GMG Time Machine: Seth Littrell ignites North Texas football

Coach Andy Mac · September 30, 2022

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Wren Baker knows that deeper-pocket schools eventually will come after his coach. Knows that Seth Littrell is on the short list of many an athletic director who might soon need a leader for their football program.

And Baker is OK with that. That's life as a mid-major athletic director. Baker knows that if others want Littrell, North Texas is having the success wanted by everyone associated with the Mean Green.

North Texas plays Troy at noon Saturday in the New Orleans Bowl, which kicks off college football's postseason, and the 9-4 Mean Green is led by a trio of eastern Oklahomans.

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“One of the best young coaches in the country,” said Baker, who was hired by UNT in summer 2016 and inherited Littrell. “I think he's tremendous.

“With Seth, what you see is what you get. There's no facade. There's no act. He's about as real and authentic and genuine as you can get. That resonates with his coaches, that resonates throughout the department, resonates with his team. I think it resonates as he goes out and recruits.”

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And building relationships. Baker takes pride in the relationship he's built with Littrell, having had some practice with fellow Oklahomans. Baker was an associate athletic director at both Memphis and Missouri; he says he got tight both places with head coaches Justin Fuente (Tulsa Union) and Barry Odom (Ada), respectively.

“Seth and I are very close,” Baker said. “We talk every day. Many days, it has nothing to do with football or North Texas. I try to be a part of this process and journey. We're the same age. We're both from rural Oklahoma. We've been moved around.

“I've processed what we can do to keep him here as long as we can. He's had calls from schools that some people would thought, ‘he'll go look at that.' And he hasn't. Seth is built differently. One, he's loyal. Two, this is home. He's within three or four hours from all the family.

Read more: https://www.oklahoman.com/story/sports/columns/berry-tramel/2017/12/15/seth-littrell-ignites-north-texas-football/60555155007/