Five coaches the Oklahoma Sooners should pursue to replace OC Seth Littrell in 2025
It's time for the Oklahoma Sooners to fire offensive coordinator Seth Littrell. It's clearly not working and after another embarrassing outing by the offense, changes have to be made. Fortunately, I've been working on an offensive coordinator list for several weeks now. Let's look on the optimistic side here and build a future for Sooners […]
It's time for the Oklahoma Sooners to fire offensive coordinator Seth Littrell. It's clearly not working and after another embarrassing outing by the offense, changes have to be made.
Fortunately, I've been working on an offensive coordinator list for several weeks now. Let's look on the optimistic side here and build a future for Sooners fans.
This list isn't ranked in order of preference, just in alphabetical order. I based this list mainly on offensive success, but some coaches also come in with connections to the staff.
1. Ben Arbuckle, Washington State Cougars OC
Arbuckle is one of the most respected names in the coaching world for his high-octane offense with the Washington State Cougars.
The Cougars are 19th in total offense this season, running an up-tempo Air Raid-esque offense. Arbuckle isn't pure Air Raid, but his system is pretty quarterback-friendly.
Washington State's offense sits ninth in SportSourceAnalytics Offensive Rating Score this season, and it's easy to see why on film. They pick up chunks of yards in a hurry.
The most impressive part of Arbuckle is his adjustments in the run game. The Cougars have called a pretty diverse rushing attack, and Arbuckle has tweaked his offense to support a running quarterback. Wazzu is 16th in Yards per Rush with 6.31 this season.
Now, there are concerns, just to cover my bases here. In last week's game against Fresno State, the offense struggled big time and needed a late game pick-six to clinch the win. Their yards per play was a season-low 4.28. Arbuckle has been in Pullman for 18 games, and in that stretch, his unit has been at or under 5.0 yards per play seven times.
Looking at the advanced metrics, Washington State sits just 47th in adjusted EPA/Play, though their raw EPA/Play is better at 27th. They've struggled with injuries on the offensive line and their quarterback may or may not be functional as a passer, so it's not purely on Arbuckle, but just sharing the concerns.
Fans and people who cover the Cougars have also expressed plenty of concerns about Arbuckle's calls this season.
Still, the Cougars have had their fair share of top-flight offensive games, and Arbuckle's success goes back to Western Kentucky. A swing at Arbuckle is another swing back to a Lincoln Riley style of offense.
2. Joe Craddock, Tulane Green Wave OC
This might be my personal preference for the hire out of every name suggested. Now, Oklahoma fans might be a little confused as to why I'd put an offensive coordinator who the Sooners already beat this season. That game was more a testament to Oklahoma's defense than Tulane's offense, in my opinion.
Craddock was at Clemson with both Brent Venables and defensive coordinator Zac Alley, and he's been successful at multiple spots since. He became the youngest offensive coordinator in the country in 2015 and helped turn SMU's offense around under Chad Morris.
He served as UAB's tight ends coach in 2021, helping lead tight end Gerrit Prince to earn C-USA second-team honors in 2021 as he led all tight ends nationally in yards per reception (19.4) and paced the team in receptions (34) and touchdowns (10).
When he took over as offensive coordinator under Jon Sumrall at Troy, their offenses immediately turned around. The Trojan offense was one of the most explosive in the country in Craddock's first season, ranking fourth with nine passes of 50-plus yards and five passes of 60-plus yards.
In 2023, Troy’s offense under Craddock ranked fourth in the nation with nine passes of 50-plus yards and five passes of 60-pass yards. They finished as back-to-back Sun Belt Champions in 2022 and 2023.
Now at Tulane, Craddock's offense has once again become one of the nation's best.
The Green Wave sits eighth in SportSourceAnalytics Offensive Rating score. They are eighth in scoring offense on the season.
Craddock's offensive scheme is very pro-style, reminiscent of Sean McVay's with the Los Angeles Rams. They run a ton of pistol (almost a 40% clip) with some under-center mixed in, a whopping 54.5% motion rate, with plenty of duo/power/outside zone in the run game.
