Ben Arbuckle makes first staff moves as OC of the Oklahoma Sooners, hiring familiar assistant to coach QBs
The Oklahoma Sooners hired Ben Arbuckle to serve as their next offensive coordinator last week, and it hasn't taken him long to fill out members of his staff. CBS Sports' Matt Zenitz reported Friday afternoon that the Sooners were expected to hire John Kuceyeski as an offensive assistant as Arbuckle's first member of his staff. […]
The Oklahoma Sooners hired Ben Arbuckle to serve as their next offensive coordinator last week, and it hasn't taken him long to fill out members of his staff.
CBS Sports' Matt Zenitz reported Friday afternoon that the Sooners were expected to hire John Kuceyeski as an offensive assistant as Arbuckle's first member of his staff.
Kuceyeski has a pretty diverse background to his name, which adds to the intrigue of this hire.
He got his career started at Penn State, where he worked as an undergraduate coach from 2006-10, mainly working with the defensive line. During that period, the Nittany Lions had five defensive linemen selected in the first round of the NFL Draft and won the 2008 Big Ten Championship.
After graduating, he was hired as an offensive & special teams assistant coach at Northwestern under Pat Fitzgerald. There, he worked alongside current Oklahoma interim co-OC Kevin Johns. As an assistant to the offensive line in 2012, Kuceyeski helped Northwestern have its most productive season rushing the ball in 10 seasons, ranking 19th nationally.
With the Wildcats, he handled a heavy workload of plenty of different tasks there. Kuceyeski was involved in all phases of the program at Northwestern, including scouting, self-scouting, video breakdown, strength and conditioning, and recruiting. He also coached the offensive line, wide receivers, and all four phases of special teams for Northwestern during his time there.
Ben Arbuckle’s first recruiting offer as Oklahoma offensive coordinator proves he gets it with the Sooners
When former Washington State offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle was hired to serve as the offensive coordinator for the Oklahoma Sooners, many wondered about his ability to recruit. His first offer might have helped calm some of those fears, as it proves that Arbuckle already gets the Oklahoma recruiting culture. Just a day after being announced […]
His experience caught the attention of other schools. In 2013, he was hired as the Director of Player Personnel/Recruiting Coordinator at Western Michigan. He wasn't long for there, however, as Toledo came calling months later, working under Matt Campbell. While Kuceyeski was with the Rockets from 2013-15, he served as their Director of Football Operations/Defensive assistant before becoming their Director of High School Relations/Recruiting Coordinator.
Coach Kuceyeski followed Campbell to Iowa State to serve as his Director of Scouting in 2016 before he switched careers to an on-field coaching role. Cornell called him shortly after he was hired at Iowa State, and Kuceyeski accepted the job. There, he coached running backs, tight ends, and the offensive line for the Big Red.
Who is Ben Arbuckle? Breaking down the Oklahoma Sooners offensive coordinator candidate
The Oklahoma Sooners have fired offensive coordinator Seth Littrell after a dismal 2024 season. The search for a new play-caller on offense is firmly underway, and we know what Sooners’ head coach Brent Venables wants his next offense to look like. This article will be part of a series I will be doing breaking down […]
His success at Cornell saw him be named the offensive coordinator at Eastern Illinois in 2019. With the Panthers, he coached multiple OVC all-conference players.
Kuceyeski transitioned back to an off-field role back in the FBS in 2022, where he served as the Director of Player Personnel for Western Kentucky. There, he worked alongside Arbuckle under Tyson Helton.
From there, he would follow Arbuckle to Washington State. In 2023, he served as an offensive quality control coach before becoming the quarterbacks coach in 2024.
With the Cougars, he helped develop quarterbacks Cam Ward and John Mateer into productive passers.
He has a pretty impressive background, with some experience coaching every offensive position group as well as special teams. I also think his years in scouting is an underrated trait for an assistant. His familiarity with Arbuckle will help whoever the next quarterback is for Oklahoma, as Kuceyeski can be another resource for the signal-caller.
This is also a pretty interesting step for Oklahoma. As far as I can recall, they've never had an assistant position coach virtually anywhere in recent memory. Perhaps they are expanding the coaching staff moving forward? That would be a fascinating, and likely positive, move for the team.
