Just about everyone who has encountered new Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer has raved about him. And now, you can add Sooners legend Bob Stoops to the list of devotees.
Stoops made his weekly appearance with Tyler McComas and Teddy Lehman on KREF last week and shared his encounter with Mateer in the Oklahoma training room. The former OU head coach was getting some work done on his knee and sat next to Mateer.
“What a great guy. You can tell just naturally very confident, sure of himself,” Stoops said. “Just watching him, visiting him, he is very similar to Baker (Mayfield) in the way that he handles himself.”
Mayfield landed at Oklahoma from Texas Tech near the end of Stoops’ 18-year stint leading the Sooners. The quarterback went from sitting out the 2014 season as a walk-on at OU to finishing second in Heisman Trophy voting during Stoops’ final year, then winning the award in 2017.
Mateer didn’t begin as a walk-on, but his only two FBS scholarship offers out of high school were New Mexico State and Washington State. After limited duty in his freshman and redshirt freshman seasons, Mateer broke out last year as a sophomore, leading the nation with 44 total touchdowns.
Incidentally, Mateer and Mayfield are similarly built, too. Mayfield was listed as 6-foot-1, 220 pounds his final collegiate season. Mateer was listed as 6-foot-1, 224 pounds on the Sooners official roster for 2025.
“I’m excited about him,” Stoops said. “The great experience he has and experience he has with (offensive coordinator Ben) Arbuckle. All of it matters. Having a guy like that on the field and in the building, everybody rallies around, that’s a big deal.”
Oklahoma is just over a month out from the beginning of the 2025 season as FCS Illinois State visits Norman on August 30.
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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Former OU football coach compares Sooners QB to Baker Mayfield
