Former Oklahoma Sooners offensive coordinator and current Tennessee Volunteers offensive analyst Seth Littrell's name is an important one as OU hosts the Auburn Tigers, and Jackson Arnold, this Saturday.
Littrell's the offensive coordinator whose schemes were supposedly not being run well enough by Arnold during the 2024 season, leading to his being replaced by Michael Hawkins Jr. several times before Jon Joe Finley took over as lead play-caller. Arnold got the ball back, but the damage was done.
Littrell's firing, and reinsertion of Arnold by season's end, proved Brent Venables didn't think the quarterback was the problem.
Auburn Undercover's Nathan King gave Littrell's operation a dubious label: "poor."
"Taking over following Dillon Gabriel's transfer to Oregon, Arnold was named Oklahoma's starter to begin the 2024 season — before a myriad of injuries, particularly at receiver and offensive line, set the stage for a doomed season for the Sooners' offense. Arnold was caught in the middle of a poor operation that saw Oklahoma struggle on that side of the ball, and he was benched for three games, including Oklahoma's win at Auburn," King wrote.
Tennessee is No. 6 in yards per game, so Littrell is clearly not hurting Vols offensive coordinator Joey Halzle's operation. Joey Aguilar has been a godsend for Tennessee, which spent the offseason getting over their split from Nico Iamaleava.
Still, Littrell will always be remembered negatively in Norman if Arnold goes on to do great things on the Plains. If Arnold doesn't, Littrell was still a one-year experiment that crashed and burned in spectacular fashion, continuing a spiral for OU that Venables is just now pulling them out of.
Arnold and Venables' divide will be the storyline of the week. But telling it without Littrell's involvement is leaving out the most crucial element of the whole ordeal.