NORMAN — OU football players are turning their focus toward Mississippi amid the program’s offensive struggles and Sunday’s firing of offensive coordinator Seth Littrell.
While new play caller Joe Jon Finley and new quarterbacks coach Kevin Johns brought new energy to the practice field to start the week, the vibes were different. Tight end Jake Roberts, who played for Littrell at North Texas, hasn’t spoken to his former coach since he was let go but said he will soon.
“I love coach Littrell as a coach and a person and this doesn’t change a thing about that,” Roberts said after practice Tuesday.
The switch at play caller came after Saturday’s 35-9 blowout loss to South Carolina, the Sooners‘ worst home loss since 2014. Venables has tasked Finley and Johns to fix OU’s offense, which ranks 129th nationally.
Rallying together has been the players’ central message ahead of the Sooners’ final five games.
“It’s unfortunate,” running back Jovantae Barnes said. “But our biggest thing is we have to focus on who we have next. Take it day by day. We have to go out there and do our job and execute better as players.”
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Head coach Brent Venables made it clear Tuesday during his weekly news conference that the abysmal offensive performances this season aren’t all Litrell’s fault. The Sooners are missing their five best receivers, the offensive line allowed nine sacks against the Gamecocks and the tight ends and running backs have largely struggled.
Offensive lineman Troy Everett said after watching film from last Saturday that the fixes are “here or there” and “one play or one thing.”
By all accounts, Finley and Johns have brought a certain edge to practice this week.
“The vibe has been good,” Everett said. “We hate the news that happened. The offense has been great. The energy has been up the last two days. We haven’t had any practices this season where people have been moping or kicking the dirt. Everybody has had really high energy and wanting to get better.”
Finley, Johns and quarterback Jackson Arnold, who Venables announced Monday is OU’s starter again, travel to face Mississippi at 11 a.m. Saturday on ESPN. Head coach Lane Kiffin’s group boasts one of the best defenses in the country.
No player likes seeing a coach they care for lose their job. They know they need to execute better and that a change had to be made.
Who knows what the next five games or the offseason ahead will bring, but for now players are sticking together, putting the struggles behind them and aiming to finish strong.
“That’s all you can do,” Roberts said. “There’s going to be a lot of outside noise and stuff and I felt like we’ve really come together. Bad stuff’s gonna happen. Changes happen. It’s just part of the business and part of the game. We’ve decided we’re going to stick together through all of this.
“That’s all you can do is come back to work, pull yourself up by the bootstraps and get back to work.”
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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: How OU football players reacted to Seth Littrell being fired as OC
