Brent Venables sends a bold message about John Mateer, raves about his quarterback's elite competitive mindset

In the winter period of the transfer portal, the Oklahoma Sooners reeled in a big fish out of the portal, landing quarterback John Mateer to serve as the Sooners' signal-caller for 2025 and potentially 2026.

The move reunited Mateer with offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle. In Mateer's first season as a starter under Arbuckle, he gained nearly 4,000 total yards of offense and scored 44 combined touchdowns. Moving into year two, the hope is that Mateer can take another step forward and be the elite quarterback the Sooners need to turn things around offensively.

Mateer has a believer in Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables. At SEC Media Days, while answering a separate question entirely, Venables espoused his confidence in Mateer and what he's seen from him since he arrived in Norman.

"Building the team, John Mateer’s been a huge part of all that. You want to have a chance to get into the playoffs. And a chance to be able to compete at the top of the SEC, you gotta have elite quarterback play. Can’t just be good. It’s gotta be elite. Doesn’t always have to be elite, but it needs to have the ability to be elite at the right times and make plays and lead and get more out of the people around you. John, he’s incredibly talented, but some of his best talents are his leadership, he’s got tremendous football IQ, and there’s no limits on him mentally or physically....He’s got great arm talent, but he’s a guy that’s going to show up early, going to stay late, got great humility. Came to Oklahoma to be a part of the great lineage at Oklahoma. He’ll be the first to tell you, and he knows it, he’s gotta get better. He’s got a lot of development still in front of him. So he’s great humility, he’s put his head down. All he’s done since he’s gotten here is work, and he’s elevated everybody around him by how he does what he does. He’s honest, he’s transparent, easy to connect to. People relate to him. He’s got great great depth to him."

Venables doesn't normally exaggerate about players. He is, in fact, brutally honest and blunt, critiquing anything he can to demand perfection from his players before making any sort of statement.

Him coming out and saying all of this about Mateer virtually unprompted is surprising, but it should be encouraging for Sooners' fans. Venables' excitement is a complete vibe shift from what it was this time last season when it came to the quarterback position. 

Last offseason, every reporter felt that Michael Hawkins Jr. was keeping it close with Jackson Arnold in camp. As it turns out, that was a bad sign for 2024. This year? It's a completely different focus, with Mateer turning heads every practice and smoking the competition. 

Take Venables' words to heart, Sooners fans. They might just have gotten a good one.