Bill Bedenbaugh praises OC Ben Arbuckle, compares him to Lincoln Riley
NORMAN — As Bill Bedenbaugh gave his thoughts on working with new offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle, a former OU playcaller came to his mind.
He was even hesitant to make the comparison.
“Love him, man,” Bedenbaugh said of Arbuckle. “The dude, he’s really, really, really good. I’ve told people this before and they may not want to hear it — (he’s) a young Lincoln (Riley).”
Bedenbaugh isn’t the first person to make the comparison between the OU offensive coordinators, but he’s easily the most qualified. And obviously, the comparison is favorable.
Bedenbaugh — the Sooners’ offensive line coach since 2013 — was present for all of Riley’s tenure at Oklahoma. Riley was the offensive coordinator in 2015 and 2016 before becoming the head coach, a role he held from 2017-2021.
Riley became the Sooners’ offensive coordinator at 34. Arbuckle, hired during the offseason, is 29.
While Riley’s departure from Norman fueled bitter feelings from fans, his tenure featured plenty of high-powered offenses. The Sooners ranked in the top 10 nationally in scoring offense each season under Riley, and Bedenbaugh’s offensive line won the Joe Moore award in 2018.
After a rough offensive season in 2024, the Sooners brought in Arbuckle to revamp and reenergize the offense. Bedenbaugh is confident he can do that, just like Riley did when he arrived in 2015.
“He’s smart,” Bedenbaugh said of Arbuckle. “He understands everything. For a young guy, got great command. He knows exactly what he wants everybody to do. It’s been really, really good, and just bouncing ideas, some things that he hasn’t done in the past, protection-wise, run-game wise. And if he likes it, we do it. If he doesn’t, he doesn’t. That’s fine. It’s our offense but ultimately he’s the one in charge.
“But it’s been awesome. Great dude, great coach, knowledgeable. Has great command of the whole offense. It’s good. Like I’ve said before, I’ve told you guys, I’ve been around a lot of good ones. He’s as good as I think there is.”
Bedenbaugh on Kevin Wilson
Wilson — who coached with the Sooners from 2002-2010 — was hired as an analyst during the offseason. He’s been primarily involved with the offensive line during the spring and fall camp.
“He’s really good,” Bedenbaugh said. “Kevin’s one of the best OC’s there’s been. Just a general, overall knowledge of the whole offense. Obviously he’s been an O-line guy, he’s been a tight end guy. He’s been a quarterback guy. He’s done it all. He’s got experience and he’s had a lot of success so from that standpoint having guys that (know) this is how we’ve done it. Whether it fits or not, you’ve got options and you’ve got different things and people to lean on based on scheme or what you’re doing, so it’s been good.”
Bedenbaugh on Jim Nagy
The media availability was the first opportunity for Bedenbaugh to give his thoughts on Nagy, who was hired as the Sooners’ general manager earlier this year.
“I think it’s been really good. I’ve known Jim for, I can’t even remember how many years. We’ve had a bunch of guys in the Senior Bowl and I’ve known him for a long time — seven, eight years — so I’ve had a relationship with him going back back then and he would always call and ask about our guys and all that. Not that I know him as good as I do now but it’s been good, man. It’s another set of eyes. He’s a great evaluator.
“You’re always focused on recruiting and retention and all those things, but it allows us to be more coaches, you know what I mean? Yeah, we’re going to evaluate and we’re going to recruit, we’re going to do all that stuff but you’ve got these guys — ’hey, we want this guy,’ ‘Cool, I’m going to go recruit him.’ I think it’s been good.”