SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA DAYS

July 20, 2026

John Mateer

Oklahoma Sooners

Press Conference

Q. Team goals are obvious. What are your individual goals for this year?

JOHN MATEER: Yeah, I think you can think about those, but they don't really matter, me -- and the team definitely comes first, and the guys around me, what these guys around me, what they want matters more. I'm going to give you that answer. Because that's what means most.

Q. What's an individual number that would help you contribute to your team that you want to improve?

JOHN MATEER: The biggest one has been the completion percentage, moving the ball forward, staying ahead of the chains. That's one of them. It's the accuracy, the timing, the decision-making, that's how that happens.

Q. A lot of new faces in the tight end room. How has it been, building the chemistry with those guys in the room?

JOHN MATEER: It's been great. Those guys come in. You don't know them at first but they're super willing to learn and they love each other and they hang out all the time. You go hang out in the tight end room, it's a good time. They get their work done, I'll say that. But they love each other and I love being around them.

Q. Want to ask about the Manning Passing Academy and the chance to see a lot of your peers around the league. Specifically what you saw from Marcel Reed that week at the academy?

JOHN MATEER: I love the Manning Passing Academy. Truly any quarterback that gets to go or gets invited should go. That's my opinion. You get to work with the kids, which gets a little long, but then you build relationships with the kids and it's great.

Then being around all the guys. I don't get that opportunity. Marcel Reed, he actually took me to Chick-fil-A. Me and -- it was a good time. He's great to be around. He's good. Looks good. Looks a year better. Mature guy. Fun to be around. He's great.

Q. You're standing in the tunnel waiting to follow Boomer Sooner onto the field. What's the one thing that's giving you goosebumps right then?

JOHN MATEER: As a kid, you grow up and you dream of being in that situation. I try to stay where my feet are. But sometimes you realize the opportunity that you're given but it's coolest thing to have Boomer Sooner going back and forth and the is scooter running out nothing like it. You work all year for it. I'm super excited for September 4th.

Q. I want to go back to the tight end room for a second. Big addition that was there made in the offseason coaching wise was bringing in Jason Witten to be the tight ends coach. Obviously that's not your position, but I imagine you've been around him quite often. What's it been to be around a guy like that to soak up the knowledge that he brings?

JOHN MATEER: There's a lot of guys in this world. I was just at the Manning Passing Academy. I put him on that level definitely. You just hang around guys like that. It's gold. They're just giving you gold all the time.

I'm around him as much as I can. And luckily he calls me and he gives me that wisdom. He wants to share his wisdom and we've seen that in the offense. And it's been great.

He's a great dude and to get the great dude and great wisdom and great coach, there's not a whole lot of people like that. But he's one of them, and I can't say enough good things about him.

Q. It's not uncommon nowadays for a transfer player to have a new coach with him at the new program, like you and Coach Arbuckle, but not a lot of guys get a year two. What are you looking forward to having yet another year with him in the system. What's the biggest benefit of having a guy that's known you for so long and vice versa?

JOHN MATEER: I think the relationship, you hear the relationship between the offensive coordinator and the quarterback is the biggest relationship in all of sports. And I believe that.

Our relationship is only tighter now than it's ever been. And that's probably because of the struggle. Struggle brings you closer. And so I love that guy. And we both learned so much together and it's going to be real good.

Q. Brent was just telling us that Trell Harris is finally running routes full speed. What's it been like to kind of get on the same page with him this offseason, and what has been that process for a guy who missed spring?

JOHN MATEER: It's been a lot of, I don't want to say hanging out, but just being around each other. He would come over, eat a meal together. We watched his film last year together, what he's thinking. I could see how he moves.

But it's been great. I have no doubt in Trell Harris. I believe in him. He's a great friend to me. It's going to be a lot of fun.

Q. Taylor Wein just mentioned a lot of self-belief in a lot of players on the team. As a leader, how do you share that belief in other players as well and inspire them to be confident?

JOHN MATEER: I think a good leader makes them believe in you, but a good leader makes people believe in themselves. That's something that we shared. It's told to us, it's challenged to us to do. I think there's a lot of good leaders that have done that.

I think a guy in our position there's a lot of us, a lot of senior older guys -- you can either lift the young guy up or put them down and make yourself feel better. We don't have a lot of immature leaders. We have a lot of good guys that want to help and want to see other people succeed because we know depth is so important in this league. That's been real good.

Q. How have you seen the offensive line develop this offseason?

JOHN MATEER: I mean, they've been real good. I hesitate. I don't know where to start, really. Their relationships are great. We're about to go hang out this next weekend. I can't wait. Being around them, luckily I'm in the locker room on the side with all of them. You get in there after practice, and it's so funny.

I love being around them. They love being around each other. But obviously the weight room, and they stay after it more than anybody. I see it and I obviously love seeing it, but they're getting on each other like -- the standard has been raised. That's because the guys know each other and because the guys are coming back.

The mistakes -- not allowed, perfection. We don't expect perfection, but we expect a very high level of performance and they all know it. You'll get Eddy P. He's going to be up here. He'll say the same thing. I love those guys.

Q. What is your leadership style? If somebody does well, what might you say? And if somebody has an issue, how would you respond?

JOHN MATEER: Good question. I've raised my intensity -- we need to be better, I need to be better. For that to happen, we need to be better. For the team to be better, we need to be better.

When the mental errors come around, you let them hear it a little bit. But there's a fine line. And I think I'm only able to do that because when they succeed, I try to do my best and give them their praise because they all deserve it because there's a lot of guys doing a lot of good things.

And then I hate to -- you can't get on to somebody if you don't have a relationship with them. So you have to establish that first.

The whole winter, the whole spring, you're not just snapping on people because then they won't respect you. So you need the respect and then you can go back and forth. You talk to them. And you never want to just get on to somebody just to get on them because some people do it, it's like a reflection of themselves.

That's never the goal. It's always about the team and we need to be better. So that's what I try to do.

Q. There's been a lot of great moments in Oklahoma sports over the few months you've been at. Baseball, winning the national championships. You've been at the UFC this weekend. What's it mean to see the state come together for these great moments and hoping to carry that over to football season?

JOHN MATEER: It's awesome. At the UFC fight, I'll start with that, it was awesome. I've never been. That was the first time. It's the crowd, the energy. We don't always get, it's not huge a state, huge city, not like LA or anything like that. So the moments are, it matters so much.

And going to Omaha was so sick. Being a kid, I grew up playing baseball. I had that dream and obviously it didn't happen, but I got to go and watch. So that was super cool. I'm super proud of them. Who would have thought but they did. So it's all that matters.

Q. John, you mentioned Eddy. I think a lot of people were a little bit surprised he got the invite. What's it say about his maturation over the past year that he's here with you guys?

JOHN MATEER: I think when you look at Eddy, you see his investment of the team and his improvement year to year. He really sets the tone every day. He's going to go hit somebody, and you need that on the O line. You need somebody -- if he's going to hit somebody, you should too.

And I love him. Obviously he's a great dude. And I could hang around Eddy all day. I see his truck -- he has a pretty unique truck. But it's always at the facility. It's always there.

It kind of bothers me that he's there and I'm leaving. You know? Not to say that I'm not in there often. But he's in there even more. It obviously makes me feel good but it bothers me, too. You know?

But he's great. I'm not surprised he's here at all.