The Oklahoma Sooners have experienced a season to forget in their inaugural year with the SEC.
Oklahoma is 4-3 on the season and 1-3 in SEC play. Their lone conference win was against lowly Auburn, which required a come-from-behind effort.
Making things worse for Oklahoma is that neither quarterback Jackson Arnold nor quarterback Michael Hawkins has been particularly good for the team, nor has the offense in general. The Sooners’ last two meetings, losses to the Texas Longhorns and South Carolina Gamecocks, respectively, saw the team outscored 69-12.
On Sunday, head coach Brent Venables announced that offensive coordinator Seth Littrell had been relieved of his duties and would be replaced by Joe Finley.
“Seth is an all-time great Sooner. 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,” Venables said in a statement.
The Sooners have had the SEC’s worst offense by far, averaging just 288 yards per game. Their 22.1 points per game are the lowest in the conference besides Kentucky. Last season, Oklahoma scored 41 points per game and gained 507 yards per game.
Littrell played running back for the Sooners from 1997-2000 and went into coaching shortly after his playing career concluded. His most notable coaching stop was when he spent 2016-22 as head coach of the North Texas Mean Green. He returned to Oklahoma last season.
Finley also played for the Sooners, playing tight end from 2004-07 and bouncing around NFL practice squads before entering coaching. This is his first time as an offensive coordinator. He he has been a tight ends coach at Missouri, Texas A&M, and Ole Miss before taking the same role at Oklahoma.
Oklahoma returns to action on October 26 when it travels to Oxford to take on Ole Miss.
