Sitting down with Coach Littrell

Following Monday’s IU football practice, Indiana Daily Student football beat writer Jordan Littman sat down with Offensive Coordinator Seth Littrell. Here’s what the first-year coach had to say about his new team:


IDS: I saw you a little bit fired up during practice today. What was going on?

Littrell: Nothing was really going on. It’s just a part of two-a-days during camp where you really have to up the intensity, because if you don’t, it’ll be very easy to relax and go back to creating bad habits.

I think every day when you step on the field, there has to be an intensity about you to make sure you’re not creating bad habits, you’re creating good habits. It’s very easy to create bad habits in camp when you feel a little bit fatigued and tired, and if that happens, it comes out in the first game.

So we’re really trying to protect against that, and I want a certain edge about people when they come to practice.


IDS: IU Coach Kevin Wilson said on Saturday that Tre Roberson is the starting quarterback. What are you seeing out of him at camp and why do you think he’s “the guy”?

Littrell: As far as being “the guy,” that’s Coach Wilson. He’s the head coach, and I’m going to leave those answers up to him. The biggest thing I’ve seen, though, is watching all three of those guys grow, and they’ve worked extremely hard. Coach (Kevin) Johns and Coach Wilson have done an unbelievable job with
those guys.

They’re really starting to feel comfortable and see and understand different little aspects of defense that they’re going to see pre-snap and post-snap. We’re getting a lot of reps of the same play with a lot of different formations, so it may look a lot different, but really we’re trying to keep the schemes simple, but at the same time effective, so that they know pre- and post-snap where they’re going with the football.


IDS: Earlier in preseason camp, Wilson said the wide receiving corps is the weakest part of the offense. At this point, do you agree with his statement?

Littrell: Again, that’s for him to say, but my deal is acknowledging we all have deficiencies and we all have areas of the game we need to continue to develop. I can handle mistakes, but my thing is I can’t handle loss of focus and loss of playing full speed every snap.

We have gotten better. When you turn on the film even during the first scrimmage, we have gotten better in that area since I’ve got here. That scrimmage was one of the best efforts that I’ve seen since I’ve been here, and that was encouraging, but again, we still have a lot of mistakes we have to correct.

We’re not there yet, we don’t have to be perfect today, but I think those guys are working at getting better at their deficiencies. And that’s a hard thing to do because in films, it’s not always easy to get called out on something you’re not good at, and you have to be man enough and confident enough in yourself and your abilities to take coaching well.

They have to understand it’s not a bad thing; it’s just something you have to work hard on to fix.


IDS: Do you feel like you’ve seen improvement out of them?

Littrell: I’ve seen improvement from the entire team, and we just have to continue to do that on a daily basis. In practices, the one thing I’m pleased at is we haven’t taken many steps back, but we’re working hard and they’ve been doing what they’re asked to do.

At times, there will be lulls. At times they’ll feel a little bit sorry for themselves just like everybody, but they overcome it quickly, not only through us but through each other and the leaders on this team. Again, it’s getting better as we go, and we just need to continue to grow as a team.


IDS: Do you like what you’ve been seeing out of your offensive line thus far?

Littrell: Yeah, I think Coach (Greg) Frey does an unbelievable job with those guys, and we have a lot of young guys at that position.

Especially with the eight freshmen on the O-Line, Coach Frey has done a really good job of studying and getting a grasp of what they need to do, because when it’s all said and done, they still need to be a physical group.

For us to be successful, they have to be physical in all areas, whether it’s pass block or run block. Overall, I think they’ve done some great things. They just need to continue them.


IDS: In your eyes, are there any freshmen in particular on the offensive side that have stuck out since practice has started?

Littrell: I think Ricky Jones has really done some good things at slot. He’s a guy who, if he continues to work and practice the way he’s done, I’d really like the things I’d see from him.

Tevin Coleman is another guy at a skill position who is starting to learn a little bit more about the offense. Early on, it’s hard, it’s fast-paced and there’s a lot of different stuff he has to know, so the more comfortable he gets, you’ll see him running for us more and more.

And then all of those freshmen O-Linemen I think really have a chance to be really special. Coach Frey has done a good job with them.

I’ve been impressed with them, but at the same time they need to get to a point where they’re not a really good freshman, but to a point where they’re a really good Big Ten football player. They just have to continue to work with the ball, and I think there are some guys who are on track to help us out.