Lebby: Someday Jackson Arnold will be face of program

Oklahoma Spring Football Game — April 22, 2023
Nicholas Rutledge
Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby said that the Sooner offense is in a much better place than it was a year ago.
He even threw out the phrase that seems to be a favorite coming out of the Oklahoma camp — competitive depth. It still remains to be seen how the perceived new depth will translate into winning more games.
But as for the quarterback position, even before the Sooners start fall camp, it’s not hard to see where the optimism is coming from. Waiting for his first opportunity to shine in the crimson and cream is consensus five-star quarterback Jackson Arnold.
More importantly, he’ll have a season behind an established starter in Dillon Gabriel. Still, the Sooners have seen the importance of having a talented backup waiting on the sidelines in recent years.
“Dillon has done the things that he’s needed to do to put himself in a spot to go have a great year and we’re expecting that,” Lebby said Thursday at the coaches luncheon. “He needs to go play his butt off, he’s got to play better than he did a year ago and I need to call it better than I did a year ago.
Two seasons ago, Oklahoma had an established starter in Spencer Rattler, but replaced him with Caleb Williams midway through the season, and it made a big impact on the offense. Last year, the Sooners were forced to lean on their backup quarterback in back-to-back weeks when Gabriel suffered a head injury against TCU.
The offense struggled to move the ball through the air with Davis Beville under center.
Arnold will need time to develop as a college quarterback, but his presence gives the Sooners a much-needed second option.
“We’re incredibly proud of him and all he’s done is take care of his business. And really he’s exceeded expectations,” Lebby said.
Arnold, who is listed as a finance major, was an early enrollee who joined the program in January.
“I never realized how much of a benefit it truly was until a month in,” Arnold said in March. “I thought if I came this summer, I could learn this offense pretty quick and get used to it and learn how to essentially play this offense in the fall pretty quick. That’s wrong. I need it. I’m going to need this whole spring to get used to this offense and get used to learning Coach Lebby’s offense.”
Arnold is the seventh-highest rated recruit in program history according to 247Sports Composite Rankings. He was ranked 10th among all recruits in 247Sports’ player rankings.
The expectations surrounding Arnold are very high, and his coaches are confident he’ll live up to those expectations.
“We’ve talked about this a ton, but at some point that young man is going to be the face of our program and everybody in this room and Sooner nation is going to be dang proud of him,” Lebby said.
Sooner fans got their first look at the player that’s expected to lead the program into the future at the spring game. Arnold completed 6-14 passes for 64 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions.
The crowd erupted when Arnold tucked the ball and scampered for a 53-yard touchdown run. Officials waved off the touchdown due to Arnold being touched after a short gain, and were met by frustrated groans from the fans.
Regardless of the result, Arnold showed off his dual threat potential. Later on in the scrimmage, with just under two minutes remaining and his team trailing, Arnold tossed a 30-yard touchdown pass to Gavin Freeman.
“You recruit a kid for so long, but you don’t know what they’re going to be like in the meeting room every single day,” Lebby said. “You don’t know what they’re going to be like with (OU strength and conditioning coach Jerry Schmidt) when it gets really, really hard. When it’s two o’clock on a hard afternoon in the summer.”