When thrown straight into the lion’s den, Tiger Jackson Arnold never flinched, but man did Oklahoma’s fire scorch him. The kid walked into the Sooners program wrapped in glory: as a celebrated five-star recruit, Gatorade Player of the Year, and, most importantly, as the team’s bright future. Instead, Brent Venables‘ chaotic system derailed his debut, and Arnold bore the brunt. But Arnold didn’t give up and packed his bags for Auburn in search of redemption. His talent was never the issue; consistency? Sure took a few hits. But when tossed into a quarterback battle with Deuce Knight, Arnold didn’t waver. Even Hugh Freeze saw it: the transfer carried scars, yes, but also ferocious determination.
Look, Hugh Freeze has been trying to get a consistent player at the QB position for a very long time. But disappointment was the only constant thing. His star QB Payton Thorne‘s performance dropped, landing them at a 5-7 record. Worst part? Payton threw 4 interceptions in their loss against the Golden Bears. But Freeze can’t let such things happen this year, as anything less than a playoff run will only bring a can full of backlash for him. However, Jackson Arnold’s performance finally gave a breath of relief to Hugh Freeze. It seems he finally found what he was looking for in Arnold.
Now, talking to On3, Hugh Freeze gave his 100% honest admission on Jackson Arnold’s improvement and said, “Just needed a restart for whatever reason. And I’m just excited about what I saw. He’s got the arm talent, he’s got the legs, and he’s got the football IQ. And I think he just needs confidence, and I think that confidence grew this spring, along with his rapport with our receivers. But truthfully, you probably don’t regain or gain that confidence and swagger until we really get into the bows and have success. But I’m really confident with what I saw, in him and Deuce, throughout the spring.” Look, the competition is evident, but it’s still a big development for Arnold’s future with the team.
“I think (Arnold) just needs confidence and I think that confidence grew this spring, along with our, his rapport with our receivers.”
Latest comments from Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze on QBs Jackson Arnold and Deuce Knight.
https://t.co/2Tx4ZLXZvG pic.twitter.com/xXoU1Wk3f0
— Justin Hokanson (@_JHokanson) May 5, 2025
We all know how, after starting in the first 3 games as a starter for the Sooners, but after throwing for 54 yards and an interception against Tennessee, Venables made a bold decision to switch the QB. Then, a month later, he saw the field against South Carolina. And Arnold, take it as a lesson from God. “For me, that was a wake-up call from God, just to kind of take a step back and root my identity in something other than the game,” Arnold said. “Really, just to go through that and just learn how to persevere through hard times. … Just really being strong, being able to persevere is something I feel like I learned a lot last year.”
And despite all of it, Arnold threw for 1,421 yards, tossing 12 TDs with a completion rate of 62.6% in 10 games with three interceptions. On top of that, he also rushed for 444 yards and three touchdowns. With Oklahoma, he showed flashes of improvement, but with Auburn, he is finally getting into his form. “Really excited about Jackson,” Hugh Freeze said. “I thought he and Deuce [Knight] were, we were able to just—we only had those two guys here, so they got all the reps, and I think that was a good thing. And, uh, Jackson, obviously, has all the tools to be, to be one of the top quarterbacks in the nation, in my opinion. I think he, you know, coming out of high school, obviously, was Gatorade Player of the Year.”
Injury concerns kept Jackson Arnold from playing in Auburn’s A-Day Game this past spring. Because of a slight leg injury sustained just before the spring game, Hugh Freeze decided to keep him from playing. But he is ready to make another splash at the summer camp. Do you ever think about what might have been if he’d stayed with Brent Venables in Oklahoma?
Arnold’s fate sees a major shift under Hugh Freeze, unlike it was under Brent Venables
Targeting Auburn, Arnold aims to defy his past struggles. But a key question remains: Is he still the star quarterback who captivated the nation? Some argue his Oklahoma downturn wasn’t solely his fault. John Williams of Sooners Wire stated plainly, “The 2024 season wasn’t all on Arnold. The circumstances the offense was dealing with this season weren’t conducive to a young quarterback’s development.” This points directly to Brent Venables. The defensive-minded head coach seemed over-matched managing a young offense. The shaky foundation left Arnold trapped in a system hindering his progress, not propelling it.
This perspective resurfaced on April 28 during The Barn podcast. Kyle Rush highlighted a revealing exchange between Cole Cubelic and Greg McElroy. Cubelic admitted, “I’m pretty hard on what Jackson was last year, and Greg’s a little more forgiving. And he said, he goes, ‘The thing that you need to think about that I don’t think you think about is it’s hard playing quarterback for a defensive-minded head coach.’” This shifted Cubelic’s view, and it’s influencing others as well.
Cubelic’s blunt warning— “‘Whatever you do, don’t screw this up.’ I had never thought of it, and I had never heard him say it.” That idea of playing not to lose rather than playing to win suddenly painted Arnold’s year in a different light. Cubelic kept it real—“Would Lane Kiffin ever say anything like that to a quarterback? Lincoln Riley, would Steve Sarkisian in their last dying days ever say something like that to a quarterback? Hell to the nah.” For Arnold, that fear of failure, not the opposing defense, became his true adversary.
Last season, Brent Venables’s distrust, treating the offense like a contagion, was evident. He benched Arnold mid-season for Michael Hawkins Jr., triggering a rapid decline. Arnold didn’t even play against Auburn, his future team. Worse, Venables promised a redshirt year, then reversed course against Ole Miss. Hawkins lost his eligibility too.
Two talented quarterbacks were wasted in a disastrous season. For Arnold, it ended with emotional wounds, not impressive statistics. Now at Auburn, he carries that baggage into his next chapter.
The post Hugh Freeze All But Confirms Jackson Arnold’s Auburn Future With Big Admission as Brent Venables’ Dark Agenda Exposed appeared first on EssentiallySports.
