Oklahoma Coaches Helped Develop This Year's Top NFL Draft Pick; Could They Do it Again Next Year?

Sooners coaches Ben Arbuckle and John Kuceyeski elevated Tennessee Titans No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward at Washington State; now they hope to do the same with OU's John Mateer.

Oklahoma coaches John Kuceyeski (left) and Ben Arbuckle with Sooners quarterback John Mateer. / John E. Hoover / Sooners On SI

Oklahoma didn’t have a player selected in the first round of Thursday’s NFL Draft.

But two OU coaches did.

Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Ben Arbuckle and top lieutenant John Kuceyeski were in Green Bay with a front-row seat to watch their former pupil, Miami QB Cam Ward, get selected No. 1 overall.

John Kuceyeski, Cam Ward and Ben Arbuckle at the 2025 NFL Draft. / John Kuceyeski via Twitter/X

It was six years ago this week when Kyler Murray went No. 1 overall to Arizona, and seven when Baker Mayfield went No. 1 to Cleveland. Lincoln Riley was ringside when they were picked.

But Arbuckle and Kuceyeski didn’t even coach Ward last season. They were teamed up at Washington State while Ward — a Cougar in 2022 and 2023 — had transferred to the Hurricanes.

Their QB in Pullman last season, of course, was current Sooners signal caller John Mateer.

Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer / John E. Hoover / Sooners On SI

Still, their devotion to Ward and the time they spent nurturing him — from unknown project at University of Incarnate Word to two-year starter for the Cougars to Heisman runner-up and No. 1 pick of the Tennessee Titans — was made known to the world on Thursday night as Arbuckle and Kuceyeski posed for photos and paused for hugs with the No. 1 pick in the draft. 

WATCH: Oklahoma OC Ben Arbuckle post-spring interview
WATCH: Oklahoma QB John Mateer spring interview

It’s that kind of personal touch in an ongoing relationship that players desire, and it’s something that Mateer certainly values. And while Mateer’s connection with Arbuckle runs deep, he also has a tight bond with Kuceyeski, who followed Arbuckle to Norman and was hired by Brent Venables as OU’s senior offensive analyst and assistant quarterbacks coach.

“Mine and his relationship goes very deep,” Mateer told Sooners On SI in a media interview in Norman last month. “From teaching me how to be a man to a quarterback to a teammate. He’s been coaching for awhile now. Longer than I’ve been alive. I’m not calling him old — he’s still young. But he’s been coaching for a long time. So he’s seen a lot. 

Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer (left) watches assistant QB coach John Kuceyeski / John E. Hoover / Sooners On SI

“And I have questions. I want to know how it is and tells me how it is. If I suck, he’s gonna tell me how it is. We have that trust and relationship where I’m not gonna get my feelings hurt. He wants the best for me and I know that. And we’re learning together and studying together and it’s been a great relationship.”

Mateer, who spent two seasons in Pullman as Ward’s backup before taking over as the starter last year, said there’s an almost unspoken line of communication between the himself, Arbuckle and Kuceyeski.

“Yeah, it goes through both of them and they tell me, and it’s a good trio,” Mateer said.

Oklahoma quarterbacks coach Ben Arbuckle / John E. Hoover / Sooners On SI

Mateer led the nation in total touchdowns last year and was No. 5 nationally in total offense. But he said things really took off for the WSU offense after the Cougars’ win over Fresno State — and that Kuceyeski was a big part of it.

“We just got in such a groove that we just felt it,” Mateer said. “(Arbuckle) didn’t, like, say it to me. Coach Kuz is also a big part of that, when we meet every Sunday and weekly. They both believe in me. It’s a great feeling to have at least two people believe in me. The whole building at Washington State believed in me, and that’s just what I want to do here.”

After OU’s Crimson Combine event, Sooners On SI asked Arbuckle about his relationship with Kuceyeski and how he’s brought value to Mateer’s development and the OU coaching staff.

Oklahoma offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle (left) watches Sooners quarterback John Mateer. / John E. Hoover / Sooners On SI

“John Kuceyeski, whenever I was the offensive coordinator at Western Kentucky, he was hired as our director of player personnel, and it didn't take me long to figure out that this dude knew football,” Arbuckle said. “And not only is he an unbelievable coach, one of the best coaches I've ever been around in my entire life, he's one of the best people ever, and he's one of my best friends. 

“And so, me and him are a good yin and yang for each other.  We're polar opposites, which is beautiful, because my strengths are his weaknesses, and his strengths are my weaknesses. So he's important to everything I do in football and in life, someone that I really cherish and value as a friend and as a co-worker. Met him at WKU, he came with me to Washington State and thankful that he wanted to come to Oklahoma too.”

Oklahoma offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle / John E. Hoover / Sooners On SI

A year from now, could Arbuckle and Kuceyeski be together again in Pittsburgh? That’s where the 2026 NFL Draft will be staged, and if Mateer has a big season with the Sooners this fall, he could certainly find himself on NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s invitation list — maybe even on center stage as a candidate to be the top overall pick. 

If it sounds unlikely, just remember this: Arbuckle and Kuceyeski worked together and coached this year’s No. 1 pick. If Riley can produce back-to-back top picks, then why can't they?

Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer / John E. Hoover / Sooners On SI

For now, Mateer looks back on 2022, when he was Ward’s understudy, a couple of Texas kids in rural Washington just looking for a shot. Ward arrived from West Columbia, southwest of Houston (via UIW in San Antonio), and Mateer was fresh out of Little Elm High School, north of Dallas.

The Cougars’ dynamic coaching duo started out just trying to impart the standard football 101 wisdom into their young QBs. But in those first two years, something just clicked, and what is often simply a transient connection between coach and player found permanence. 

Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer (rear) and assistant QB coach John Kuceyeski. / John E. Hoover / Sooners On SI

“There's a lot of trust,” Mateer said in January during a radio appearance on OU flagship station KRXO The Franchise. “The play-caller and quarterback have to have a great relationship, and I think we do. We can sit around like friends, and he's a mentor, but we can also sit around, and he can be stern to me, and I'm going to listen to him. I believe in him, and I trust in his plan.

“They've just helped me grow so much. … Even when I didn't start, and Cam Ward was there that year, I grew so much because of how well they explain things and just teach me things, and how detailed they are with everything — from the footwork to the reads, to the protections, just everything. It just shows. I followed them. It's going to be my third year with them. That's huge. That doesn't happen nowadays with college football.”

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