Sooner quarterback John Mateer put on a 2024 season that ranked among the top-25 quarterbacks in college football. However, in August 2021, Mateer considered joining the University of Central Arkansas.
It was the dawn of Mateer’s senior year at Little Elm High School, and he already had the success story of a high-level quarterback recruit. Mateer held the school’s records for passing yards in a single game and season, among other achievements. Mateer, a multi-sport athlete in high school, served as a leader on the diamond as well, helping Little Elm baseball to rare wins against schools like Frisco Centennial High School.
However, when the time came to face college commitment, Central Arkansas was the school for Mateer. Central Arkansas only had an annual enrollment of roughly 10,000 the previous year. It was enough for Mateer, though. Central Arkansas was not expecting him to graduate a semester of high school early and leave his baseball teammates behind like other schools wanted and was willing to consider him continuing on the diamond in college.
“He would have never forgiven himself if he had quit on his buddies on our baseball team to go play football,” Little Elm baseball head coach Matt Harbin said. “He told people, ‘I’m not going (early),’ and I think that shot a lot of programs down. So Central Arkansas was the first one that said, ‘You don’t need to. And do you want to play baseball here and look at a dual-sport (experience)?’ It knew it had to do a little more to get him on campus.”
As much as Central Arkansas was willing to put great efforts toward Mateer, despite committing, he never actually signed. Mateer knew he was destined for more, a confidence he still lives up to.
“I have an acronym for his name: ‘My Attempt To Earn Everybody’s Respect,’” OU co-defensive coordinator Todd Bates said.
Ultimately, despite the Central Arkansas commitment, former Washington State offensive coordinator and current University of North Texas football head coach Eric Morris met Mateer’s confidence with a visit during baseball training.
“(Morris) showed up to one of our practices during the year and sat and talked with (John Mateer) almost the entire practice. … He was seeing how he was responding, how he went about his business,” Harbin said. “John had a really good practice in terms of being that leader at practice. He called up John (later and said), ‘Let’s do this.’”
Three years later, the conceptions of Mateer’s college success came to life, with him ranking No. 8 in college football in yards gained per pass completion in 2024. Mateer’s success caught the eyes of the nation too, with many colleges wanting to invite him to new opportunities. Mateer, though, felt OU was the right spot for him and committed on Dec. 18, a decision he feels deep gratitude for.
“It's all pretty surreal. I mean, I'm the quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooners,” Mateer said. “It's wild, but I'm here. I feel blessed to do it, and it's close to home.”
OU, coming off a horrid season of offense, is in dire need of confident quarterback play. Between the inconsistency of former quarterback Jackson Arnold and sophomore quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr., OU fell far short of the standard of past offenses like former quarterback Baker Mayfield’s in 2017, which was No. 1 in the nation in yards per game as a team and had a 12-2 record. In 2024, OU was No. 126 of Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools in yards per game and finished with a 6-7 record.
Since Mateer joined OU for its second year of Southeastern Conference play, the redshirt junior quarterback has remained confident in proving himself as the rightful leader to change the Sooners’ fate.
“I just wanted to do it by my work,” Mateer said at SEC Media Days on July 16. “I didn't want to say a lot and be, ‘Oh, I'm the leader,’ this and that. I didn't try to do that. I just wanted to work as hard as I could and prove to them that I was capable of leading.”
Mateer, though, simply takes pride in showcasing the fruits of the character he believes he has always possessed.
“Leadership is something I was gifted with,” Mateer said.
‘He was really something special’
Harbin remembers when he first saw Mateer radiate with maturity and other traits that great leaders hold true to. The baseball coach met Mateer at a Little Elm High School camp for fifth and sixth graders when the current Power Five quarterback was in the younger level of the two. Mateer, a fifth grader, already stood out, as he was dialed in more than most of his age were.
“It was really at the camps that my staff noticed that he was different,” Harbin said. “The way he went about things, he was a lot more mature, locked in, didn’t really goof off as a fifth grader like most did. … He always wanted to be up front and listen. He was always at the front of meetings. He was never at the back of meetings. He was always the first to jump in and do the drill first, so you saw that initiative.”
After one day of camp, as Harbin recalls, Mateer further showed his uber-focused mindset for a young athlete. On the diamond, he knew his hitting was not as sharp as it could be and took the extra time to develop an understanding of how he could improve. Mateer, willing to make the extra effort, left an impression on Harbin.
“One time, he stayed after and was asking me questions about what we did that day and things he was struggling with when it came to hitting,” Harbin. “So he stayed after and asked me questions, which is rare for a fifth grader. … He was always trying to be the best.”
Focused, mature, different — Mateer had the makeup of a sharp mindset long before he even stepped foot in a high school football or baseball game. By the time he started at Little Elm High School, coaches knew what they were getting themselves into with Mateer, and they were confident he was a special talent.
