Denton Connection: the Seth Littrell trio tries to revive North Texas

Harry · August 22, 2016

North Texas head coach Seth Littrell, offensive coordinator Graham Harrell, and quarterback Alec Morris have one thing in common.

The new Mean Green trio — gearing up for a revival in Denton following successful stints elsewhere — has not yet stepped out of the shadows of others.

Littrell’s promotion to the head coaching landscape came days after the conclusion of an 11-3 season with the North Carolina Tar Heels, where the first-year Mean Green mentor served as the assistant head coach to Larry Fedora. The 11-win season is the most successful campaign in the Fedora era in Chapel Hill.

In order to reboot the North Texas offensive staff, one of Littrell’s first hires was former Texas Tech Red Raider quarterback Graham Harrell. Despite a minimal coaching resume, Harrell’s familiarity with the air raid scheme paid dividends in 2015 with head coach Mike Leach and the Washington State Cougars. The then-outside receivers coach aided an offense which produced the No. 3 aerial attack in the country with over 5,000 yards. Harrell helped Leach reach a new benchmark in Pullman with a nine-win season.

With Littrell and Harrell intent on shooting fireworks in Denton, the duo rung in the new year with the transfer of former Alabama quarterback Alec Morris. In terms of success, Morris may have the upper hand on both his new coaches with 50 wins and a pair of national championship rings on his ledger.

Just one problem: Morris threw only one pass over a four-year window in Tuscaloosa.

An assistant head coach, an outside receivers specialist and a backup quarterback — with two nattys — waltz into a bar…

Except this trio is stumbling headfirst into a barren wasteland that needs a lot of sprucing up. North Texas trudged to a 1-11 season amid a 56-point loss to FCS Portland State and the firing of head coach Dan McCarney midway through the 2015 docket.