Oklahoma Fires OC Ben Arbuckle, Hands Play-Calling to Jason Witten

Jason Witten spent 17 NFL seasons catching passes. For the rest of this college football season, he gets to call them.

Oklahoma fired offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle on Monday, sources told ESPN's Pete Thamel, two days after a 42-25 home loss to South Carolina dropped the Sooners to 4-4 and 2-3 in the SEC. Tight ends coach Jason Witten, the former Dallas Cowboys star, will take over play-calling for the remainder of the season, according to multiple reports. ESPN's sources say he is expected to serve as interim offensive coordinator.

The numbers caught up

The offense never found its footing this fall. Oklahoma averages 22.0 points per game, second-fewest in the SEC, and Bleacher Report has the Sooners last in the conference in total offense at 321.3 yards per game. They have not scored 30 points in seven straight games.

Saturday was the low point. South Carolina outgained Oklahoma 521-359 in Norman, and the Sooners' offense managed three points in the first half. Their only touchdown before the break came from the defense, on Kip Lewis' 30-yard interception return. Arbuckle didn't duck it afterward. "Didn't look like we were ready to play," he said, per ESPN. "And I own that 100%."

A short run in Norman

Arbuckle came to Oklahoma from Washington State ahead of the 2025 season, and quarterback John Mateer followed him from Pullman. He had become the youngest primary coordinator in the Power 4 at 27, and in his first year in Norman, the Sooners reached the College Football Playoff. Year two never took off. Since an injury cut into Mateer's early Heisman buzz, he has thrown 21 touchdown passes and 15 interceptions, according to ESPN, and he has seven interceptions in eight games this season.

Arbuckle was in the second year of a three-year contract paying him $1.5 million a season, per ESPN. This is the second time Brent Venables has fired an offensive coordinator in the middle of a season. He dismissed Seth Littrell seven games into 2024. Venables has not spoken publicly about the move. After Saturday's loss, he said, "We're a better team than what we played tonight."

Witten's first college call sheet

Witten joined Venables' staff in January as tight ends coach, with one of the best playing résumés in the building. The Cowboys drafted him in the third round in 2003, and he played 16 of his 17 NFL seasons in Dallas before finishing with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2020. He retired with 1,228 receptions, 13,046 yards, 74 touchdowns, 11 Pro Bowl selections and two first-team All-Pro nods. Only three players in NFL history have caught more passes.

He has called plays before, just not at this level. Witten spent five seasons as head coach at Liberty Christian School in Argyle, Texas, running the offense himself and winning back-to-back TAPPS state championships in 2023 and 2024. He has never called plays in college. Offensive analyst Kevin Wilson, who has experience as a head coach and play caller, is also expected to be involved, according to reports.

The tight ends could be where his fingerprints show up first. Oklahoma threw one touchdown pass to a tight end all of last season, per Saturday Down South. This year, sixth-year tight end Rocky Beers leads the Sooners with four touchdown catches.

What's left

Witten's debut comes Saturday night on the road against No. 25 Florida, with kickoff set for 7:45 p.m. ET. After that, Oklahoma hosts Ole Miss and Texas A&M before closing the regular season at Missouri. The Sooners need two wins in those four games to reach bowl eligibility.

The last word

Oklahoma has a defense good enough to win in this league and an offense that has spent two months wasting it. Handing the call sheet to a first-year college assistant is a gamble, but Venables ran out of safe options somewhere around halftime on Saturday. Witten built a career on finding open grass underneath a defense. Now he has four games to find some for an offense that hasn't had much of it.

Sources: ESPN, On3, Bleacher Report, Saturday Down South, KTUL and Oklahoma Athletics. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: News 9.