last two seasons and isn’t the biggest quarterback at 6-foot and 190 pounds.
UNT will have to look down its depth chart if Morris misses any time this fall. The Mean Green won’t see nearly the experience they had last season among their backups with Earle out of the picture.
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