Ben Arbuckle begins his second season on Head Coach Jake Dickert’s staff, serving as the Cougars’ offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach after being hired Jan. 6, 2023.
In his first season in Pullman, Arbuckle led an offense that ranked fourth in the nation in passing at 336.8 yards/game and eight in passing yards with 4,042. Both figures mark the ninth-most in program history. WSU’s offense also averaged 31.7 points per game, sixth in the Pac-12 and 37th nationally while its 421.7 yards/game of total offense ranked 35th nationally. As a team, WSU completed 66.7 percent of its passes, 18th nationally and sixth in program history. The Cougars posted 400-plus yards of total offense in seven games, including a season-high of 718 in win over Northern Colorado and 528 in win over No. 14 Oregon State. Against OSU, quarterback Cam Ward completed 29-of-35 passes for 422 yards and four touchdowns, being named National Player of the Week following the game. Offensively, Arbuckle led an offense that produced two all-conference performers in Ward and wide receiver Lincoln Victor.
Arbuckle arrived in Pullman having spent the previous two seasons at Western Kentucky, serving as the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach during the 2022 season. In his first season in that role, Arbuckle took the Hilltoppers to great heights as the team finished sixth in total offense (497.3 ypg) and 15th in scoring (36.4 ppg), while quarterback Austin Reed led the nation in passing yards (4,746) and was third in passing touchdowns (40). The season culminated with a win over South Alabama 44-23 in the New Orleans Bowl to cap a 9-5 season. In that game, WKU put up 677 yards of total offense, including a New Orleans Bowl record 522 passing yards.
For the season, Arbuckle guided a Hilltoppers offense that accounted for 497.3 ypg of total offense, which ranks sixth in the nation, while their 352.2 ypg in passing offense and 36.4 ppg rank second and 15th, respectively, nationally. Under Arbuckle’s mentorship, graduate student quarterback Austin Reed finished second nationally in passing at 339.0 ypg and fourth in total offense at 355.0 ypg. Prior to the 2022 season, 247Sports included Arbuckle in its list of 30-Under-30 coaches who are rising stars in college football.
Prior to the 2022 season, Arbuckle spent the 2021 campaign at Western Kentucky in an offensive quality control role, assisting an offense that led the nation in passing (433.7 ypg), finished second in total offense (353.3 ypg) and second in scoring at 44.2 ppg. Arbuckle helped mentor Bailey Zappe who broke NCAA FBS records for both passing yards and passing touchdowns in a single season with 5,967 and 62, respectively.
Arbuckle arrived at WKU having spent the 2020 season as the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Seminole High School in Seminole, Texas. He began his coaching career in a quality control role at Houston Baptist for two years from 2018 to 2019, working mainly with the offensive line for one season and then the quarterbacks for another.
Arbuckle played quarterback at West Texas A&M University and graduated in 2018 with a dual degree in Finance and Economics. Originally from Canadian, Texas, he went to Canadian High School.
Arbuckle and his wife, Lauren, have a young son, Hudson.