Mateer’s early development was not lost on his peers either. After a few games, football teammates decided Mateer was the rightful leader of the team. They, juniors and seniors, chose Mateer.
“We knew he had a really strong arm, and he had the mobility that you needed there. Right after about that fourth or fifth game of freshman year, he continued to grow and develop, and John became (the) quarterback of a varsity team and did a really outstanding job,” former Little Elm football head coach and current Lancaster Independent School District athletic director Kendrick Brown said. “One of the reasons we felt comfortable making that position switch was because (of his) teammates. They saw John's leadership ability even though he was a freshman, and they were like, ‘Man, let's give this thing to John.’ …
“When seniors come to you and say, ‘We want John Mateer to be the quarterback,’ that's telling you right there that he has that special ‘it’ factor.”
However, despite Mateer’s talent early on, it was not enough for Little Elm football to finish better than 4-6 overall his freshman year. While playing against bigger Texas schools, making up for disadvantages was no easy task for Little Elm and freshman Mateer, and they fell short. But Mateer’s leadership journey had only just begun.
During the spring of his freshman year, Mateer reunited with Harbin and prepared for his first high school baseball season. Harbin, from seeing him in the fifth grade to watching his freshman football season, knew Mateer wanted to lead.
“We already had a pretty good relationship from camps and being around the high school. … Once he got to high school, even as a freshman (coming) over from football, you could tell he wanted to lead,” Harbin said.
However, even though he was eager to lead on the diamond too, at the time, it did not mean on the varsity level like it did for football. But Mateer still held a special spot — he was on the JV1 team as a freshman, which was uncommon.
“All the freshmen were on our lowest team,” Harbin said.
One year in, Mateer, through his skill and mindset, made Little Elm believe in him, and they, in return, put him in high-level spots. No matter how young he was, Mateer was not afraid of the spotlight.
Two years in, Mateer further matured and diligently worked on his athleticism, but results were not yet showing it. The football team had a 2-8 year without remarkable records, and as for baseball, after a 3-1 start, it was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mateer, though, did not let it affect his confidence.
“Sophomore year, he got through it,” Harbin said. “We started seeing the maturity development. You started seeing the guys trust him (even more). He was always pumping up in the weight room. He was always a guy that, once got into high school, he wasn't afraid to get after you.”
With no fear, Mateer entered his junior year. He was ready to show the fruits of his labor and did just that.
“Junior year, you saw the first couple games out of the gate, the first time (football was) winning right out of the gate, he was putting up pretty naughty numbers,” Harbin said. “Then it was the Allen (High School) game junior year. He threw for (around) 400 yards.”
He threw for exactly 497 yards, a school record for a single game, and it also helped him achieve a school-record 2,268 passing yards on the season. Little Elm lost 68-44 to Allen, a team that would later finish 10-1 overall and reach the regional finals that year. Despite coming up short, Mateer gave Little Elm, a massive underdog, the confidence to believe.
Brown remembers all of it well.
“He could get us really close plays regardless of what was signaled, and I just remember about that particular game, he was dropping dimes. … Our receivers were catching the ball in good positions and in space,” Brown said. “It was one of those games that he could not make a bad throw, or he could not make a bad read.”
Redshirt junior quarterback John Mateer during spring practice on April 1.
But how did Mateer do it?
“When the play breaks down, I think he's one of the best I've seen,” Brown said. “It's really just keeping his eyes down field and making plays and extending plays with his arm. … He can sit back and make every throw on the throwing route, and not only can he do that, he can throw well on the move. The other thing I think is key, he's very good in the RPO game, meaning he can see something, run the play action and get the ball out really quick. I think his days of being a baseball player allow for that quick delivery.”
On the diamond, though, everything was not always clear-cut for Mateer. He had loads of talent, but according to Harbin, he played with too much aggression. Mateer played baseball with the intensity of a football player and had to learn to slow down.
“The execution wasn’t quite there,” Harbin said. “He had to learn, you cannot always go full throttle. Football is high intensity, high effort, especially as a quarterback. You’re running for your life. But baseball, he had to learn how to stay smooth and fluid and relaxed and still go full throttle.”
As Brown would put it, Mateer had to learn how to make quick decisions under pressure. Mateer then translated the concept of playing fluid but fast to football.
“The game slows down for John,” Brown said. “It’s not moving as fast, and with it slowing down, he plays faster. He's able now to make those quick decisions, those quick reads.”
As much as Harbin helped Mateer, the quarterback had an opportunity to keep his baseball coach accountable too.
During a close baseball game during his junior year, Harbin was giving signs to a player on first base while Mateer was at bat. Harbin had taught the importance of positive body language to the team before, but Harbin was visibly upset. Well, Mateer noticed and, after striking out, had the confidence to keep his coach in line.
