Oklahoma Sooners’ Brent Venables is dreaming the SEC dream. But his newly hired offensive coordinator, Ben Arbuckle, has been popping up on the feeds for the head coaching gig. With college football bleeding into week 6, already four head coaches have been fired. We are talking about UCLA’s DeShaun Foster, Cowboys’ Mike Gundy, and others. The vacancies are alluring, targeting assistant coaches of different programs, and add Arbuckle to that list as well. But Venables has made his stance pretty clear on him taking up the HC job.

“He’s certainly someone who is going to have great opportunities in the future… I’ve always said..wait until the job you absolutely love comes up… Our building has a lot of future head coaches,” he said to the press. Venables wants Ben to wait for the right HC job, implying that there is a lot of opportunities at Norman itself to kick off his head coaching career. He further added. “Some people just want to be head coach no matter what — and that’s cool, too. You know, our building is full of guys that are going to be great future head coaches.”

“Ben is a winner,” he added. A new face on the coaching roster, and his impact is clearly visible. Within just five games into the season, he elevated the offense that ranked No. 124th in yards per play last season to 430.8 yards per game this season. And that speaks volumes. Naturally, Venables is not too eager for Ben to leave. A couple of days back, The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman and Ralph Russo wrote, “Some inside Oklahoma think Sooners offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle could be a target,” they wrote. Context? Conversation surrounding Mike Gundy’s $15 million buyout. Eventually, he was let go.

On3 added him to the potential list of UCLA HC candidates. So as a reaction, the Sooners were a little uneasy about Arbuckle’s probable future decision. The Offensive coordinator is 30 years old, and the OC is enjoying immense popularity. “I don’t know if it’s if it’s easier to be a head coach at a young age, if that’s what ADs are more willing to hire,” Venables said. “I don’t know what the test of time really says, you know, what the story is. ”

Well, Josh Pate has already warned coaches to take up the vacancies with caution. So, will he leave for a head coaching job?

Ben Arbuckle gets honest about taking up the HC job, as Brent Venables takes a sigh of relief

Arbuckle once dreamed of the head coach gig. Zappe, a former quarterback at Houston Baptist University, had said of Arbuckle, who had been an unpaid volunteer at Houston Baptist University. “(Zach) Kittley (the then OC at Houston) wanted to be a head coach. Obviously, that’s Arbuckle’s dream,” he said to the Oklahoman.

“I’m flattered that someone would say that about me, but none of that stuff registers in my head at all,” he said to the press. “I have a responsibility to this university and these kids… I’m not seeking anything, either.” Well, his comments might soothe Brent Venables’ nerves. Ben continued. “So I haven’t even thought about if I would be ready to be a head coach, or I’m not seeking anything either.”

Arbuckle started his coaching career at Houston Baptist in 2018,  moving on to Western Kentucky and Washington State, where his stock rose. After developing, Bailey Zappe, who is the backup quarterback for the Cleveland Browns, No. 1 Draft Pick Cam Ward, Marcel Reed, and presently, John Mateer, with whom he worked at Washington State. Mateer, in his last season, under the guidance of Arbuckle, topped the charts, scoring the highest number of touchdowns in the nation at 44. For the next campaign, both individuals transferred to Norman. Presently, Mateer has racked up six touchdowns and 1,215 yards, with a QB rating of 75.5,