Oklahoma offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle doesn't need a bird's-eye view to call plays for the Sooners. Instead, he wants to be right there with his players.
Arbuckle said during the Sooners' first weekly press conference of the season on Tuesday that he will coach from the sidelines during games instead of from up in the box like most play-callers in college football.
Ben Arbuckle explains why he's not in the box
“I think the the immediate communication that I can have,” Arbuckle said. “You can also get a sense for your players when you're down there, right? Are they too high? Are they too low? And you can do something about it immediately, (rather) than being in the box and having to necessarily rely on everyone else down there.”
The key player Arbuckle needs to communicate with is quarterback John Mateer, who followed Arbuckle to Norman from Washington State this offseason. Both are emotional guys, so it's fitting their relationship on game days is also more than just Xs and Os.
“For me, personally, just being a quarterback guy, I like being able to look John in the eyes and talk to him,” Arbuckle said. “I think that's really important. I think that direct communication and getting on the same page is really important. So that's why I like being on the field.”
Assistant quarterbacks coach and offensive analyst John Kuceyeski, who came with Arbuckle from Washington State, and tight ends coach Joe Jon Finley, who called plays for OU part of last season, will be Arbuckle's eyes in the sky.
With Arbuckle on the sidelines, that puts both of the Sooners' play-callers on the field. OU head coach Brent Venables will call defensive plays this season while also handling head-coach duties.
"Everybody has a different comfort level, but I think that's a real experience to be able to have on the sidelines," Venables said. "You get the pulse of your players for them to feed off you, your intensity, the focus, the details, the passion, the toughness, your coaching response, and you're developing that nonstop.
"So, game day is just an extension of that, and I feel like a lot of coaches, we put so much pressure on that practice every day on the field, getting that field view at field level, we have a comfort with that."
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