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James Seth Littrell (born July 24, 1978) is an American football coach and former player who was most recently the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Oklahoma before parting ways with the university on October 20, 2024. He was the head coach at the University of North Texas from 2016 to 2022.[1]
 Littrell at 2018 C-USA Kickoff | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 24, 1978 Muskogee, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1997–2000 | Oklahoma |
| Position(s) | Running back |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 2002–2004 | Kansas (GA) |
| 2005–2008 | Texas Tech (RB) |
| 2009 | Arizona (RB/TE) |
| 2010 | Arizona (co-OC/RB/TE) |
| 2011 | Arizona (OC/RB/TE) |
| 2012–2013 | Indiana (OC/FB/TE) |
| 2014–2015 | North Carolina (AHC/OC/TE) |
| 2016–2022 | North Texas |
| 2023 | Oklahoma (OA) |
| 2024 | Oklahoma (OC/QB) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 44–44 |
| Bowls | 0–5 |
Littrell attended the University of Oklahoma, where he played four years as a fullback and was a team captain on the Oklahoma Sooners football team that won the 2000 national championship. He graduated in 2001 with a degree in communications and was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon.[2] His father, Jimmy, also played fullback at OU and won two national championships in 1974 and 1975.
Early life
editLittrell was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and attended Muskogee High School. He played fullback and linebacker where he rushed for 1,385 yards and 29 touchdowns his senior year.[3] He was named first team all state as a linebacker.[4] He finished his prep career with a total of 3,603 rushing yards and 53 TDs. He was recruited by Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Tulsa, Arkansas, Kansas State and Texas.[3] Littrell also wrestled and won two 5A state championship at 189 lbs.[5][6]
Coaching career
editEarly career
editLittrell started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Kansas from 2002 to 2004 under Mark Mangino, his former offensive coordinator at Oklahoma.
Under Mike Leach, he was running backs coach at Texas Tech from 2005 to 2008. From 2009 to 2011, Littrell coached the offense at Arizona. Then from 2012 to 2013, Littrell was offensive coordinator and tight ends coach at Indiana. From 2014 to 2015, Littrell was assistant head coach for offense and tight ends coach at North Carolina under Larry Fedora. In Littrell's last season at North Carolina, the team finished 11–3 and first place in the ACC Coastal Division.[7]
North Texas
editOn December 5, 2015, Littrell was named the head coach at North Texas. UNT hired Littrell after the Mean Green finished 1-11 in 2015.[8] School officials moved quickly to sign Littrell to an extension following the season through 2021.[9] After his first season which saw the team finish in a bowl game and with a 5–8 record, his second season his team broke through. With great play from future NFL back Jeffrey Wilson, senior Kishawn McClain, and the future program passing leader sophomore Mason Fine, the team finished the season with a 9–5 record. This was the first 9-win season in almost 40 years for UNT and led to another contract extension. The following season Littrell led the Mean Green to a 4–0 start with wins that included a 46–23 win over rival SMU, and a surprising 44–17 win over SEC Arkansas. The team finished again with 9 wins and a third consecutive bowl appearance. Littrell is 0–5 in bowl games with the most recent game coming on December 23, 2021, where UNT lost to Miami (OH) 27–14 in the Frisco Football Classic.
North Texas fired Littrell on December 4, 2022, following a 7–6 season in which North Texas qualified for the Frisco Bowl but lost the conference championship game to UTSA. Defensive coordinator Phil Bennett took over as interim head coach for the bowl game.[10]
Oklahoma
editOn March 20, 2023, it was announced that Littrell would join the coaching staff at Oklahoma, his alma mater, as an offensive analyst.[11]
On November 29, 2023, Littrell was promoted to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Oklahoma, replacing Jeff Lebby after his departure to become the head coach at the Mississippi State University.[12]
On October 20, 2024, the University of Oklahoma announced that it was parting ways with Littrell mid-season after posting the statistically worst Oklahoma offense since 1961 through 7 games.
Head coaching record
edit| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Texas Mean Green (Conference USA) (2016–2022) | |||||||||
| 2016 | North Texas | 5–8 | 3–5 | 4th (West) | L Heart of Dallas | ||||
| 2017 | North Texas | 9–5 | 7–1 | 1st (West) | L New Orleans | ||||
| 2018 | North Texas | 9–4 | 5–3 | T–2nd (West) | L New Mexico | ||||
| 2019 | North Texas | 4–8 | 3–5 | T–4th (West) | |||||
| 2020 | North Texas | 4–6 | 3–4 | 4th (West) | L Myrtle Beach | ||||
| 2021 | North Texas | 6–7 | 5–3 | 3rd (West) | L Frisco Football Classic | ||||
| 2022 | North Texas | 7–6 | 6–2 | T–2nd | Frisco[a] | ||||
| North Texas: | 44–44 | 32–23 | |||||||
| Total: | 44–44 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
- ^ North Texas fired Littrell before the bowl game.
References
edit- ^ OU, Guy (November 25, 2023). "Seth Littrell named OC".
- ^ "Playing through COVID-19: SigEp football coaches value preparation, connections to players". sigep.org. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
- ^ a b "Blue Chip List Player Profiles". The Daily Oklahoman. January 19, 1997. p. 222. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
- ^ "The Oklahoman's '96 All-State". The Daily Oklahoman. December 22, 1996. p. 201. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
- ^ "State Championships Class 5A". The Daily Oklahoman. February 25, 1996. p. 32. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
- ^ "OKLAHOMA High School Wrestling State Championships". iwasatthegame.com. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
- ^ "Seth Littrell". North Texas Athletics. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
- ^ "North Texas hires UNC off. coordinator Littrell as coach". USA Today. December 5, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
- ^ "Football: UNT to make Littrell a $1 million man under terms of new deal". Denton Record-Chronicle. May 31, 2017. Archived from the original on June 3, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
- ^ Cruz, Alex (December 4, 2022). "North Texas fires football coach Seth Littrell after seven seasons". WFAA. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
- ^ "OU football adds Seth Littrell, former Sooners fullback and North Texas coach, to staff". The Oklahoman. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
- ^ "Venables Names Littrell Offensive Coordinator, Finley Co-Coordinator". University of Oklahoma Athletics. November 29, 2023. Retrieved December 1, 2023.