Michael Hawkins shares initial impressions of offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle

On Dec. 2, Oklahoma hired Washington State‘s Ben Arbuckle to be its next offensive coordinator. Last week, Oklahoma freshman quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. revealed his initial impressions of Arbuckle.

“He’s a great guy, real person,” Hawkins said. “He can relate to you since he’s so young and has kind of really shown off his personality since he’s gotten here. So he’s a great guy to be around so far.”

Arbuckle spent two seasons as Washington State’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He was 27 when Washington State hired him, making him the youngest Power 5 primary coordinator in the country at the time.

Now 29 years old, Arbuckle evidently hasn’t lost his ability to relate to the players. After all, Arbuckle was the quarterback at West Texas A&M just seven years ago. Thankfully for Oklahoma, Arbuckle’s personality isn’t his only selling point.

Under Arbuckle’s supervision, Washington State finished No. 12 nationally in scoring offense this season, No. 9 in passing efficiency and No. 22 in total offense. Arbuckle is a proven mentor of budding quarterback talent, as well.

Cougars starting quarterback John Mateer tallied 3,139 passing yards and 29 touchdowns while only throwing seven interceptions this season. Mateer was also a serious rushing threat, recording 826 yards and 15 touchdowns in the ground game.

Mateer is only a sophomore and this season was his first as the program’s starter. Who was Washington State’s QB1 in 2023? None other than 2024 Heisman Trophy finalist Cam Ward. Obviously, Arbuckle knows how to produce elite QB talent.

Unlike his situation with Ward, Arbuckle will have more than one year to develop Mateer’s talents. On Dec. 18, Mateer committed to Oklahoma via the NCAA Transfer Portal, following his beloved offensive coordinator.

It’s a massive get for the Sooners, who had issues behind center throughout the 2024 campaign. Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables is confident that Ben Arbuckle was the correct hire.

“I spent a lot of time — almost two months — looking at the best candidates in college football and got to watch; certainly you look at a lot of things,” Venables said. “You take recommendations. You talk with people they work with. I love watching the tape, because that, to me, is the ultimate resume, and you get a feel for things.

“… And then there’s a lot of analytics that maybe support what you see, or maybe bring to light what you need to pay attention to — overall efficiency, explosiveness, first downs, third downs, red zone, points per possession… Ben continued to be at the top of the list.”