Jackson Arnold will not start for the University of Oklahoma against Auburn on Saturday and head coach Brent Venables is talking about the former five-star quarterback like he is on his way out the door. In the modern era of college football, where the transfer portal offers an immediate new opportunity, this comments seem to mark the beginning of the end.
The future is grim.
Arnold was the fourth-ranked quarterback in the recruiting Class of 2023 behind Arch Manning, Nico Iamaleava and Dante Moore, and a top-10 player overall. He committed to the Sooners over 24 other offers and was immediately hailed as the future of the program.
Dillon Gabriel started over the true freshman last season but ultimately chose to sit out of the bowl game. Arnold took over. Although he threw three interceptions in a 14-point loss to Arizona, there was a lot of excitement about his 26 completions for 361 yards and two touchdowns.
Gabriel later transferred to Oregon. There was a widespread belief that Venables and Oklahoma let him walk because of his of his belief in Arnold.
The third-year head coach shut that narrative down on Tuesday. Venables was surprised when Gabriel told him that he was going to stay in college instead of turning pro. He did not run him off.
Nobody was running nobody off or anything like that … I did want to make sure I cleared that up.
— Brent Venables
Regardless of what actually went down, Arnold was the guy. Just not anymore.
He did not play particularly well in wins over Temple, Houston and Tulane. He looked awful in a loss to Tennessee.
As a result, Venables gave him the hook in favor of backup Michael Hawkins Jr. right before halftime. The latter will get his first start on Saturday. Arnold is relegated to QB2.
When asked about the future of his highly-touted five-star, Brent Venables spoke of him as if he was fired.
Jackson’s going to have an amazing future and career. He’s going to play this game a long time and all of that will work itself out in due time.
— Brent Venables
Yikes.
That is not a vote of confidence. Jackson Arnold might as well already be in the transfer portal…