Many Oklahoma fans were pleased to hear that quarterback John Mateer had plans to fix his throwing mechanics to throw less side arm and more over the top, but before fans get settled on seeing a completely different gunslinger in 2026, OU quarterbacks coach John Kuceyeski reminded that old habits die hard.
Kuceyeski on Saturday had a rare meeting with media as the Sooners are in the midst of spring camp and shared more details about Mateer's plans to improve his throwing mechanics before his senior season kicks off.
John Kuceyeski shares details about John Mateer's mechanics improvement
"It's not the easiest," Kuceyeski said. "Everybody wants you to go from here (lower) to here (higher), and that's not gonna happen, right? But, like, everything is gradual. And so if we can just start to get the arm angle to here (higher) more consistently, that's gonna be great, right?
"But it's not gonna be something where you're just gonna change it overnight. It's been drills for him for 21 years of his life. So it's just changing that and having awareness to that, and obviously there's gonna be times where it's gonna demand a side-arm throw based on some RPO and some movement throws. That's not gonna vanish."
John Kuceyeski detailed how John Mateer has been working on his mechanics this offseason.
— George Stoia III (@GeorgeStoia) March 28, 2026
"If we can just start to get the arm angle higher more consistently, that’s going to be great, but it’s not something we’re going to change overnight."
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Mateer revealed earlier in the week that throwing over the top instead of side arm was one of his emphasises over the offseason. His throwing motion at times more resembled a shortstop on a baseball diamond than a quarterback on the gridiron, which likely led to many of his poor passes during the 2025 season in which he completed 62.2% of his passes for 2,885 yards and 14 touchdowns with 11 interceptions.
Poor decision-making was also the root of many of Mateer's mistakes, plus a broken thumb that required surgery in the middle of the season. All that led to Mateer forgoing the 2026 NFL Draft and returning to Oklahoma for his final season. Mateer bluntly stated this week that he just wasn't ready for the NFL yet and needed to get better, starting with his mechanics as he works with Kuceyeski.