Report: Oklahoma to hire Washington State QB coach John Kuceyeski

The Oklahoma Sooners are set to hire Washington State quarterbacks coach John Kuceyeski as their senior offensive assistant/assistant quarterback coach, according to a report from Matt Zenitz of 247sports. He helped guide the Cougars to rank 11th nationally in scoring this season and Kuceyeski has worked with such quarterbacks like John Mateer and Cam Ward.

This year, Mateer established himself as one of the top signal-callers in all of college football, completing 64.6% of his passes for 3,139 passing yards, while tossing in 29 touchdowns with 11 interceptions. As a runner, Mateer had 178 carries for 826 rushing yards, while finding the end zone 15 times on the ground. The Washington State star is one of the top quarterbacks in the nation and will be highly coveted in the transfer portal, if he decides to put his name in there.

Washington State head coach Jake Dickert has said that Mateer is still practicing with the Cougars. He is taking time to decide whether or not he will enter the transfer portal. His former offensive coordinator at WSU, Ben Arbuckle, was recently hired by the Sooners’ coaching staff as well. So, Oklahoma not only has Mateer’s old offensive coordinator but his quarterbacks coach, as well. It’ll be very interesting to see what decision he makes in the near future.

Ben Arbuckle and Washington State had a strong year on offense in 2024. The Cougars finished with an 8-4 record and ranked No. 12 nationally in scoring offense at 36.8 points per game. Washington State also ranked No. 22 nationally in total offense, averaging 440.4 yards per game.

The Oklahoma Sooners were looking to upgrade their offense and dramatically so this offseason, after they stumbled to a 6-6 overall record. Former five-star recruit Jackson Arnold hit the transfer portal this offseason. Oklahoma will face off against the Navy Midshipmen in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl.

On3’s Matt Connolly also contributed to this article.