Let's start with this, a contract with Arbuckle was signed early this morning, but legalities obviously pushed the publish time to the late afternoon. There was not a contract signed before that at any time, hence why Parker and Brandon were saying that there were interviews as late as last week still continuing on.
Now, I still need to clear up the Utah smoke that was going on leading up to him choosing OU. Funny enough, it felt like an NIL battle.
From my sources around Utah, they reached out to Arbuckle around 2 weeks ago. They were in advance talks with Arbuckle starting Wednesday of this past week. As Parker stated, Arbuckle was given a handshake but never shook it, and that was entirely true. Brent gave him an opportunity to sign around Friday, but the talks with Utah continued. Then as those talks continued Utah threw "the kitchen sink" at Arbuckle. Now that's what my sources said. They did not give me any particulars, but Utah offered him something that he possibly couldn't pass up on and legitimately gave him an ultimatum with that offer. OU had pretty much laid out their offer at that point and it was Arbuckle's to choose.
Now on the side of all this clamoring we started to hear smoke about Joe Craddock and I would be lying if I did not tell you he was contacted shortly after the OU/LSU game on Saturday. OU was not sure at that point if Arbuckle would shake the hand. Arbuckle wanted to sleep on it through the weekend after his game at Wyoming. My one source in the Washington area told me that Arbuckle informed Utah on Sunday evening that he would not be the next OC at Utah. Shortly after that, he contacted Brent and Joe C. To work out the last bits of the contract and it was signed early Monday. And as I stated previously, was not made official until the later part of the afternoon today.
My source in the Washington area also said after Arbuckle left John Mateer would 100% be entering the portal. On a side note, he said do not count on him to come to OU 100%. Other schools are already reaching out to him with ridiculous sums of money to acquire his services. Two I can name are Auburn and Miami. The only reason he would choose OU is his prior relationship with Arbuckle and some modest NIL. My source on the OU side said that if Mateer does indeed choose OU that Jackson Arnold would be playing somewhere else next season. Just note OU is not going to outbid, Miami or Auburn. This is strictly going to be Arbuckle convincing him to come play with him at OU.
Let me end by saying this was a lot closer than people know. Brent laid out a vision and told him he would be the highest paid OC in the country. But as Parker had said previously the important factor was proximity to his home. And the other factor was Arbuckle's feeling that OU had the pieces to win right away and needed a few extra depth pieces. Utah was losing a lot and there would be more work on Arbuckle's side to make them a contender quickly.
There is no word right now on if Arbuckle will be coaching the bowl game. I would bet on JJF to be calling the plays for the bowl game.
I am also told that Arbuckle has been in contact with some of OU's 2025 offensive recruits and is laying out his vision for the offense once he takes over officially. He is expected to be at the team meeting tomorrow and address the entire team and have discussions with the offensive staff and the offensive players.
Boomer!
Now, I still need to clear up the Utah smoke that was going on leading up to him choosing OU. Funny enough, it felt like an NIL battle.
From my sources around Utah, they reached out to Arbuckle around 2 weeks ago. They were in advance talks with Arbuckle starting Wednesday of this past week. As Parker stated, Arbuckle was given a handshake but never shook it, and that was entirely true. Brent gave him an opportunity to sign around Friday, but the talks with Utah continued. Then as those talks continued Utah threw "the kitchen sink" at Arbuckle. Now that's what my sources said. They did not give me any particulars, but Utah offered him something that he possibly couldn't pass up on and legitimately gave him an ultimatum with that offer. OU had pretty much laid out their offer at that point and it was Arbuckle's to choose.
Now on the side of all this clamoring we started to hear smoke about Joe Craddock and I would be lying if I did not tell you he was contacted shortly after the OU/LSU game on Saturday. OU was not sure at that point if Arbuckle would shake the hand. Arbuckle wanted to sleep on it through the weekend after his game at Wyoming. My one source in the Washington area told me that Arbuckle informed Utah on Sunday evening that he would not be the next OC at Utah. Shortly after that, he contacted Brent and Joe C. To work out the last bits of the contract and it was signed early Monday. And as I stated previously, was not made official until the later part of the afternoon today.
My source in the Washington area also said after Arbuckle left John Mateer would 100% be entering the portal. On a side note, he said do not count on him to come to OU 100%. Other schools are already reaching out to him with ridiculous sums of money to acquire his services. Two I can name are Auburn and Miami. The only reason he would choose OU is his prior relationship with Arbuckle and some modest NIL. My source on the OU side said that if Mateer does indeed choose OU that Jackson Arnold would be playing somewhere else next season. Just note OU is not going to outbid, Miami or Auburn. This is strictly going to be Arbuckle convincing him to come play with him at OU.
Let me end by saying this was a lot closer than people know. Brent laid out a vision and told him he would be the highest paid OC in the country. But as Parker had said previously the important factor was proximity to his home. And the other factor was Arbuckle's feeling that OU had the pieces to win right away and needed a few extra depth pieces. Utah was losing a lot and there would be more work on Arbuckle's side to make them a contender quickly.
There is no word right now on if Arbuckle will be coaching the bowl game. I would bet on JJF to be calling the plays for the bowl game.
I am also told that Arbuckle has been in contact with some of OU's 2025 offensive recruits and is laying out his vision for the offense once he takes over officially. He is expected to be at the team meeting tomorrow and address the entire team and have discussions with the offensive staff and the offensive players.
Boomer!
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