Ben Arbuckle might remind a few folks of Lincoln Riley, from his youth to his mannerisms to his West Texas accent.
And though Riley's reputation may not be sterling in OU circles anymore, what can't be denied is that he orchestrated some of the most potent offensive attacks in program history. The Sooner faithful hope that's true of Arbuckle, the 29-year-old wunderkind who was officially hired Monday as Oklahoma's new offensive coordinator.
On Wednesday afternoon, Arbuckle made his first public comments since Venables tabbed him to oversee the Oklahoma offense.
“Just a few weeks ago, Coach Venables gave me a shout," Arbuckle explained. We’re on the phone, and it took me all of two or three minutes to really hear his vision, hear his passion for this place. Immediate attraction. Take aside everything that’s fantastic about this place — the rich tradition, the rich history. Hearing from the man himself what this place means to him, and what he sees the future of this place being, is something that I instantly wanted to be a part of.
“Coach Venables gave me the opportunity, and I had to run to it. I’m proud to be here. Very proud to be here.”
Arbuckle added that his wife, Lauren, is a lifelong Oklahoma fan. In fact, the genesis of their romantic relationship can be directly tied to OU football.
“She grew up a Boomer Sooner. Been going to games her whole life," Arbuckle laughed. "Our first date, I wanted to make an impression, so I took her to an OU game. And here we are twelve years later, and we’re very proud to be here. And we’re ready to get this thing rolling.”
Asked by OU radio analyst Teddy Lehman to provide some details for his offensive vision, Arbuckle eagerly obliged.
“The first thing that I always want to do is make sure we establish the line of scrimmage," he remarked. "Establish that intent of dominance, right? Who better than Coach Bedenbaugh and Coach Finley to set that vision in motion? They’re the best in the country, they’re here, and I can’t wait to work side-by-side with them to do that.
“The next thing is, everybody likes points, right? I like points. Everyone here should like points. So everything we can do to move the ball down the field, put points on the board, play complimentary football with the defense — play full team football. I think that is pivotal in the success not only of an offense, but of a program as a whole.”
Though Oklahoma has consistently ranked among the top offensive programs in the country for a quarter-century, the Sooners' unit hit a brick wall in 2024, due in large part to a series of consequential injuries. Absent star wideouts Nic Anderson, Jayden Gibson, Andrel Anthony and Jalil Farooq, the Sooners finished dead last in the SEC in passing offense. No program in college football allowed more sacks than Oklahoma, which had to play significant portions of the season without starting center Troy Everett, left tackle Jacob Sexton and right tackle Jake Taylor. The Sooners also lost starting guard Geirean Hatchett in early September to a season-ending bicep injury.
Only six programs in the Power 4 (Vanderbilt, Florida State, Houston, Michigan, Northwestern and Purdue) put up less yards of total offense throughout the 2024 campaign than Oklahoma. And among SEC programs, only Kentucky (20.6 points per game) ranked behind Oklahoma (24.3) in scoring. Even so, Arbuckle is confident that the Sooners have many of the requisite pieces to completely reverse their offensive fortunes in 2025.
“These coaches did an unbelievable job," Arbuckle declared. "Everybody in the personnel department and everybody in scouting did an unbelievable job of… finding the right talent, acquiring them, and bringing them here to OU. So I see playmakers all over the field. I see the right kind of guys.
“These are the right guys for Oklahoma, and everybody in this program did an unbelievable job.”
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