Oklahoma has officially hired Ben Arbuckle as the program's next offensive coordinator. The Sooners announced the move on Monday after a weeks-long search.

Arbuckle arrives in Norman after two seasons as Washington State's offensive coordinator. The Texas native previously spent two seasons at Western Kentucky, where he coached quarterbacks and served as primary playcaller in 2022.

The Sooners immediately began the search for a new offensive coordinator after the dismissal of Seth Littrell on Oct. 20. After interviewing several candidates, including Joe Craddock from Tulane and Buster Faulkner from Georgia Tech, the Sooners decided on Arbuckle.

"Ben is an extremely passionate and innovative coach who does a great job of finding ways to maximize his personnel," Venables in a statement.. "He has developed dynamic quarterbacks in his young coaching career and sees the QB game through a unique perspective and lens, as he played the position himself. He's got an infectious energy and mindset, and is a fantastic teacher of the game with an impeccable work ethic. He relates well to young people, and his beliefs, values and concern for student-athletes on their journey align with our values and philosophy here at OU.

"Thanks to his unique blend of experience, Ben does an incredible job utilizing multiple personnel groups and putting tremendous stress — both vertical and systematic — on defenses. He's overseen quarterback-friendly, big-play offenses and thrives at putting players in position to be successful. That track record will attract some of the most dynamic and explosive players in the country."

Arbuckle, 29, has just three seasons of experience as an FBS play caller. However, his offenses have ranked among the most explosive in college football. This season, the Cougars rank 12th in scoring offense (36.8 ppg), 22nd in total offense (440.4 ypg) and 14th in yards per play (6.7).

"Right off the bat, my first conversation with Coach Venables got me really excited," Arbuckle said in a statement. "Hearing his vision for the program and the OU offense, I was in total alignment and ready to roll. To have this opportunity to join the University of Oklahoma football program, with its longstanding tradition of excellence, was so enticing to me and I wanted to be a part of it more than anything. It's an honor and a privilege to be in this situation and I'm ready to hit the ground running and get this thing going.

"We're going to run an attacking-style offense. I want to take the fight to the defense. I want to put our guys in position to be successful at all times, and ultimately go out there and be explosive and put a product on the field that Sooner Nation is proud of. I'm excited to get to Norman and get to work."

While primarily associated with the "Air Raid" offense, Arbuckle said his schemes work to fit around his players.

"I've always played to the strength of my personnel. The personnel drives the scheme," Arbuckle said. "There have been years where the best thing for the team to be successful was throwing the ball a lot, and there have been years where the best thing for the team was to establish the line of scrimmage and get rolling. That's how I'll always approach it. What gets us in the best position to be successful is what we're going to do. My mentors come from a bunch of different trees, whether that's the 'Air Raid' tree, the 'West Coast' tree, the 'Pro Style' tree. I have mentors from all different backgrounds, and they've all helped mold me into what you see on the field now."

Venables said he's excited for Arbuckle to join the rest of the offensive staff.

"I'm incredibly excited to see our offense reach new heights under Ben's guidance and leadership, working alongside the rest of our offensive staff of Coach (Joe Jon) Finley, Coach (Bill) Bedenbaugh, Coach (DeMarco) Murray and Coach (Emmett) Jones.”