“We always preached about not showing bad body language, not showing your emotions. I was getting ticked off at the kid at first because he wasn’t reading my signs, and I got out of character,” Harbin said. “Mateer ended up striking out. He beelined it to me. ‘You told us about how … we don’t show bad language,’ and he goes, ‘And that goes for you too.’”
In response, Harbin apologized to Mateer and admitted that he made a mistake, and in reflection, the coach appreciates it even more.
“That’s when I knew that he was really something special because he had no problem telling me when I was wrong,” Harbin said. “I didn’t take it as disrespect. I took it as if I’m teaching you this every day for three years and I don’t do it, you have every right (to call me out).”
At the end of his junior year, Little Elm football had finished 2-8 again and baseball, 3-15-2, but Mateer had grown through the mental lessons taken to heart – good body language, stay fluid, be accountable. He had the records too – single-season passing yards and the great mark against a school the caliber of Allen. But he did not have a big offer.
Thus, he committed to Central Arkansas, where he could potentially play both sports.
‘Willing to put everything on the line’
After committing to Central Arkansas but still remaining confident he was capable of more, he had a stellar senior year, breaking his own single-season passing yards record and becoming the offensive player of the year of his district despite playing for a smaller school than many other players.
Mateer’s performances caught the eyes of Morris, who was about to begin his tenure as the Washington State offensive coordinator after serving as head coach for the University of the Incarnate Word. At Incarnate Word, Morris coached Cameron Ward, and he knew Ward would follow him to Washington State. But Morris was also interested in recruiting Mateer.
“When Eric Morris was offered the OC job in Washington State, he wanted a high-school quarterback. Cam Ward was going with him. He knew that, but he thought that Cam Ward and Mateer had some very similar characteristics on the field and off the field,” Brown said. “... Eric Morris flew down from Washington to Little Elm, and he and John went up on a visit. From there, John got his first Power Five offer.”
The confidence that Mateer and his Little Elm coaches felt finally met an opportunity worthy enough for Mateer to sign, so Mateer switched his commitment.
However, during Mateer’s freshman year at Washington State, he knew he likely was not going to receive much playing time with Ward, who had thrown for more than 2,000 yards during his prior year at Incarnate Word, ahead of him. Ultimately, Mateer decided to redshirt but remained confident, and just like in high school, he made an impression on his teammates early on.
“He knew going in, he was probably going to redshirt, and we’d talk through it. We’d talk a lot about bigger picture,” Harbin said. “... His teammates voted him leader and captain before he even took the field.”
Redshirt junior quarterback John Mateer during spring practice on April 9.
After his redshirt year, where he only played in a game against Stanford for 27 passing yards, Ben Arbuckle joined as offensive coordinator, who Mateer became closely acquainted with, but the quarterback was behind Ward again. Mateer played in all 12 games but only amounted to 235 passing yards while coming off the bench every game. Ward, on the other hand, threw for over 3,000 and was No. 8 among college quarterbacks for season passing yards in 2023.
Mateer’s confidence never wavered, though. After Ward left for the University of Miami in 2024, Mateer went into the offseason ready to battle for the starting spot. After proving himself in camp and earning the position, he felt he was prepared to have a year like Ward’s or better.
“At a point, I remember, we talked (about) this vision he would have a better year than Cam Ward,” Brown said. “The comparison to Cam Ward was great, but John said, ‘Man, I have another level that I’m going to try to take this one to.”
His teammates, too, felt assured in his quality as a quarterback before his first year as a college starter. Former Washington State and current Texas Christian University defensive lineman Ansel Din-Mbuh felt that despite losing one of the best quarterbacks in the country, the team was going to be alright because of Mateer.
“When we had John at the helm, we knew that he was good,” Din-Mbuh said. “We knew that we had a potential-blockbuster quarterback that no one even knew about.”
Ultimately, he matched confidence with results.
He threw for 3,139 yards and 29 touchdowns and rushed for 826 yards and 15 touchdowns. He ranked No. 22 in passing yards on the season and led Washington State to the No. 6 scoring offense in the nation (36.6 points per game). The top-10 ranking in 2024 as an offense was an improvement from its rank of No. 38 out of scoring offenses in 2023 (31.7) and helped Washington State to an 8-5 record.
Din-Mbuh remembers the big moments. He looks back on Mateer’s showcases of agility against Texas Tech University, the University of Washington, Fresno State University and San Diego State University fondly. Against Texas Tech, Mateer had 197 rushing yards and one touchdown on his feet in a 37-16 win, while he rushed for 62 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-19 win against Washington. Additionally, in a 25-17 win against Fresno State, he rushed for 46 yards and one touchdown, and against San Diego State, he had 42 and two. According to Din-Mbuh, Mateer consistently displayed his mobility well.
