John Mateer has the belief of everyone inside OU's program

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It’s been well-documented that the success or the failure of the 2026 Oklahoma Sooners will very likely fall on the level of play OU gets from the offensive side of the ball. With head coach Brent Venables in charge, there’s belief that Oklahoma’s defense will be a strong unit each and every year. On special teams, the Sooners return all of last year’s production from a strong group.

That leaves the offense, but more specifically, the pressure is on redshirt-senior starting quarterback John Mateer in 2026. So often in football, the QB position dictates how good or bad the offense is. While the Sooners made the College Football Playoff last year, they were held back at times by an offense that was still figuring things out, including Mateer. Now in his final collegiate season, OU’s offense will go as he goes.

Each year, each program in the country has a chance to make a change at key positions within the program like head coach or starting quarterback. Sometimes, those changes are mandatory, as a coach leaves or a QB goes to the NFL, but the majority of the time, teams get the opportunity to make that decision, especially at quarterback in college football’s player movement era. OU has already chosen to stand behind Venables, even after a couple of difficult seasons, and he rewarded that belief with a CFP trip in 2025.

Oklahoma chose to run it back with Mateer, just as Mateer chose to run it back with Oklahoma. This season will determine whether or not the two parties made the right call, but it sounds like there’s no doubt about OU’s quarterback inside the Barry Switzer Center.

Gabe Ikard, a former OU standout offensive lineman and the co-host of “The Oklahoma Breakdown with Ikard and Lehman” appeared on the On3 Sports podcast “Crain & Cone” to preview the Sooners ahead of the new season. When asked about Mateer, he assured that there’s no question within the program that he was the guy for them all along.

“I’d say the best way to describe it is everyone in that building completely believes in that guy,” Ikard said. “… Ultimately, I’m not worried about John Mateer. I’m not. I think the guy’s talented. I think he’s he’s got the stuff you want your leader to have. He’s got the stuff you want your starting quarterback to have. If the other 10 guys around him on the field do their job at a high level, Mateer’s going to be fine.”

Belief is a very good thing to have on your side in college football, especially when you’re the starter under center at a historic blue-blood program like Oklahoma. When faced with a decision after OU’s playoff loss this past December, Mateer made the choice to come back to Norman, but that also means that Venables, general manager Jim Nagy, and offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Ben Arbuckle also made the choice to bring Mateer back, and made the choice to believe that he was the right guy for the job.

According to Ikard, that belief in Mateer has spread throughout the building, and it’s a belief he’s earned based on his leadership, his play, and his overall mentality since getting to Norman. This fall will let us know whether or not those in charge were right about Mateer, as the Sooners chase a deep playoff run in 2026.

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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: John Mateer has everyone on the Sooners believing in him in 2026

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