Less than a decade ago, ambitions were wild in Houston Baptist University’s narrow quarterback conference room.
There, 22-year-old unpaid volunteer Ben Arbuckle, offensive coordinator Zach Kittley and quarterback Bailey Zappe balanced the dreams of football, movies and futures.
They often talk about career goals, desires, passions and everything in between. At the time, Arbuckle was driving to the catering app, a food delivery app, hoping to become a paid full-time college coach one day.
The three are getting closer and closer between three seasons, from Houston Baptist Church to Western Kentucky.
Now, Kittley plays at Arbuckle, Oklahoma, and Zappe is the youngest FBS head coach on the Florida Atlantic, and Cleveland Browns’ backup quarterback.
“We always have our dreams,” Zappe told Oklahoma. “Kately wants to be a head coach. Obviously, that's Abak's dream.”
As his work developed Zappe, Austin Reed, Tennessee Titans No. 1 Cam Ward and current Sooners star John Mateer, Arbuckle is one of the most respected quarterback whisperers and hottest budding coordinators in the country.
After arriving from Washington State, he ranked No. 124 last season in the OU offense, No. 28 in each game in three games, and Mateer was one of the frontrunners to win the Heisman Trophy.
Arbuckle, 30, has become a potential head coaching candidate next season on Monday.
Athleticism reported last week that some fears Arbuckle could be a target to replace Oklahoma coach Mike Gundy if changes are made. ON3 lists potential candidates for Arbuckle to work as Bruins head coach after UCLA fired Deshaun Foster on Sunday.
“He will find success in whatever he does,” said Jeff Schmiding, a former Cougars defensive coordinator who worked with WSU's Arbuckle for two seasons.
“If that was his future, it would certainly be that he would find the right person to put around him. Obviously, it was at the beginning of the year, but if he sticks to this trend, I certainly can't see a reason he won't, it will certainly be in his future.”
Ben Arbuckle
Arbuckle is a quarterback at West Texas A&M and is no stranger to changing offenses.
In 2021, in Western Kentucky and Kittley and Zappe, the mountaintops lead the country. In Washington State, Arbuckle's first-time dramatist in college, the Cougars ranked 10th nationwide with yards per pass.
His influence on Norman was direct. The Sooners never played at least the FBS team in the regular season last season, but did it in all three games of the season.
“Let Ben be very young- [and] “It's huge to be an offensive coordinator for the SEC,” Zappe said.
One of the most important differences between last season’s OU offense and this year’s this year is that Arbuckle brought practice and off-field in the game.
He kept turning to different position groups, shouting instructions during downtime, sometimes hanging out with the players.
Sooners coach Brent Venables saw players reflecting Arbuckle’s leadership just as he wanted them to decide to hire him.
“He loves coaching. Every snapshot of him coaching. I value that,” Venables said. “That's why they call us 'coaches' because not only do we have to observe, but we need to be an active participant.”
“He got it, he had a sense of urgency, a sense of despair.”
OU's offensive coordinator “Hand”
Jeff Schmedding knows Arbuckle's energy very well.
Often, the young coordinator of the Lightning pole jumps into the Washington State team breaks before practice. Or, sometimes Schmedding's eyes hovered towards the offensive aspect of the driving range and danced with the quarterback.
“He directed it to hell and then was having fun,” Schmedding said. “You said Ben Arbuckle, man, it smiled on my face.”
However, sometimes practice may have less fun. Even if you know what's coming, Arbuckle's offense can be hard to defend. Schmedding watched the beginning of Arbuckle and Mateer's relationship and watched them not miss the OU beat in the distance.
Entering Saturday, the Sooners are the only SEC team and one of only three teams in the country, with each player on average at least 50 yards per game per game. OU also scored in all 13 matches of its Red Zone Trips this season.
“Defending them, it’s better to defend the entire field,” Schmedding said of Arbuckle and Mateer. “If he knows what he has, it can be a long day for you.”
Arbuckle reminds people that former quick coach Lincoln Riley is also from West Texas. If you watch Arbuckle's energy on the sideline of the OU from a distance or close your eyes and listen to his draw during a press conference, it's hard to tell the difference between the two.
When Sooners offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh participated in his first training camp with Arbuckle, he couldn't help but think of his former boss Riley.
“He was the young Lincoln,” Bedenbo said of Albuck. “He’s smart, he knows everything. For a young man, he has a lot of command.
“I'm full of good people everywhere, man. He's that good.”
Perhaps no one is more impressed by what Arbuckle did in the short time in OU than Sooners General Manager Jim Nagy.
Nagy praised Arbuckle for maintaining his practice while being a serious coach and directing the offense.
“Boy, it's a stud. I hope he can be a head coach at some point because I think he'll be a really good coach,” Najib said. “If he does that, it means we've had a lot of success at OU, so I'm going to do it all.”
The rhetoric about Albuck's success will only grow nationwide. Of course, the season is young and Sooners face a daunting meeting schedule.
Even if OU argues that participating in the college football playoffs and Arbuckle will be interested, who says he wants to leave the struggled plan?
He can return to the Sooners for another season and wait for work in a program with better football resources.
Arbuckle's rise in the assistant ranks is nothing more than weather. If he is leaving OU for head coaching next season, he will rank Kittley as the youngest FBS head coach.
If Sooners continue to flourish, Arbuckle's dream (dating back to all these years of Tiny FCS Houston Baptist Church) may be a day leading the program faster than he thought.
“The way football is certainly going to happen now,” Schmedding said. “There is no doubt. It will be all his work. Of course, the success he has achieved now will be ejected; there is no doubt, but it is consistent.
“He is a man, he is now, and he's going to be better from now on. He's been working hard to learn and grow, and this type of mentality will breed success.”
Colton Sulley covers Oklahoma for Oklahoma Sooners. Have Colton's story ideas? He can be contacted at [email protected] or @Colton_Sulley. Buy a digital subscription now on subscribe.oklahoman.com to support Colton’s work and the work of other Oklahoma journalists.