North Texas Daily

Scott Sidway | Sports Editor

@ScottyWK

The University of North Texas has named University of North Carolina assistant coach Seth Littrell as its next head football coach. The announcement was made official by the Mean Green athletics department Saturday evening.

Littrell was one of two finalists with Texas Christian University offensive coordinator Doug Meacham, but a source close to the hiring process told North Texas Daily Meacham was a distant second place to Littrell throughout the process.

Seth Littrell Courtesy | North Carolina Athletics

Littrell served as the assistant head coach for offense and tight ends at North Carolina for the past two seasons. The Tar Heels finished 16th in total offense this season, averaging 495 yards per game, and 18th in rushing offense with 229 rushing yards per game. North Carolina also scored the 11th most points in the country this season with 41 per game.

Meanwhile, the North Texas offense finished 123rd out of 127 FBS teams in scoring offense and 117th in total offensive yards in 2015. Athletic Director Rick Villarreal said at the beginning of the coaching search he wanted to hire someone who was offensive-minded and is able to recruit in Texas.

Before arriving at North Carolina, he served as offensive coordinator and tight ends and fullbacks coach at Indiana University, where he constructed a top-10 offense in 2014.  He has also worked at Arizona University, where he coached current NFL talents Rob Gronkowski and Nick Foles, and at Texas Tech University as the running backs coach under Mike Leach.

The Mean Green finished 1-11 this season, its fourth ten-loss season in the last 10 years. Villarreal fired former coach Dan McCarney immediately after a 66-7 loss to Portland State University on homecoming, and offensive coordinator Mike Canales became interim head coach for the final seven games. McCarney led the team to a 0-5 start, while Canales was able to win one game in the final seven games – a home game against the University of Texas at San Antonio.

President Neal Smatresk was also heavily involved in the decision-making process, according to a source.

An official press conference to introduce Littrell is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Monday, and will be live-streamed on MeanGreenSports.com. There will also be a 4 p.m. meet-and-greet at the University Union in the Syndicate on the second floor.

Featured Image: North Texas junior quarterback DaMarcus Smith (10) looks left after the snap before he threw a touchdown pass to Carlos Smith against WKU earlier in the 2015 season. Colin Mitchell | Photographer