update:
This post has been updated with a statement from Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables.
After a disastrous start to the season for the Sooners’ offensive line, which saw them score 12 total points in back-to-back losses, Oklahoma State football parted ways with offensive coordinator Seth Littrell.
Littrell leaves after just eight games as Oklahoma State OC, including a loss to OU in the 2023 Alamo Bowl. The Sooners are on track to start 4-3 in 2024 and 1-3 in conference play in their first season in the SEC. They suffered a 34-3 loss to Texas in the Cotton Bowl and a 35-9 loss to South Carolina on Saturday, their worst home loss in more than a decade. OU head coach Brent Venables said after the game that the loss was “not even close to the standard we have here at the University of Oklahoma.”
“Seth is the greatest Sooner of all time,” Venables said in a statement released Sunday announcing the coordinator change. “He has a deep love for this university and the football program and has poured his heart and soul into both. Despite this, his performance as an offensive line this season has not been at all up to OU’s standards. I felt that change was needed now.”
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“The leadership role that Joe John plays on our team is extremely important. He has the confidence of our locker room and coaching staff, and we are honored to have him take on this expanded role midway through the season. Thank you. Kevin joined our staff as an offensive analyst last spring after serving as an offensive coordinator for over 10 years. He has extensive experience coordinating offenses and coaching quarterbacks. I’m looking forward to the fresh approach he brings and for him to play a bigger role in the game planning of the offense. I’m sure he’ll work tirelessly to get into position and be more effective on that side of the ball.”
Oklahoma is also in the midst of a quarterback turmoil, with predictably preseason starter Jackson Arnold and true freshman Michael Hawkins Jr. both struggling and joining at various points during the season. He keeps getting sent off.
Oklahoma averages just 288.1 total yards per game. There are only six teams in the country with low offensive productivity. Outside of a 51-3 win over Temple in the season opener, the Sooners are averaging just 17.3 points per game.
Littrell, who was the head coach at the University of North Texas from 2016 to 2022, was hired as an offensive analyst at the University of Oklahoma in March 2023. In November of the same year, then-Sooner OC Jeff Levy became head coach and was promoted to OC and quarterbacks coach. Jobs in Mississippi.
Co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Joe John Finley will serve as the Sooners’ sole OC on an interim basis. Finley, a former Osaka University player and graduate assistant, returned to the Sooners in 2021 as assistant head coach of offense and tight ends and H-backs coach. Finley will also take over play-calling duties. Senior offensive analyst Kevin Johns will be promoted to co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Oklahoma’s next game is Saturday at Ole Miss, where the Sooners currently trail by 20.5 points, according to ESPNBet.
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