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In front of 83,331 fans at Memorial Stadium, the Oklahoma Sooners suffered their worst home loss in a decade on Saturday afternoon at the hands of the South Carolina Gamecocks. A 35-9 defeat, in which the Sooners turned the ball over four times, prompted Sooners head coach Brent Venables to proclaim after the game that the team was not playing up to the standard of the program, but in fairness, this wasn't just one bad Saturday afternoon.
Remove a 4th quarter comeback against the Auburn Tigers from the equation, and the Sooners have been outscored 108-37 over the last fifteen quarters of action. For the season, Oklahoma is averaging just 22 points per game (107th in the country), and is being outgained by their opponents by an average of 40 yards per game. In time, someone was going to become the fall guy, and on Sunday afternoon, offensive coordinator Seth Littrell became that guy.
Per a press release by the school, Seth Littrell has been relieved of his duties, effective immediately.
“Seth is an all-time great Sooner,” Venables said on Sunday. “He has a deep love for this university and football program, and has poured his heart and soul into both. Despite that, our performance as an offense this season has not at all lived up to the OU standard and I felt a change was necessary now.”
Seth Littrell has only been on the Oklahoma Sooners coaching staff since 2023. He joined as an offensive analyst after a seven year stint as the head coach at North Texas fizzled out, and after the departure of previous offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby, Littrell was bumped up to offensive coordinator. But this is not where Littrell's relationship with the school began.
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Born and raised in Oklahoma, Seth Littrell played four years for the Sooners from 1997 to 2000. The former fullback served as a captain on the last Sooners team to bring a National Championship back to Norman.
With Littrell out of the picture, Brent Venables will hope that there's an offensive spark that will come as the team turns to Joe Jon Finley to serve as its play-caller. Like Littrell, Finley played for the Sooners long before he joined the coaching staff. Senior offensive analyst Kevin Johns will be the co-offensive coordinator.
“The leadership role Joe Jon plays on our team is critical. He has the confidence of our locker room and coaching staff, and I'm thankful to him for taking on this expanded role in the middle of the season. Kevin joined our staff last spring as an offensive analyst after serving as an offensive coordinator for over a decade,” Venables said. “I'm confident Joe Jon, Kevin and the rest of the offensive staff will work tirelessly to put our players in positions to succeed.
Oklahoma will be visiting Ole Miss this Saturday afternoon. The 5-2 Rebels boast the 2nd-best scoring defense in the country so far this year, so Joe Jon Finley and Kevin Johns will be put to the test right away.
