Experienced Langston Looks To Improve Offensive Line

Harry · March 7, 2017

As the 2016 season concluded, one of the position groups that saw significant growth in year one of the Seth Littrell era was the offensive line. Admittedly, the big guys up front still have a lot of work to do to help the Mean Green reach the desired heights that Littrell and offensive coordinator Graham Harrell seek.

One piece of that equation is gone. Now-former offensive line coach Brad Davis was snapped up by the Florida Gators right after signing day. North Texas saw marked improvement under Davis from spring of 2016 through December 27 at the Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl, and brought in a bevy of new additions on signing day on February 1.

Enter veteran coach, Chuck Langston. Littrell made it clear that this position on his staff is one of the most significant, especially as it pertains to the desired growth of the offense as a whole. Simply, the quarterback needs more time to take advantage of the mismatches that this offensive system creates, and the running backs need the space to get through to the second level.

“I was looking for a great teacher, a great mentor, a guy that can relate with the players and someone who does a great job understanding our scheme,” Littrell said. “I’ve known Chuck a long time and I knew he understood what we were trying to accomplish offensively. He’s not only a guy who has been a great offensive line coach, but has also called plays as a coordinator. With his vast amount of knowledge and experience, I felt like he’d do a really good job with our men. He’s a guy that will create good chemistry and I know they’ll have a lot of trust with each other.”

Langston inherits an offensive line that ranked at the bottom of Conference USA in sacks allowed, at 43, in 13 games (3.3 per game). But he also inherits a group that has a lot of key returners, and several new, talented faces. The line was a huge focal point in the 2017 signing class, as Littrell and company inked five offensive linemen, four of which will be freshmen this fall. That position group accounted for nearly 28 percent of the 18-man class.

Littrell describes Langston as a tremendous teacher, and the Beaumont, Texas, native has strong ties within the state and up into Oklahoma. He most recently served as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Lamar, the Mean Green’s opening opponent in 2017, and has years of experience at a variety of levels to bring with him to Denton.

“I think the number one thing that attracted me to North Texas was coach Littrell,” Langston said. “He and I go back a long time and I believe in him. I’ve always believed this could be a special place, just driving by. My family is in Wichita Falls and up into Oklahoma, so you always drive by and see this beautiful stadium and the facilities they’ve built. They’ve brought in Wren [Baker] and Seth and I think Seth is an incredible coach and great leader. He’s always been a leader, even back to his playing days.”

read more: http://www.meangreensports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/030717aac.html

DeepGreen · March 7, 2017

Langston is from Beaumont. Maybe he can re-open that Golden Triangle pipeline that gave us some many good players in the past. Beaumont, Port Arthur, West-Orange, Newton, Silsbee, Lufkin, etc., all produce good 1A players year end and year out. Other than the Texas Power 6 players, Houston and La Tech really do well down there. We need a place at the recruiting table too.

TreeFiddy · March 8, 2017

......of the 18-man class.

Looks like we have up to 2 additional spots in this class if someone comes available late.

BTG_Fan1 · March 8, 2017

42 minutes ago, TreeFiddy said:

......of the 18-man class.

Looks like we have up to 2 additional spots in this class if someone comes available late.

Interesting because we thought we had gotten to 19 with the Punter...

Wonder if something happened with him, and that is why are brought in the new Kicker from Louisville