“Every week, he turned it up,” Din-Mbuh said. “Washington game, he had a crazy touchdown run. Texas Tech, crazy touchdown run. Fresno State, he (was) crazy (and) San Diego State (too). I mean, I feel like he's always assertive. Every week, he came to play.”
Din-Mbuh, though, resonates with Mateer’s character strongly as well. Despite Din-Mbuh being on the opposite side of the ball, Mateer cared to be a leader for him and others on the defensive line. Mateer wanted Din-Mbuh to be comfortable with managing expectations and, more than that, became close friends with him. The compassionate behavior did not end with Din-Mbuh, though, as Mateer acted that way to every teammate.
“To this day, I mean, he's one of my best friends from Washington State,” Din-Mbuh said. “When I first got there, I was a young freshman, (and) he just took me under his wing, showed me the ropes, how to do things right, what the standard was. He's a great leader. He took the whole line out at Washington State probably once a week, and he was just great. Like, he bonded with every type of player.”
Redshirt junior quarterback John Mateer during spring practice on April 1.
According to Din-Mbuh, the off-the-field connections carry over to game performances as well. Din-Mbuh sees Mateer’s personality as part of what makes him great, and for that, Din-Mbuh feels much gratitude.
“He's a team player. I mean, I think that's just like his game,” Din-Mbuh said. “He's willing to put everything on the line to win and for his team to be successful. So that's one thing I definitely love about John, and he's willing to let that be known. … I'm definitely glad I've had a dude like that as a leader, (and) as a quarterback, it helps team morale a lot.”
Between the rankings and in-game moments, Mateer’s 2024 season was full of success. Mateer gave people confidence that a quarterback who had not been a starter for two years would be one of the standout quarterbacks in the nation, and he proved them right.
As much as he earned respect at Washington State, Mateer showing compassion and confidence off the field and brilliance on it as a starting college quarterback was never unexpected to those who have known him since his days in Little Elm.
“What he’s doing now is no surprise to us,” Brown said.
It bought him a ticket to Norman too.
‘Belief and Vision’
In 2025, Mateer’s confidence has now met with the biggest stage of college football — as a Sooner in the SEC.
“There was a lot that went into it. But also, I know coach (Arbuckle), and it's closer to home,” Mateer said at SEC Media Days. “I wanted my family to be closer and be able to get to the games. It’s also the SEC. … Who doesn’t want to play in the SEC? It’s Oklahoma. Who doesn’t want to play for Oklahoma?”
Since Mateer committed to OU on Dec. 18, his attitude has quickly impressed Sooners head coach Brent Venables. During the offseason, Venables noticed Mateer’s deep desire to win and connect with others while doing so.
“He's a guy that deeply cares,” Venables said. “He's a guy, along with two other players, that are part of the 2025 version of the Oklahoma Sooners. (He) turned down more money to go elsewhere because of belief and vision in the program, a connection to coach Arbuckle. This is a guy that wants to win at the highest level — a connector, a guy that leads from the front.”
During the offseason, as Mateer has been challenged with transforming the Sooners from a 6-7 season back to the Sooner standard, one of the most embraced aspects of the process has been getting to know his teammates. Mateer feels that, for the Sooners to regain their momentum, they have to build belief in one another first.
“I was able to take time to learn the players that I was going to play with and build relationships with them in the locker room, hang out and help them learn the offense because building relationships is the most important thing to leading,” Mateer said at SEC Media Days. “You can't lead people you don't know. They're not going to trust you if they don't know you. That was super important to me.”
Senior tight end Jaren Kanak, in particular, has already noticed Mateer’s care for the game and his teammates.
“He bleeds football and just wants to be great like we all do. … He's a natural leader,” Kanak said. “He likes to command the offense and take control and lead these guys.”
In the midst of making great impressions on his OU teammates, he has not forgotten about his Little Elm baseball buddies either. Mateer still keeps in touch with his former teammates and makes connections with new members of the Little Elm baseball program. According to Harbin, these actions speak volumes about Mateer’s character.
“He still communicates with players that are here in our baseball program,” Harbin said. “Like, he gets their numbers, and he reaches out to them. He talks to them. He tries to reach out and (teach) things for where he came from. …
“He’s a special person who’s become a special quarterback.”
From Little Elm, Texas to Pullman, Washington, Mateer showcased his unique talent and made others believe in him — all while building others up. Mateer kept the same mental attributes that led to success too; his surroundings only changed. Now, in Norman, Mateer works on proving he can be special in the SEC. The task remains daunting, but to Din-Mbuh, it is one people should feel confident in Mateer to succeed at.
“I’d be foolish to not bet on John Mateer being the quarterback he’s (been but) at a much bigger setting, …” Din-Mbuh said. “It’s what he was created to do."
This story was edited by Hannah Bryant and Laurie Jones. Madisson Cameron, Gretchen Schultz and Sophie Hemker copy edited this story.
