Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel made a move this week that every UT fan should’ve seen coming this offseason.
According a report from VolQuest, Tennessee is adding former Oklahoma Sooners offensive coordinator Seth Littrell to the offensive staff.
Littrell, who served as the head coach at North Texas from 2016 to 2022, was fired by Oklahoma last season after just seven games as the program’s offensive coordinator.
If you’ve followed Heupel’s career closely, this is a move that you likely saw coming.
Heupel and Littrell were teammates at Oklahoma in 1999 and 2000. The two former Sooners were captains on Oklahoma’s 2000 national championship team and they’ve remained close friends in the years since their time in Norman (Heupel was a groomsmen in Littrell’s wedding in 2007).
With Littrell likely looking to revamp his coaching career, it makes plenty of sense for him to join his old friend in Knoxville.
It’s unclear what kind of role Littrell will have with the Vols, but it’ll likely include some help in film breakdown, opponent breakdown, self scouting, and other tasks that can help improve the efficiency of Tennessee’s offense. He’ll also be another set of eyes for the offense that can bring a different perspective after working outside of the “Heupel bubble” for the last 25 years (Heupel and Littrell have actually never been on a coaching staff together).
Additionally, Littrell is another coach in the facility who knows what it takes to win a national championship as a player. He’ll be able to help reinforce Heupel’s message of the competitive composure it takes every day to be a champion. That’s something that Littrell can bring to the locker room and meeting rooms that shouldn’t be overlooked.
It’s a good move by Heupel, even if it’s an unsurprising move.