After a disastrous start to the season for the Sooners’ offense and back-to-back losses in which they scored a total of 12 points, Oklahoma football is parting ways with offensive coordinator Seth Littrell.

Littrell is out after just eight games as an Oklahoma OC, which includes OU’s loss in the 2023 Alamo Bowl. The Sooners are off to a 4-3 start in 2024 and a 1-3 start in conference play in their first season in the SEC. They lost to Texas 34-3 in the Cotton Bowl and suffered 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 “doesn’t come close to the standard here at the University of Oklahoma.”

“Seth is an all-time great Sooner,” Venables said in a statement released Sunday announcing the move as coordinator. “He loves this university and the football program very much and has supported both with his heart and soul. However, our offensive performance this season was not at all up to OU standards and I felt a change was needed now.”

“The leadership role that Joe Jon plays on our team is critical. He has the trust of our locker room and coaching staff and I am grateful for him taking on this expanded role midway through the season. Kevin joined our staff last spring as an offensive analyst after serving as an offensive coordinator for over a decade. He has extensive experience coordinating offenses and coaching quarterbacks, and I look forward to the new approach he will bring and the increased role he will play in offensive game planning. I am confident that Joe Jon, Kevin and the rest of the offensive staff will work tirelessly to put our players in successful positions and make us more effective on that side of the ball.”

Oklahoma is also in the middle of a mess at quarterback, as expected preseason starter Jackson Arnold and true freshman Michael Hawkins Jr. have both struggled and been in and out at various points in the season.

Oklahoma averages just 288.1 yards per game. There are only six teams in the country with a less productive offense. Aside from 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 North Texas from 2016 to 2022, was hired as an offensive analyst at Oklahoma in March 2023. In November of that year, he was promoted to OC and quarterbacks coach after then-former OC Jeff Lebby took the head coaching job at Mississippi State.

Co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Joe Jon Finley will take over as sole OC for the Sooners in the meantime. Finley, a former OU player and graduate assistant, returned to the Sooners in 2021 as associate head coach of offense and tight ends and H-backs coach. Finley will also handle playcalling duties. Senior offensive analyst Kevin Johns is named assistant offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

Oklahoma’s next game is Saturday at Ole Miss. According to ESPNBet, the Sooners are currently 20.5 point underdogs.

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