NORMAN - Oklahoma’s offense doesn’t need a miracle in Year 2 under Ben Arbuckle. It needs growth. Real growth.
That’s the bar for the Sooners entering preseason camp, and it’s why the conversation around this offense keeps circling back to two names: Arbuckle and John Mateer. The quarterback’s health matters, obviously. But so does the coordinator’s ability to take the next step after a first season that never really found its footing.
Arbuckle arrived in Norman as a 29-year-old offensive coordinator with a fresh reputation and a young quarterback he already knew well. Now he’s 30, a month away from 31, and the pressure has changed.
The shine of the “young, hot-shot coordinator” label is always fragile. It looks a lot different once the results land on the page.
And last year’s results were rough.
Oklahoma finished ninth in passing, 13th in rushing and 14th in yards per play in the 16-team SEC. Mateer, who followed Arbuckle from Washington State to OU, was hampered after injuring his hand.
The offensive line was inexperienced. The run game stalled.
The passing attack never really produced the kind of chunk plays that change a season.
Brent Venables knows the offense’s leap starts there.
“Excited about all the work and development that has taken place,” Venables said Tuesday to open camp. “None of it can happen without him.”
That “him” is Arbuckle, and Venables made it clear the Sooners’ offensive future is tied to how much their coordinator grows in his second year. Mateer’s play is the biggest swing factor, but Arbuckle’s performance is right there with it.
Arbuckle said Tuesday that the biggest difference for him now is confidence in how to handle the job.
“I think from last year to this year, one of the biggest things I feel like I have more confidence in is just finding the absolute best way to do something and lean on the guys around me,” Arbuckle said Tuesday. “Coming into Year 1 you really are trying to build trust and confidence with not only the players, but everybody in the building and everybody in your offensive staff room.”
That staff room looks different now.
Jason Witten replaced Joe Jon Finley as tight ends coach. Deland McCullough took over the running backs room from DeMarco Murray. And Kevin Wilson, who once coordinated some explosive Oklahoma offenses in the 2000s and spent years as a head coach at Indiana and Tulsa, was promoted from special assistant to the head coach/offensive analyst to assistant head coach of offense.
Wilson brings a different kind of weight to the room. Not a takeover.
Not an agenda. More like a veteran sounding board with enough scars to know what can go wrong.
“I’m just kind of like the conscience, if that makes sense,” Wilson said of his role. “I’m not really pushing an agenda.”
He said he can offer “a lot of bad play calls, a lot of bad decisions, a lot of bad game plans along the way.”
And he had strong praise for Arbuckle.
“He’s got great intelligence, great passion, great work ethic, really good knowledge …” Wilson said of Arbuckle. “I think he’s a fantastic young coach off to a great start, but I think he has a willingness to learn and grow, and most importantly, try to fit what’s best for our players and what’s best for Coach Venables’ team.”
Wilson also understands the balance involved. He’s not there to become the guy saying, here’s how I used to do it. That’s not the job.
“A young me would struggle,” Wilson said. “An old me bites my lip.
I’m very experienced not because of my coaching pedigree, but at being married for over 30 years with five kids. I’ve had a lot of ideas that nobody bought.”
Still, the presence of someone with Wilson’s background adds another layer of expectation on Arbuckle, whether intentional or not.
The broader trend around Venables’ staff helps explain why Arbuckle has been brought along so quickly. The coach has leaned younger with coordinator hires, and that comes with upside and risk.
Former offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby was 38. Former defensive coordinator Zac Alley was 30.
Arbuckle was even younger when Venables brought him in.
Venables said he recognizes the learning curve because he lived it himself.
“You don't know what you don't know until you go through it,” Venables said. “...
You feel like you have to carry this heavy weight of, ‘I’m supposed to know everything because I have that title.’ But in reality, how would you ever know everything?
You have no capacity at that time from an experience standpoint to know everything. But he’s been great.
He’s very hungry, super bright, really smart.”
There’s also something about Arbuckle that players keep coming back to: he actually connects.
That matters in today’s game, where the best young coordinators often bring both scheme and rapport. Tight end Hayden Hansen, a Florida transfer, said Arbuckle stands out because of how naturally he handles people.
“He’s probably the first OC that really connects with the players on a personal level outside of the game,” Hansen said. “He’s really good at flipping the switch.
When it’s time to go, it’s time to go. There’s no messing around.
But outside of the game and before practice he just cuts it up with a lot of players. It really does take a load off your shoulders.”
The relationship with Mateer goes even deeper. Hansen said the two are in their fourth season together as coordinator and quarterback, and the bond shows behind the scenes.
“I wish you could see them behind the scenes,” Hansen said. “It’s kind of like brothers.”
That connection is one of the reasons the Sooners are counting on a better offensive year. Mateer is healthy now, the supporting cast is more experienced and Arbuckle has a year of SEC bruises behind him. The job no longer comes with the same rookie feel.
Oklahoma’s offense did improve from 2024 to 2025, though mostly by not being as bad as it had been before. The Sooners went from 113th to 92nd in total offense and from 124th to 97th in yards per play. They won 10 games and made the College Football Playoff anyway, powered by a defense that was dominant enough to cover for the offense’s shortcomings.
That defense could be strong again in 2026, maybe even better.
But if Oklahoma wants to take another step, the offense can’t drag behind it. Not again.
Arbuckle is the one who has to make sure it doesn’t.
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