Dean Blevins: Seth Littrell's Dismissal Not A Surprise

Oklahoma offensive coordinator Seth Littrell is out, with Sooner Scoop first reporting the news.

The move did not surprise. When we were first told of the decision earlier Sunday that Littrell was out, there was no confirmation on the timing, whether he’d remain on staff, or if the new play-caller would be someone on the current staff.

With scant in-house options, head coach Brent Venables decided to elevate tight ends coach and co-offensive coordinator Joe Jon Finley to take on the immense task of play-designing and play-calling.

We had anticipated and been told that wide receivers coach and pass game coordinator Emmett Jones could become more involved. Jones also has no experience in play-calling or of being an offensive coordinator.

Finley has no experience in play-calling as he jumps into the SEC cauldron Saturday at Ole Miss.

Of note is the line of recent Sooners offensive coordinators and play-callers: two-plus decades of elite offensive production has seen the vitally important role go from Josh Heupel to Lincoln Riley to Jeff Lebby to Littrell and now to Joe Jon Finley.

Seth Littrell is a good man and coach. We questioned the hire then, primarily because of his relative lack of recent offensive coordinator experience.

The depleted receiver room and offensive line made his challenge exponentially more difficult. A questionable quarterback change did not improve things.

We learned tons throughout the day in talking with coaches and sources and will break it all down on Sunday night's Blitz at 10:20 p.m. on News 9 and News On 6.