Oklahoma is set to hire Washington State offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle to the same position, ESPN's Pete Thamel reported Monday.
Arbuckle will sign a 3-year deal, according to Thamel.
The length of the contract is interesting because it's generally understood that Brent Venables will enter 2025 under pressure after going 6-7 in his debut season of 2022, 10-3 last season, and then 6-6 with the bowl game pending in 2024.
Arbuckle is a 29-year-old Texan who played tight end at West Texas A&M, and was an assistant in Texas high school football as recently as 2020. He spent 2021 as a quality control at Western Kentucky, 2022 as a co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, and then the past two seasons as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Washington State.
Wazzu averaged 5.94 yards per play in 2023 (51st nationally) and 6.65 this season (14th). Under Arbuckle, John Mateer emerged as one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the nation; he currently ranks in the top 10 nationally in passing efficiency and yards per attempt while leading the Cougars with 826 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns.
The question will now become if Mateer, a native of the Dallas area, will join Arbuckle at Oklahoma -- OU was asking candidates in the interview process if they planned to bring a quarterback with them, sources tell FootballScoop -- and which of Venables's current offensive assistants will remain on staff.
As we wrote when Seth Littrell was fired last month, this hire is the biggest of Brent Venables's career, and he's now banking his future at Oklahoma on a coach who won't turn 30 until next September.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.