Oklahoma Coach Brent Venables: Sooners Tried to Retain Jackson Arnold

ATLANTA — Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said that the Sooners attempted to retain quarterback Jackson Arnold at SEC Media Days on Wednesday.

Arnold, a former 5-star prospect, transferred to Auburn in December after the Sooners’ 6-7 season, their second losing campaign in Venables’ three-year tenure at OU. 

Oklahoma landed Washington State transfer quarterback John Mateer in the portal to replace Arnold, along with offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle, who also came from WSU.

“Hate what happened,” Venables said. “We tried to keep him, we wanted to keep him, but I think he just needed a fresh start, I don’t want to speak for him.”

A product of Guyer High School in Denton, TX, Arnold was the No. 3 overall prospect in the Class of 2023, per ESPN. On3, ESPN and Rivals all graded him as a 5-star recruit, while 247Sports had him as a 4-star.

Arnold’s career at OU, though, didn’t go as planned.

The quarterback played in seven games as a backup and started the Alamo Bowl in 2023 before taking the starting job ahead of the 2024 season.

Arnold led Oklahoma to a 3-0 start last year, but he didn’t surpass 200 yards in the Sooners’ wins against Temple, Houston and Tulane. He was benched late in the second quarter of their loss to Tennessee, throwing for just 54 yards and an interception on 7-of-16 passing before being removed.

Michael Hawkins Jr. took over for the rest of that game and started OU’s next three contests. Arnold eventually won the job back in the South Carolina game, entering in relief of Hawkins after the Sooners trailed 21-0 in the first quarter.

The Sooners went 2-3 in Arnold’s final five games in crimson and cream but did lead them to a win over No. 7 Alabama to ruin the Crimson Tide’s College Football Playoff chances.

Arnold ended the year with 1,421 passing yards, 12 passing touchdowns and three interceptions in 10 games.

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But Venables doesn’t attribute those lackluster numbers to poor performance. He sees them as a product of his surroundings.

Oklahoma saw several of its wide receivers — Nic Anderson, Jalil Farooq, Andrel Anthony, Deion Burks and Jayden Gibson — miss multiple games with various injuries. The Sooners also started nine different offensive line combinations in their first nine games.

Venables believes it would’ve been near impossible for any quarterback to have success in that setting.

“Unfortunately for him, everything around him wasn’t helping him be successful,” Venables said. “He had no chances, in some ways, under the circumstances and dealt a really bad hand. Never once was I disappointed in him. He handled one of the toughest moments of his athletic life in an amazing, first-class way.”

Arnold now gets his fresh start.

He joins an Auburn program in dire need of a spark. The Tigers have logged four losing seasons in a row, missing out on bowl eligibility in two of the last three seasons. Most recently, Auburn went 5-7 and were one of just two SEC foes that the Sooners defeated in 2024.

Venables said that Arnold’s addition instantly made Auburn a better team.

“I know this without reservation: He’s going to play this game for a long time at a really high level,” Venables said. “He’ll be a different player. (Auburn coach Hugh Freeze) will put him in a position to be successful, and they have tremendous football players.”