Offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle has been focused on transforming the Sooners.
OU made the College Football Playoff in 2025, but the offense was still lacking in production, ranking No. 94 in yards per game. This comes after Arbuckle led Washington State to the No. 6 offense in the nation in points per game in 2024. With the Southeastern Conference and a new team bringing new challenges, Arbuckle looks to evolve his coaching, which he has done well with so far in the 2026 offseason, according to head coach Brent Venables.
“We've been able to really lock in from a scheme standpoint in areas where we weren't as strong as we needed to, …” Venables said. “Every coach, if they're doing it right, is always learning, growing and evolving.”
Quarterbacks coach John Kuceyeski has been with Arbuckle since January 2023. The duo guided the Cougars from No. 38 in points per game in 2023 to No. 6 in 2024. Kuceyeski said on March 28 that Arbuckle’s mission to keep “evolving” goes back to his days in Pullman, Washington, and the pursuit becomes more important in the SEC.
Sooner quarterbacks coach John Kuceyeski praises offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle’s offseason focus on “continuing to evolve.”
“He's not going to go out there and just run air-raid passes until the cows come home because that's what he started with,” Kuceyeski said. “Every year I've watched him, he has made it a point in the months of January, February, again in May and June, (to) sit down and have the hard conversations. ‘What's the best scheme for us?’ … This conference (is) going to challenge you every single week, and if you don't evolve, you're going to get your butt kicked. … He does as good as anybody does — proud of him. And we're making another evolution.”
Improving the offense starts with the quarterback, and redshirt senior John Mateer has been working to improve his throwing mechanics after dealing with a thumb injury last season. He averaged 304 passing yards through the first four games of the season before injuring his right thumb and recording 209 passing yards per game for the remainder of the season.
Mateer side-armed his throws more often in the back half of the season, but he has worked to break the habit in the 2026 offseason and have more over-the-top motion.
“Everybody wants you to go from here to here (quickly), and that's not going to happen. … Everything is gradual,” Kuceyeski said. “And if we can just start to get the arm angle (over the top) more consistently, that's going to be great. But it's not going to be something we're just going to change overnight. … He's done a great job with that. He trains the heck out of that between the feet and the arm angle, (which are) really the two kinds of operational quarterback-play things we really work on.”
Another part of improving the offense lies in developing the run game, where the Sooners look to “kick ass” after ranking No. 104 in rushing yards per game in 2025.
OU brought in running backs, freshman Jonathan Hatton Jr. and junior Lloyd Avant, who transferred from Colorado State, to build the attack. Hatton was rated as the No. 5 running back in his class, according to 247Sports, before coming to Norman, while Avant recorded 417 rushing yards and five touchdowns on the ground at Colorado State last season. Hatton and Avant have received a majority of practice reps with sophomore running back Tory Blaylock out, along with sophomore running back Xavier Robinson recovering from “a little strain,” according to head coach Brent Venables.
“We’re going to have to lean on some of those guys,” Venables said, “and (we’ve had) really good explosive runs from Lloyd and from Jonathan Hatton.”
Between Mateer, Hatton, Avant and others, the offense works to keep in step with Arbuckle’s mission to “evolve.”
