Column: Why Did Oklahoma's Brent Venables Pick Ben Arbuckle? He's Hungry ... And So Were His Uber Eats Customers

The Sooners' new offensive coordinator didn't become a coach right away, but when he did, he was willing to literally go the extra mile to make it work.

Ben Arbuckle at Washington State / Screenshot via WSU YouTube

There’s a lot to like about Ben Arbuckle’s resume.

Oklahoma’s new offensive coordinator is expected to be formally announced later Monday or possibly even Tuesday. ESPN’s Pete Thamel this afternoon broke the news just about everyone has anticipated for the past couple of weeks — that Brent Venables is hiring Arbuckle from Washington State.

Thamel posted via Twitter/X that OU is “finalizing a three-year deal” to name Arbuckle the Sooners’ permanent OC after another rotten 6-6 season in Norman.

It feels like a make-or-break hire for Venables, who’s 22-16 in three seasons as Oklahoma’s head coach.

Arbuckle, who turned 29 on September 15, has a brief but impressive list of accomplishments.

One job that probably didn’t make the resume, however: takeout food driver.

And that was only about seven years ago.

While he was trying to get his football coaching career started, Arbuckle took a second job delivering meals for Uber Eats. 

And now he’ll be calling plays for the Oklahoma Sooners.

No wonder Venables likes him. This is a guy who knows how to work.

“I went and took an unpaid volunteer job at Houston Baptist University,” Arbuckle told 247 Sports affiliate Cougfan.com when he was hired at Washington State in January 2023. “That's how … awesome my wife is. She let me quit my job and not make any money for 2 1/2 years. We made it work. My wife was a nanny and I did Uber Eats at night, that way I could afford to take care of me and my wife.

“It's pretty wild to think about, but I'd do it all over again,” Arbuckle said. “That's how much I love doing what I'm doing. Houston Baptist was a fun time. I had no problem staying up until midnight delivering dinners just to make a little bit of extra cash so my wife and I could stay in my apartment, get gas in our car and get groceries. It definitely puts stuff in perspective and makes you appreciate everything.”

Arbuckle, who was born in 1995, grew up in the tiny panhandle town of Canadian, TX, graduated from Canadian High School in 2014, and graduated from West Texas A&M University in 2018.

Arbuckle got two degrees at A&M — because of course he did — and immediately got a job ... but not in coaching.

“I didn't want to be a coach initially,” Arbuckle told Cougfan. “I got two degrees, one in finance and one in economics. And I went and worked for an oil and gas company in Houston while my wife was in occupational therapy school. Did that for three months and I hated it. So I quit my job.”

He spent 2018 and 2019 as quality control coach at Houston Baptist, then was hired as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Seminole High School in Seminole, TX. He worked there in 2020, and in 2021, he landed an FBS job — offensive quality control — as Western Kentucky under Tyson Helton.

Helton’s offensive coordinator at Western Kentucky was former Houston Baptist offensive coordinator Zach Kittley, who was instrumental in getting Arbuckle on board with the Hilltoppers. When Kittley left for Texas Tech at the end of the 2021 season, Arbuckle was promoted to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

The Hilltoppers were explosive on offense in 2022, ranking No. 6 nationally in total offense (497.3 yards per game) and No. 15 in scoring (36.2 points per game). Under Arbuckle, Hilltoppers QB Austin Reed led the nation with 4,745 yards with 40 touchdowns and just 11 interceptions as Western Kentucky went 9-5. In 2021, Arbuckle helped coach Bailey Zappe, who led the nation in passing and became an NFL Draft pick.

In 2023, at the age of 27, Arbuckle was hired at Washington State and became the youngest primary coordinator in the nation

“Through an extensive search, Ben stood out as the best fit for our program to help our offense reach new heights,” WSU coach Jake Dickert said in a news release announcing the hiring. “The continuity in scheme and teaching of what our guys know as well as his track record for explosive passing offense fits the skill set of our returning players as well as an exciting brand of football to recruit to. His energy, passion and vision for WSU and what we can accomplish together here will have all Coug fans excited for the 2023 season.”

OU fans can expect a similar statement from Venables soon enough.

But also expect Venables to say something about Arbuckle’s tireless work ethic and his drive to succeed.

Last Tuesday, I asked Venables what he wanted for the position — not what type of scheme (Arbuckle’s has been called a “modified Air Raid”), but what type of person.

“You certainly want people that, (those) they've worked with have good things to say about ‘em, their leadership style, their energy, what kind of a teammate are they, their toughness, their ability to recruit, their ability to adapt, their humility, the things that they value,” Venables said. “With all that, maybe it doesn't all have to fit in a nice, tight, tidy box, either. But maybe, what did they play in college? Did they play in college? Some of the best ones never even played in college. So again, you always have a perspective with all of it. And then, where have they been? What does the tape say? 

“… Have they been able to be successful with the hand that they've been dealt? So you look at all of that, and I think it's important that, wherever they come from, people have good things to say. 'Hey, oh, and another thing.' And, not looking for a choir boy. But also we want to — we get to choose, and so we want to find someone that aligns with a belief system and a value system that we share. But at the same time, can we get better through this? They don't have to be, ‘Everybody has to be just like me,' or just like what we've had in the past. So (we've) kept an open mind about all of it. And then, trust. There's analytical data that, man, you want it to say something. It tells a story. What does it say?”

Arbuckle was a quarterback at Canadian High School — hometown of former Sooner defensive end Auston English and current Sooner wide receiver Brenen Thompson — where he threw for more than 7,500 yards and nearly 100 touchdowns.

Now he’ll be coaching Sooner quarterbacks.

“When I finally became a coach, there's nothing else that I would ever want to do,” he said two years ago. “The relationships I get to build with the men that I work with and the young men I get to coach, it's so important.”