Brent Venables praises Jackson Arnold’s training: ‘He’s a winner’

MEANS MORE for Oklahoma and Texas | The SEC officially welcomes the Sooners and Longhorns

Jackson Arnold lead Oklahoma Sooners in a new era. During an appearance on “The Paul Finebaum Show,” the Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables revealed how the starting QB will spur the Sooners to success in their first year in the SEC.

“We have tremendous experience coming back to the qualifying post, for sure. Jackson, this will be his first full season,” Venables said. “Jackson is as talented a player as there is in college football. He is a winner. He earned his whole life. Smart guy, great instincts. He has a tremendous skill set. He has a great toughness about him. He can run it, he can throw it. And again, this is a development game.

“Wherever he finished the season last year in his first collegiate start will be on another planet. And my expectation is from where we start at the beginning of the year, he will develop and improve. He’s tough, he’s got a lot of self-awareness, he’s got all the traits that get you through it, both the good and the bad. He responds to adversity and is just an amazing leader. The players play hard for him.”

Arnold is maybe from Oklahoma the biggest question mark before the 2024 campaign. Appeared in six games last season and made one start. His only start came in a 38-24 loss at Oklahoma Arizona in the Alamo Bowl.

In the loss, Arnold completed 26 of 45 pass attempts for 361 yards and two touchdowns. However, he also threw three interceptions and committed a fumble. In all, Arnold racked up 563 passing yards and four touchdowns in his debut campaign with the Sooners.

Of course, it’s not fair to judge Arnold’s potential from one performance. The sophomore QB looked great in Oklahoma’s spring game, completing 10 of 20 passes for 233 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions.

Back in June, Jackson Arnold revealed the changes he made to his game this offseason.

“I’m a little different,” Arnold said. “Obviously, I’m not going to get (Dillon Gabriel) back this year, take the reins this year and just have that dog mentality, come in and work through the offseason, focusing on ways to get myself and on the team better around me.

“Definitely in practices and our practices and practices and stuff, just being more vocal, you know, leading those guys, encouraging them. Not only that, but messing with these guys, you know, telling them what they did wrong, what they could have done better. Even if I have to break them in front of some people, I have to break them in front of some people.”

Arnold will begin his first season as Oklahoma’s full-time starter on Aug. 30 against Temple.