John Mateer is Comfortable and Calm Entering His Second Season at Oklahoma

NORMAN — By now, John Mateer knows the ropes.

Oklahoma’s quarterback was hard at work this offseason, working to improve in a number of areas — from his mechanics to the mental side of the game and in the weight room.

He has plenty to prove in his second season at the helm of No. 10 OU’s offense, but there’s a sense of calm around the Sooners’ QB1.

Mateer doesn’t have to learn a new city or prove himself to a new locker room. He’s been able to focus on improving his own play since OU fell in the College Football Playoff, which is an arena he’s very comfortable in.

“I feel great. I think year after year you get smarter,” Mateer said. “… I've learned a lot. I could go on and on.

“… There's just another level to it that I didn't know last year.”

Mateer is the first quarterback to return to the starting job for Brent Venables since Dillon Gabriel ran things in 2022 and 2023.

Gabriel and then-offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby approached their second year back with a level of calm, and that’s even with Lebby’s prior experience in the program.

The pressure of playing quarterback at OU is real, and Mateer is judged against a high standard.

“Bob (Stoops) said it years ago to me,” Oklahoma assistant Kevin Wilson said at OU Media Day. “I never thought about it with Jason White, but, ‘You know how much pressure was on that kid today? The whole state is expecting him to play well.’”

Mateer worked with Sam Bradford over the offseason, another quarterback who thrived under pressure, and while Mateer learned plenty in 2025, he’s still himself.

“I don’t know that it’s much different, to be truthful, of just how he’s attacked all the other years that we’ve been together,” OU quarterbacks coach John Kuceyeski said of Mateer’s offseason. “It’s just the more you study this game, the more you know, and the higher level of conversations you can have within it.”

Kuceyeski believes Mateer is in a healthier place mentally, too. At times last year, Mateer took every bit of blame on his shoulders, for better or worse.

Not every bad offensive play is the fault of the quarterback, and Kuceyeski thinks Mateer has grown on that front, too.

“It’s something that we talk about and something that I coach, and I’ve honestly had some self-evaluation of myself of maybe I should tell him to take a little bit less on,” Kuceyeski said. “But it’s just not who he is, and I think when he starts interviewing with NFL GMs… I think it’s a quality that they’ll be extremely attracted to.”

The year of growth has been evident to Mateer’s teammates on the practice field so far during fall camp.

“He’s always confident, always calm,” receiver Manny Choice said. “That brings calm amongst the whole offense when he’s doing that as a leader.”

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news.

Add us as a preferred source on Google