Oklahoma reportedly making major change to Brent Venables' coaching staff
Oklahoma is reportedly moving in a new direction with one of its coaches following a 35-9 home loss to South Carolina in Week 8.
Sooners offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Seth Littrell has been fired, according to On3’s George Stoia. Littrell was an offensive assistant in 2023 before being promoted ahead of the 2024 season after Jeff Lebby was named head coach at Mississippi State.
BREAKING: Oklahoma has fired offensive coordinator Seth Littrell, per @SoonerScoop. https://t.co/u1GbnVxxN5 pic.twitter.com/zBEh8PKEgn
— On3 (@On3sports) October 20, 2024
Prior to joining Oklahoma, Littrell spent 7 seasons as the head coach at North Texas, going 44-44. He was fired before the Mean Green’s bowl game in 2022 despite a 6-6 record and 6-2 mark in Conference USA.
A former Sooners running back under John Blake and Bob Stoops from 1997 to 2000, Litrell’s coaching career began as a graduate assistant at Kansas in 2002 before moving to Texas Tech as its running backs coach.
He spent 3 seasons at Arizona from 2009 to 2011, eventually being named offensive coordinator in his final season in Tucson. After a pair of seasons at both Indiana and North Carolina, he was named head coach at North Texas ahead of the 2016 season.
Littrell returned to his alma mater in 2023. In 2024, as offensive coordinator, Oklahoma has struggled, averaging just 112.1 yards rushing per game and 176.0 yards per game passing — last and second-last in the SEC, respectively. It has also averaged 22.1 points through 7 games, second-worst in the conference.
The Sooners are 4-3, 1-3 in their first season in the SEC. They face Ole Miss in Week 9.
Welcome to the SEC!
Such a tired narrative. Has nothing to do with suddenly being in the SEC. This is OU’s worst team in 26 years. They’d struggle in any conference right now.
It is perhaps. However the strength of the SEC highlights a team’s weaknesses like OU right now. Defense seems fine. But that offense is really bad. Good SEC teams will beat this OU team like a drum. Or should.
So would good Big 12 teams and good Big 10 teams and good ACC teams. My point is that it has nothing to do with a move to the SEC. Think 2007 Alabama bad.
You aren’t wrong, but it will most certainly be magnified in the SEC. No other conference has the week in and week out elite D-lines Oklahoma will have to deal with here.
Yeah, the worst case scenario for a team entering their first SEC season, is to have a terrible OL. Makes everything else on offense look bad. Covers up some problems, and makes things that are not a problem, seem like one. Tough spot.
They should be 3-4 after Auburn gifted them a win
Yep. This had to be done.
Get someone else in there and give them a chance, although the same cast of characters are still on the offense. Looks like a bad situation. I can’t believe how awful the O is while the D is decent. Can’t seem to get both going at the same time…. Venables won’t be there much longer if he cannot figure this one out.
Firing him is only half the battle. Not hiring another loser like him is the key. We know from experience.
Oklahoma and (to a certain extent) Texas, are not built for the “in the trenches” SEC-style of play. Oklahoma has been nudging towards disaster in SEC play while Texas learned its lesson in only its second (the Oklahoma win was really a BIG12 game) SEC true blood game.
Get a grip. OU is an elite team that is having an historically bad year. The 2000-2023 OU teams would be just fine in this league. Elite offenses, some great defenses, some mediocre defenses and some poor defenses, but would be right there with this conference. To paint the OU program as “not SEC ready” based on this year and not on the last 25 years is crazy. Timing is terrible for OU. A lot of that is Venable’s fault. He built the defense back but ignored the offense. The offense been top 5 in the country for years. Our last five QB’s started in the NFL last Sunday. Multiple receivers and OL did, too. Venables let it slide. Big mistake on his part. He has a year to figure it out or he’s gone after the 2025 season.