Former SEC Quarterback on Oklahoma OC Ben Arbuckle: ‘I Think He’s That Good’

NORMAN — The first three games of the Ben Arbuckle era have been a success for the Sooners.

Arbuckle, who became OU’s offensive coordinator after the 2024 season, helped the Sooners score 101 points in their first three contests of the 2025 campaign. OU's hot offensive start has allowed the Sooners to begin the season 3-0 and climb to No. 11 in the AP Top 25.

He joined OU’s staff after previous stops at Washington State and Western Kentucky.

Tim Tebow and Jordan Rodgers were SEC quarterbacks at Florida and Vanderbilt, respectively. Both of them believe that Arbuckle’s offensive mind will continue to produce for the Sooners as they begin conference play.

“I think he is a wizard at manipulating defenses,” Rodgers said.

Arbuckle spent two years at Washington State. In his final season at WSU, 2024, Arbuckle commanded an offense with quarterback John Mateer that averaged 36.8 points per game.

Before that, he held the same role at Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers finished second nationally in passing yards and seventh in total offense in his lone season as offensive coordinator.

At those stops, Arbuckle has done more with less. Now, he is doing more with more.

“Not to be harsh, not the best talent, and he brought a lot out of it,” Tebow said. “Now he’s got even more speed, and the way he can use tight ends, backs, the way he uses short yardage… It just causes a lot of problems.”

Tebow won two national championships at Florida and took home the 2007 Heisman Trophy. He finished his college career holding five national records, 14 SEC records and 28 University of Florida records.

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Rodgers served as Vanderbilt’s starting quarterback in 2012, finishing the season with 2,539 passing yards, 15 touchdowns and five interceptions. The Commodores finished 9-4 that year, which is tied for their winningest season in program history.

Both of them are now co-hosts on SEC Nation, a weekly SEC Network show that previews the conference’s football games.

The two of them have been impressed with the various ways that Arbuckle has confused opposing defenses in his first three games as OU’s offensive coordinator.

“We were just talking in our meeting about one of the quick play-actions for a down where he gets it to his back in the flat on a blitz zero and he anticipated that,” Tebow said. “He forces the defense to communicate, and all of that can create really big, explosive plays.”

Rodgers said, “He'll switch from two-by-two to three-by-one to four-by-one. Just the amount of stress he puts on a defense pre snap is elite.”

Only three weeks into the 2025 season, the coaching carousel has already begun rotating.

UCLA fired coach DeShaun Foster after the Bruins’ 35-10 home loss to New Mexico. Virginia Tech canned Brent Pry after the Hokies lost 45-26 to Old Dominion in Blacksburg. Other jobs will certainly open up as the season progresses, too.

Arbuckle, leading the Sooners’ dynamic offense at only 29 years old, is someone that Rodgers expects to be a commodity as teams look for a new head coach during and after the 2025 season.

“There's a reason that he's gonna be very sought after, unfortunately for (OU), after this year for head coaching jobs as they start to open,” Rodgers said. “I think he's that good.”

Oklahoma will open SEC play on Saturday against Auburn, with kickoff scheduled for 2:30 p.m.