Oklahoma OC Ben Arbuckle Meets the Press at Local Media Day
Watch as Sooners offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle talks to local media ahead of 2026 fall camp.
Video Transcript
Tomorrow, get this season rolling.
Uh, I've been really fired up about the, uh, work and preparation that's gone in this offseason dating all the way back to January up till, up till now.
Great ppp in the step from the, uh, from the, from the boys getting back in the building, ready to roll tomorrow, and, uh, just excited.
So with that, ready to take some questions.
front So much has been made about John this offseason and mechanics and things of that nature, but I'm wondering from your perspective as somebody that's not coached him for a few years, where's he grown in his mental game and decision making and studying film and things of that nature.
Yeah, so, like I've said about John a lot, I mean, he's always trying to seek , seek out ways to get better.
He's a harsh critic on himself and so whenever he self-reflects and sits there and says, where can I get better, uh, I watched him attack it head on, you know, uh, just whether it's meetings with.
Uh, Sam Bradford or Coach Venables, but he's always up at the building.
He'll pop in with every single position coach, just, you know, trying to gain a deeper understanding of their room, how their room operates, what their room always looks for.
He's constantly looking for that knowledge because he, he firmly believes that's going to translate to him, um, playing better and having people in the, in the right spot at the right time and, and understanding just the whole game.
And so, he attacked that head-on, uh, went out and, You know, just try to build relationships with all of our coaches.
I mean, offense and defense alike, just trying to find different ways that if he can gain an advantage, he wants it.
And so that was the exciting part about him, um, but just constantly seeking that knowledge, uh, from, from anybody and everybody who'll give him some because he's a football junkie.
Stay in the front row on the right.
A little bit about, uh, just that room, and he, he said, you know, he absolutely believes that he has the bodies in that room where you guys could do more 1213 personnel in this offense.
I'm just curious what your philosophy is there and if that's, uh, maybe an emphasis heading into the season for you.
Yeah, it's a physical league, right?
And, um, the awesome thing about Coach Whitten in that room is just watching how they've really come together.
You know, you think about that room, there's, Oh my gosh, 5 new humans in that room from a year ago, 6 if you count Coach Witten and, and some great kids in there who were there with us last year, but watching that room get to form and build their own, their own identity of how they're going to play the standards and expectations that they expect to bring to the table.
every day.
Uh, it gives you confidence.
It gives you trust as a coach to go out there and, and, and do different things schematically that a, that a physical line of scrimmage league requires.
Uh, but those guys have put in an unbelievable amount of work.
They've, they've soaked up everything that they can, uh, from Coach Whitten, and they're continuing to grow.
Uh, but just excited about that room, the growth they've had and where they're going to continue to go and, uh, excited with how Coach Wynton leads that group.
Second row on the right, Ryan Chapman.
Uh, Sean and Jonathan and Floyd got to do a ton this spring.
How so you just have Xavier and Tory back in with that group and just what are you looking for out of that running back group as a whole to ramp into the season?
Those 3 guys.
I, I, I mean it was priceless, the reps that they were able to get during spring ball, you know, selfishly you would love for all your guys to be out there for spring ball every single day getting those reps, but for those three guys in specific and those 3 young guys or those 2 young guys, um, priceless, just the different, different reps, different moments that they got put in, uh, the sometimes learning by fire, you know, out there.
I'd rather it happened there in the spring with those guys than.
If we need them during the fall season and so, um, excited with how they went about learning how Coach McCola went about teaching them, how Coach McCola went about splitting up the reps to make sure that everybody was touching a different part of what the running back room requires.
Uh, with that said, I'm, I'm, I'm fired up to get, uh, Tory and X rolling again, you know, I think they have so much to learn and so much to improve on still, and I think Coach McCola has.
You know, all the expertise to give it to them and hold them to a certain standard of how we expect to play running back here at Oklahoma, but also hold them to a standard of what is your best and delivering your best every single day and, um, that's what I'm fired up about those two, but I'm really excited about that room.
Continue to look for them whenever they get the ball to run violent, run with purpose downhill, and, um, you know.
