Oklahoma Offensive Coordinator Hot Board

Brent Venables must now embark on an offensive coordinator search after Jeff Lebby was hired as Mississippi State's head coach.

Author:
Ryan Chapman
Publish date:
Nov 26, 2023 5:49 PM EST

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Oklahoma Sooners

For the first time in his short tenure at Oklahoma, Brent Venables is on the hunt for a new coordinator.

After two years at the helm of OU’s offense, Jeff Lebby is headed to Starkville to fill the head coaching vacancy at Mississippi State.

The Sooners appear to already have contingencies in place with a support staff loaded with experienced offensive coaches, but Venables will have to nail the hire to continue the development of true freshman Jackson Arnold as well as keep 2024 quarterback commits Michael Hawkins and Brendan Zurbrugg in the boat as well as hold the interest of 2025 quarterback pledge Kevin Sperry.

Dillon Gabriel also has a year of eligibility remaining if he elects to stay in college, though he has yet to announce his future plans beyond the 2023 season.

The Sooners will want to move quickly, as transfer portal activity picks up headed into the offseason, and the National Signing Day kicks off with the early signing period on Dec. 20.

Seth Littrell

A fullback on Oklahoma’s 2000 national title team and the son of two-time national champion fullback Jim Littrell, Seth Littrell most recently was head coach at North Texas, serving from 2016-2022.

Since his dismissal in Denton, Littrell returned to Norman to work with the Sooners as an offensive analyst.

Littrell, a native of Muskogee, OK, posted a 44-44 overall record at North Texas, highlighted by a pair of nine-win seasons in both 2017 and 2018.

He stayed true to his offensive roots by developing Locust Grove, OK, quarterback Mason Fine into one of the best passers in the country.

Before taking the head coaching job at North Texas, Littrell was the offensive coordinator at Arizona, Indiana and North Carolina.

In his final year with the Tar Heels, North Carolina finished 18th in the country in total offense, posting 486.9 yards per game under former head coach Larry Fedora.

Already a member of the program, Littrell would have preexisting relationships with both the current roster and intimate knowledge of the entire weekly operation at Oklahoma, in theory easing the transition period this offseason as the Sooners prepare to enter the SEC.

Matt Wells

Oklahoma has another option on its own staff.

Former Utah State and Texas Tech head coach Matt Wells just completed his second year as an analyst for the Sooners.

Wells, who grew up in Sallisaw, OK, served as the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator at Utah State before being elevated to head coach, where he headed up the program from 2013-2018 and went 44-34.

In 2019, Wells took over in Lubbock, but he was dismissed eight games into the 2021 season after going 13-17.

Wells’ Utah State offense ranked 11th in total offense in 2018 and threw for 294.2 yards per game with future first-round pick Jordan Love in command.

Back at Oklahoma, Wells helped bring along OU’s quarterbacks in his capacity as an analyst.

Like Littrell, Wells’ experience as a head coach would be valuable. Venables is heavily involved in Oklahoma’s defensive operation, and an understanding of how both sides of the football work in tandem could be a desirable asset.

Sean Lewis

Sean Lewis’ recent career move hasn’t quite worked out.

This past offseason, Lewis left his job as the head coach at Kent State to join Deion Sanders’ Colorado staff as offensive coordinator.

Lewis was 24-31 in charge at Kent State, including a 2022 loss to the Sooners in Norman, and he worked as Syracuse’ co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2016-2017.

He initially had Colorado’s offense performing far above expectations, as the Buffaloes were an early-season darling in college football.

But as the season wore on, the cracks in Boulder started to show.

With little offensive line talent, Colorado struggled deep into Pac-12 play.

As a result, Sanders stripped the play calling from Lewis.

Oklahoma could provide a lifeline to the former Kent State coach, bringing him into a more stable atmosphere with young talent along the line of scrimmage already present in Cayden Green and Jacob Sexton, and Arnold is waiting in the wings to take over as the face of the Sooners’ offense.

Andy Ludwig

Things didn’t quite go to plan for Utah this year, either, but that was more a result of quarterback Cam Rising missing the whole season than the work of offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig.

Ludwig has an extensive track record as an offensive coordinator, including stints at Cal Poly (1997), Fresno State (1998-2001), Oregon (2002-2004), California (2009-2010), San Diego State (2011-2012), Wisconsin (2013-2014) and Vanderbilt (2015-2018) before returning to Utah in 2019.

Last offseason, Ludwig reportedly was close to taking the same role at Notre Dame before the Irish changed course instead of paying his contract buyout.

Utah’s offense finished the 2022 season ranked No. 17 overall in total offense, racking up 466.9 yards per game.

Kliff Kingsbury

It’s unclear if Kliff Kingsbury would return to an offensive coordinator spot in college football after his last stop on the field was in charge of the Arizona Cardinals.

Kingsbury is currently working as an analyst at USC, but his track record as an offensive mind is undeniable at offensive coordinator stops like Houston and Texas A&M.

The offenses Kingsbury fielded at Texas Tech were as explosive as any in the country, and he would be an appealing coach to top quarterback recruits across the country.

With the fresh perspective of jumping from head coach in Lubbock (where he went 35-40) to calling plays in the NFL (28-37-1), Kingsbury also would have plenty of knowledge of how to scheme for the caliber of defender the Sooners will face week-to-week in the SEC.

Scott Frost

Another name outside the box could be former Nebraska head coach Scott Frost, who currently isn’t working after his dismissal from Lincoln last year.

A national championship quarterback at Nebraska in the '90s, Frost’s tenure as head coach at Nebraska was undoubtedly a failure, but he has a great track record of constructing high-powered offenses.

He completely turned around UCF, leading the Knights to a perfect 13-0 season in 2017 that ended in a Peach Bowl victory over Auburn. In two years under Frost, the Knights went 19-7, but things spiraled quickly to a 16-31 record at his alma mater.

Before he made the jump to UCF, Frost served as Oregon’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2013-2015, including a berth in the College Football Playoff national championship game.

In 2015, Oregon’s offense finished the year 27th in scoring offense, 16th in total offense and in the top 31 in both rushing and passing offense.

Frost’s UCF offense finished first in the country in points per game in 2017, and ended up fifth in total offense.

With the Ducks, Frost played a major role in the development of Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Marcus Mariota, as well as UCF’s star quarterback McKenzie Milton.