It's a system that would be very complementary to what Brent Venables's defense.
3. Buster Faulkner, Georgia Tech
Faulkner has been on my radar for a few years now, and if you've known me personally, you know that I've been a fan of his since before the Yellow Jackets even hired him.
It's hard to argue with the results. The Yellow Jackets are averaging a modest 32.9 points per game this season, but they sit seventh in the country in EPA/Play, 31st in Yards/Play, 10th in Offensive Success Rate, 12th in EPA/Pass, 9th in Passing Success Rate, 20th in EPA/Rush, and 29th in Rushing Success rate, just behind Oregon and Boise State.
The offense is a spread-esque offense that spreads the ball around to its playmakers. 18 different Yellow Jackets have a catch this season. They are explosive and do a good job of putting their guys out in space. Faulkner adjusted the offense well to suit a running quarterback in Haynes King.
There's not many links to Faulkner, but he's been a part of some successful staffs in the country and spent the 2020-22 seasons with the Georgia Bulldogs. Now on his own, he's turned Georgia Tech's offense into one of the most fun in the country.
4. Mack Leftwich, Texas State Bobcats OC
GJ Kinne gets his well-deserved kudos for his high-octane offenses, but Leftwich has been an influential part of that formula at both Incarnate Word and Texas State. Sam Houston State head coach K.C. Keeler said Willie Fritz asked him about OCs to hire at Houston and he named Leftwich as one of his top candidates (Fritz probably should have listened).
I've heard some rumors that Leftwich is the architect of the offense that's swept the nation over the last two seasons.
Their offense has regressed some from 2023, but the Bobcats are still 24th in EPA/Play, 20th in EPA/Pass, seventh in Passing success rate, and they are averaging 38.2 points per game.
Leftwich's principles have stayed consistent: using pace and motion to dictate terms to the defense. Keep it simple for the quarterback, build in easy answers for the offense, and smooth out the decision-making. Both of those have been clear concerns for Oklahoma's offense this season.
5. Eric Morris, North Texas Mean Green HC
Now now, I know firing one former North Texas head coach to hire another one might be a weird look optics-wise, but just hear me out. Eric Morris rocks.
The Mean Green are putting you and I out there on offense right now with 77(!) newcomers to the roster and are 18th in the country in EPA/Play, tied with Kansas State and Syracuse, and are ranked ahead of offenses like Tulane, Texas State, Washington, LSU, and Georgia.
They generate explosives with ease, averaging 7.49 yards per play on the year, good for ninth in the country. The Mean Green are 13th in scoring, averaging 40.8 points per game, and their 32 touchdowns are more than Tennessee, Clemson, Oregon, LSU, and Georgia have scored.
Much like Leftwich, Morris is fantastic at building answers for the offense on every play. Nine different players have caught a touchdown pass. 19 total players have caught a pass. Under Littrell, the Mean Green were dead last in the C-USA in passing yards. In 18 games under Morris, the offense has crossed 500 yards 11 times. They have four 70+ yard plays this season.
The offense is all about tempo and pace. While that might not mesh well with Venables's desire to be complementary, it's clear the offense is productive.
Morris was the architect of Incarnate Word's high-flying offense before GJ Kinne came along, and he has a strong history of development and production no matter where he's been. He was Kliff Kingsbury's right-hand man at Texas Tech from 2014-2017, and coached at Wazzu before Arbuckle arrived. Morris also worked with Sooners' wide receivers coach Emmett Jones at Texas Tech.
Morris might want to stay as a head coach, which is understandable. He's got the Mean Green rolling on to a 5-1 start. With his deep ties to the state of Texas and clear production everywhere he's been, Oklahoma might want to throw a deep bag of cash his way and make him say no.
Honorable Mentions:
- Zach Kittley, Texas Tech Red Raiders OC
- Tino Sunseri, Indiana Hoosiers Quarterbacks coach/co-OC
- Rob Ezell, South Alabama Jaguars OC
- Brennan Carroll, Washington Huskies OC
- Brennan Marion, UNLV Rebels OC
