Why Oklahoma OC Ben Arbuckle Coaches Better on the Sideline Than in the Press Box

On game days, Arbuckle will rely on communication from assistant quarterbacks coach and offensive analyst John Kuceyeski and tight ends coach Joe Jon Finley in the coaches box. He pointed out that that was Kuceyeski’s role at Washington State and at Western Kentucky.

“Those are the two main guys right there,” Arbuckle said. 

A Young Lincoln Riley

Long-time offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh expressed an appreciation for working with Arbuckle earlier in camp and compared his offensive tendencies to Lincoln Riley.

“Love him, man,” Bedenbaugh said. “The dude’s — he’s really, really, really good. I’ve told people this before and they may not want to hear it — a young Lincoln. He’s smart. He understands everything. For a young guy, got great command. He knows exactly what he wants everybody to do. It’s been really, really good, you know, and just bouncing ideas, some things that he hasn’t done in the past, protection-wise, run-game wise and if he likes it we do it, if he doesn’t, he doesn’t.”

“He’s a good leader,” Venables said earlier in camp, “and he’s going to lead from the front, and he’s really a smart guy. He handles the adversity well. Maybe he hasn’t had a good day on offense, for whatever reason, but has an ability to get the guys to respond, coaches and players both. It’s been a lot of fun. He’s confident and a great teammate.”

On Tuesday, Venables elaborated on Arbuckle's ability to get in touch with both his players and his staff, which began when Arbuckle coached OU quarterbacks for the Armed Forces Bowl.

"I think he quickly built bridges with the staff, and I think he evaluated the staff during that whole bowl prep time," Venables said, "and I thought he did a great job of just laying out the expectations, this is how we're going to do it. ... I think he built the relationships and the trust with the staff.

"And then, you know, with the players, he did it the first couple of days on the job and that over several days, one on one, with every guy on offense. And then he built relationships with the defensive side of the ball, too, (and) special teams. He's young and in age, but he's got a maturity about him that he understands, you know, what it takes to win and be successful."

Avoiding Pressure, Embracing Expectations

Mateer has been anxious for Saturday to get here for a long time, and working with Arbuckle again on game days has been something he’s looked forward to since he transferred last December There’s an inherent pressure that comes with being the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma, just like the the pressure that exists for the OU quarterback.

“I think me and him have done a good job,” Mateer said. “I mean, you hear it. You can't totally be naive to it. But we've done a good job not focusing on it. You can't focus on it. That's not why we play the game. … He always worked hard but he works even harder now because he really wants it and he's more motivated than I've ever seen. And so am I. And it's not because of any noise or this and that. We know what we have and the opportunity that we have and we're really excited for it.” 

Aside from the active lines of communication with his play caller, Mateer has certain things he wants to see from the OU offense when the Sooners take on the Redbirds.

“Just playing fast, playing physical,” Mateer said. “I mean, you’ve got to set the tone on the tape. There’s a story on the tape. What kind of team, what kind of people you are. Just out-effort them, out-effort whoever we play. Playing together, celebrate each other, block for each other. All those little things that really matter.”

And that’s why Arbuckle insists on being on the sideline for games. Those are the things he wants to see, to hear, and to feel for himself. Isolated in the coaches box, where Venables assistants Jeff Lebby, Seth Littrell and Finley called plays from, that can be lost sometimes.

“I think the immediate communication, interaction I can have with the guys, right?” Arbuckle said. “Whether there's an adjustment that needs to be made or something really good happened right there, and gotta tell them, ‘OK, hey, this happened. We got to keep on doing this. Be ready for this.”