SAN ANTONIO — A month ago, Seth Littrell didn’t know what the future held for him and his family.
Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby departed to take the Mississippi State head coaching job and Littrell held offers to go elsewhere. However, while serving as an offensive analyst with the Sooners in 2023 — following his firing as head coach at North Texas — he was hungry to get back on the field coaching as a coordinator again.
Those who worked with him in the past are excited to see the former offensive coordinator at Arizona, Indiana and North Carolina get back to what he’s best at.
“(Sooners fans) are getting somebody that loves the University of Oklahoma,” TCU head coach Sonny Dykes, who worked with Littrell for three seasons, told the OU Daily of Littrell. “That cares deeply about the football program, that has a strong connection, understands the history and understands what it takes to be successful. I don't think there's anybody in the world that appreciates that more than Seth.”
Littrell will call plays and coach quarterbacks for No. 12 OU (10-2) against No. 14 Arizona (9-3) in the Alamo Bowl at 8:15 p.m. Thursday on ESPN, as well as in the SEC in 2024. He won’t integrate his system until the offseason but the bowl game will be an early indicator of how he wants to run his offense, which will be co-coordinated by Joe Jon Finley.
“It's been very fast over the past few weeks,” said Litrell, who was hired to replace Lebby 27 days ago. “Having gone from not knowing exactly what I was doing after the season to going out on the road recruiting to the transfer portal to bowl practices to bowl prep, trying to get on the same page with all the coaches during this time has been very challenging. We've got a very hardworking crew.
“ … As of right now, it's just keeping it the way we've been doing things. Terminology is not changing, the offense that we're running will stay consistent to what we've done throughout the year, and then we can look up after the season and figure out what we need to do moving forward as adjustments and kind of evolving in how we grow.”
The centerpiece of Oklahoma’s offense not only against the Wildcats but moving forward is former five-star recruit and rising sophomore quarterback Jackson Arnold.
During his short time working with him, Littrell’s been impressed with how the young talent has attacked each day. He also liked what he saw when he played against BYU and fit a ball into a tight window to Jalil Farooq to seal the game on the road as a true freshman.
“It's been awesome,” Littrell said of his time with Arnold. “Jackson is a phenomenal young man, extremely hard worker. He's going to put in all the time it takes to prepare the right way each and every week, even though he wasn't the starter in most of those games this year. Like I told him, we're both getting our first start together. It'll be an amazing time. No one better to do it with.”
There aren’t too many coaches who have spent as much time with Littrell as Dykes.
The two worked together for two seasons under Mike Leach at Texas Tech and one season under Mike Stoops at Arizona and have remained close friends over the years. Littrell and Dykes also coached against each other during their respective stints at North Texas and SMU.
Another member of the Sooners’ staff Dykes knows well is offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh. They all worked with one another in Lubbock and Tucson.
Much has been made of Bedenbaugh and Littrell’s relationship off the field and how their closeness might translate to on-field success. Dykes has seen it in the flesh and can almost guarantee the two will flourish together once again.
“They obviously know each other well, they work well together,” Dykes said. “I think that's a dynamic duo and they're going to communicate well together, there's not going to be any egos.”
OU football coach Seth Littrell during the Sooners' spring open practice on Mar. 21
After finishing with a 44-44 record in seven seasons with the Mean Green, Littrell was fired and joined head coach Brent Venables’ staff in Norman. Throughout the last year, Littrell has learned a lot about himself as a person, but also a coach and will take those lessons with him as he leads Oklahoma’s offense into the SEC in the new year.
“Being with a great staff,” Littrell said of what he learned most in 2023. “Coach Venables and this group, understanding the culture and all the hard work they've put in here, just being able to sit back and really observe for this past year has been really refreshing.
“It's helped me grow not only as a coach but as a person, and I feel like that getting a really good sense of what we did offensively here, the way we played, I thought coach Lebby did a phenomenal job along with a ton of great coaches in that room. Just being around them every day, you're going to learn and you're going to grow. It's been a blessing for me just to have that opportunity this year.”
Littrell fielded nearly a dozen questions about what his offense will look like in 2024 during his first media availability.
Will he go back to his roots and run Leach’s Air Raid? Will he build on what Lebby brought to Norman from Art Briles’ offensive system?
Dykes expects a little of both. Littrell, not wanting to tip his hand, offered a singular hint that he wants his offenses to play with toughness.
He even joked that sometimes he runs the “Air Raid” and sometimes he’ll run the “run raid.”
“I think all of us when we have an opportunity to call plays, we all go back to what we're comfortable in and what we believe in,” Dykes said. “While at the same time, making sure that we're utilizing our personnel and making the head coach happy. I think it'll probably be a combination (of both Leach and Lebby’s schemes).”
While Dykes won’t be facing the Sooners in the Big 12 anymore, he’s excited to see what his friend accomplishes in the SEC. Littrell will be equipped with Arnold and a plethora of returning and incoming talent.
He’ll be running the same offense OU ran this season under Lebby when facing Arizona, but it is the first step in the journey of growing alongside Arnold and teaching his style of play. And take it from those who know him best, he’s ready for this moment to prove he’s still one of the great offensive minds in college football.
“Seth understands football,” Dykes said. “Seth’s teams are always going to run the football. They're always going to be physical and tough-minded. I think Oklahoma is getting an exceptional coach.”