When Jackson Arnold entered the transfer portal this offseason, Auburn’s coaching staff came calling early for the former five-star quarterback.
“I think early on the coaches were immediately texting me as soon as I entered the portal, or that day opened up for the transfer portal. They were the first ones that texted me, communicated to me. Almost all the offensive coaches texted me early on. Not only that, a day later I hopped on a Zoom call with them all. They kind of laid out everything out for me, showed me my fit in their offense, our offensive depth, depth in the team in general, not just offense,” said Arnold at SEC Media Days on Tuesday.
It’s no secret that Arnold struggled in his first year at the helm of Oklahoma's offense. There were a lot of underlying factors as to why that could be – a young offensive line, a wide receiver room hampered by injuries and his offensive coordinator getting fired midway through the season.
After a call to the bench ahead of the Sooners’ trip to Jordan-Hare Stadium last year, Arnold was reinserted into the starting lineup and finished off strong. But he was ready for a fresh start and Auburn seemed like the perfect fit.
“I think with the depth that we have and the coaches we have, the scheme, the offensive scheme that fits me so well, I thought it was a perfect fit for me,” said Arnold.
Auburn’s RPO offensive scheme is much like what Arnold ran in high school, when he was the 2022 National Gatorade Player of the Year out of Guyer High in Texas.
“The biggest thing Coach (Hugh) Freeze sold me on with the scheme is, one, the RPO game, and, two, the deep shots,” said Arnold. “That's something that I've been doing a lot since high school. And even my first couple of years in college was huge in the RPOs, huge in the deep shots.
“Coach Freeze isn't scared to push the ball down the field, which I absolutely love. I thought with my experience running the RPO game, I think it meshed well with what Coach Freeze was wanting to do with his offense," he added.
Arnold has plenty of things he can take with him to the Plains from his experiences under center in Norman, and said he now fully understands what it takes to be a quarterback in the SEC, with perseverance being a main lesson he learned.
“I think perseverance was a big thing I learned last year, kind of fighting through the tough times. We did play in some big games last year. Now I fully understand what it's like playing a long SEC schedule against some good teams, playing in those tough games where it's extremely close and you have to kind of grind it out. But I think last year taught me a lot, being able to persevere and really sticking to those tough games,” Arnold said.
Freeze talked at length during SEC Media Days about the in-house personality tests he has enforced this offseason. Both he and Arnold implied that the tests have helped them gain confidence in one another and get on the same page ahead of the season.
“It really has worked and is helpful to me in that my first thought today when I saw Jackson was say ‘this’ to him, and that really comes from just the discussions that we've had with people over these profiles, which I think are going to be very helpful to us,” said Freeze.
Needless to say, considering he made his second consecutive trip to SEC Media Days as his team’s representative, Arnold possesses a leadership ability that his teammates have noticed since his arrival. With that, he has gained a boost of confidence – something he’ll need to lead what has been a struggling offensive squad over the past five seasons.
“My confidence is extremely high right now. I credit that to my teammates. I think having their respect and their trust and going out and doing what we did in the spring – I feel like the offense had a really efficient spring – which instilled a lot of confidence in me,” said Arnold. “At the same time, knowing the guys have faith and trust in me to elect me for the leadership council, it gives me a lot of hope and confidence that these dudes really believe in me and really want me to lead them this year.”
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