He looks back now and never expected the journey to go this way. But he’s grateful for the opportunities. Happy where things stand. Knows what to expect.
Jackson Arnold is a UNLV quarterback competing for a starting job, the former Oklahoma and Auburn player who transferred to the Rebels and now looks to replace the departed Anthony Colandrea.
Looks to follow the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year.
Arnold has been competing with returner Alex Orji in training camp to run a UNLV offense that averaged 34 points and nearly 450 yards last season. Competing to direct an attack that seems capable of again putting up such numbers.
“Just getting around the guys and taking on a veteran role,” Arnold said. “I’ve been to a couple different schools now and it’s my fourth year playing college ball. Just taking that step into being the guy to get others to go. Being a voice in the room.”
His resume is overly impressive, beginning with a high school career at Denton (Texas) Guyer in which Arnold was a 5-star recruit and Top 25 player nationally.
Chosen as a prep All-American and Gatorade National Player of the Year, he combined to throw for 67 touchdowns and run for 36 more combining his junior and senior seasons.
He was the man and then some across the football-crazed state of Texas.
Supreme leadership
“I don’t think anybody would have said this would be Jackson’s (college) path,” said Reed Heim, coach at Denton Guyer. “But he’s built for adversity and overcoming and is a phenomenal person and football player. If someone said to me, ‘What are the potion parts that make a great quarterback? What do you need to be successful?’ I’m picking that guy every time. Every time.
“From his leadership to his toughness to his playmaking ability to his personality. He’s awesome. I just hope the world sees the player I saw and coached, because that guy is pretty damn special.”
Arnold would choose Oklahoma out of high school and play two seasons with the Sooners, starting 10 of the 17 games in which he played, throwing for nearly 2,000 yards and 16 scores during his time in Norman.
But then it was a transfer to Auburn, where Arnold would start eight games last season and throw for 1,300 yards and six touchdowns. He had attempted 324 passes without an interception before playing Missouri dating back to his sophomore season at Oklahoma, marking the third longest streak in SEC history.
He’s also now on his fifth offensive coordinator, coach and roster changes part of the reason he changed schools.
“I haven’t played in the Mountain West or against the schedule we have now, but it was a gauntlet in the SEC the past few years,” Arnold said. “Every game you’re playing against an (NFL) first-rounder, especially with how the NIL is now and people bouncing around for money or for whatever reason.”
He has had a relationship with UNLV offensive coordinator Corey Dennis dating to Arnold’s high school days, when Dennis was at Ohio State and recruiting him to the Buckeyes.
So when it was known that Arnold was thinking of jumping back into the transfer portal and departing Auburn, it made sense that UNLV with Dennis and quarterback-friendly coach Dan Mullen would be in play.
“(Arnold) has played a ton of ball,” Dennis said. “He’s doing a great job learning what we do. He’s a guy who has been around the game a bunch. He’s a very talented kid.
“He’s not a freshman. He’s not a guy coming in and trying to learn the college game. He was an SEC starter. He’s had a lot of different coordinators. We might run similar concepts, but we might read things differently. It’s really about him seeing how we do things. It’s about being yourself and, ultimately, we as coaches have to enhance these guys and play to their strengths more than anything.”
Fact: Colandrea, who transferred to Nebraska following last season, will be a tough act to follow. UNLV went 10-4 with him and played in a third consecutive conference championship game.
But that’s not to say Mullen wants any of his quarterbacks running from the pressure of replacing such a productive player.
The coach invites them to embrace the concept daily.
“Practice is where you see what you can do,” Mullen said, “Practice is where you put pressure on yourself to see what you can get away with and see where you’re good or bad. I want to see you put it on the line in practice.
“I’d rather say, ‘Whoa’ than ‘Sick-em.’ I want them to push themselves and say, ‘This is where your best area is. We’re going to focus on that.’”
Resume not finished
Orji knew Arnold well when both were running around the football fields of Texas, the former having prepped at Sachse High. Orji would attend Michigan from 2022-24 before transferring to UNLV last season and suffering a season-ending injury against UCLA in Week 3.
“(Arnold) was one of the guys I looked up to coming out of high school,” Orji said. “Him being the guy. Seeing his whole career unfold, it’s now great being in the same room with him. Whether it’s us having grown up 40 miles apart or playing the same teams in high school, it’s great to have someone I can relate to and who can really sling it.”
The path isn’t what Jackson Arnold thought it might be, but he is here now, competing, happy where things stand, knowing what to expect.
His resume isn’t complete.
Contact Ed Graney at egraney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @edgraney on X.