Obviously be clean in pass protection, be synced with the quarterback and the offensive line in that regard, find their ways into the, into the, uh, pass game, whether it's checkdowns and stuff like that.
Everything, everything that the running back position requires, um, excited to watch that entire room continue to grow and excited with just the expertise and the level of detail that Coach McCullough brings to those guys.
Yeah Ben, this will be year 4 I guess with you and John together.
How important is that in this day and age where we don't have a ton of continuity anywhere?
How important is it for?
Whether it's a head coach who's running the offense or the offensive coordinator, to have a long-standing relationship with the quarterback.
It doesn't happen a lot anymore.
Yeah, I think you pointed that out.
It doesn't happen a lot anymore, and I, I consider myself very fortunate, uh, to get to be going into year 4 with John.
Uh, for a bunch of different reasons, you know, personally, I've, I've watched him grow up from, uh, I think he was 18 whenever I first met him to, you know, now he's 21 years old and just getting to see that maturation and, and transformation of him as a leader and as a player and as a young man, um, you know, that builds, I think, a lot of confidence and a lot of trust, but then I get to see him as a player, and, you know, we'll be watching something and.
And we'll see him do something on film and then I'll just go back in the archives to whenever we're at, uh, Wazoo together and pull something up from an early practice that I remember him making a mistake and I'm like, oh, how far you have come, you know, um, but I consider myself really fortunate, uh, just to get to be able to coach him again for a 4th year and really see him throughout pretty much his entire journey.
Um, couldn't be more proud of him.
Uh, but excited , excited, excited for him to, uh, get to go out there tomorrow and really kick off this, uh, twenty-sixth season.
Staying on the road, Jenny Carlson.
About sort of standards that he sets for his running backs, you know, some coaches say 5 yards carry, 4 yards carry, whatever.
He said 3 yards after contact is a big milestone mark for him.
And I assume that that affects how those guys are running.
Have you sensed that start to really infuse the way the running backs are approaching things?
100%.
It goes back to what I was saying about being physical and violent whenever the ball's in your hand.
He does.
He emphasizes 3 yards after contact.
That turns a 3 yard run into a 6 yard run like that.
And those hidden yards coming from the running back position or any ball ball carrier, but mainly from the running back position, uh, those hidden yards are pivotal in keeping you on the field, staying in front of the chains, playing efficient, uh, being physical, violent, having a, having a tone and a standard of how you wanna play, and he does, he demands it, every day from those guys.
And the cool thing is watching them accept that demanding coaching from him.
Uh, because, you know, he, he always talks about being detailed and disciplined and, uh, detailed, discipline, and then physical running downhill, and it's just fun watching them take that run with it and really create their own identity and standard in that room.
When his, when he came for, yeah, with Hayden, we came, when you came for his visit, you went over some of the miscues from the tight end room.
How, how his addition with Jack and, and Rocky, how have they changed or how will they change the way you play call this year, especially for, for those guys?
Yeah.
When Hayden came on his visit, it was funny.
We didn't have a tight end coach at the time, so I got to sit there and run a tight end, uh, position meeting.
So that was a lot of fun.
Um , but Hayden, first thing I look at with him in specific, I mean, I think he started like 34, 35 games in, in the, in this league, has a lot of experience, has a lot of great size to him.
And the cool thing about Hayden is, um, You know, he's a great leader.
He's, uh, tough and he's, he's physical, but he asked the right questions and he's continuing to get better and better and better as a player, which I think is cool for somebody who's played so much ball is that he's continuing to get better.
Um, but everybody in that room, you know, I, I think I kind of alluded to it earlier, uh, from an earlier question, but watching those guys get to come in and really be kind of all new together, guys that have played a lot of ball but be all new together with an all-new coach and watching them form their standard.
Watching them form what they want to be known as, um, gives a lot of trust in Coach Venables and myself and Coach Whitten, and everything that we do to find different ways to get those guys involved.
And so they keep on putting in the work.
Coach Whitten keeps on coaching them up, and, uh, they keep on earning different opportunities.
So that's exciting.
