Jackson Arnold lay on his back gazing toward the domed roof of AT&T Stadium.
Just hours earlier, the retractable covering, supported by 14,100 tons of steel, sheltered the dreams of 73 boys from Denton, Texas, from the clouds looming outside.
Now, it served as a stark reminder of a 15-year-old kid’s failures.
“I just got thrown in,” Jackson said, thinking about that afternoon in late December.
After getting sacked, cuts decorated his skin and bruises started to form during the game, serving as a lingering reminder of what occurred over the last hour and foreshadowing where he would find himself four years later.
Since starting at Denton Guyer High School that August, Jackson had been the backup quarterback and had thrown just one pass in a varsity game all season. But when Eli Stowers injured a knee ligament during the team’s first offensive drive, the freshman had to step up.
Todd Arnold sat among 35,278 spectators, watching as his son took the field in the Class 6A Division II state championship game against Austin Westlake.
“I am looking as they march him out there,” Todd told the OU Daily. “They had just converted a fake punt and got the first down, and then Jackson went out there and played the rest of the game. But just like a team should, Austin Westlake tended their defenses years back.
“So, he got hit, and hit. And hit. And hit.”
Jackson was blindsided by the Westlake edge rushers and the importance of the moment. The young quarterback had not felt the in-game pressures of Texas high school defenses, he had not taken enough snaps in live situations and he was not ready to lead a team that wasn’t his.
After Stowers, who would later commit to Texas A&M, left with an injury, Jackson went 2-of-11, accounting for six of Guyer’s 15 total offensive yards, threw two interceptions and was sacked three times.
In one final attempt at a comeback — or just to avoid a shutout — Jackson stepped back into the pocket and launched a pass as time ticked off the clock. The ball fell into the hands of an Austin Westlake player, who then raced past the quarterback for a touchback.
There, standing in his opponent’s end zone, the quarterback was completely exposed, feeling the weight of the storm he had just weathered between two goalposts.
“I’ll never be in that position not to be prepared again,” Jackson told his father after the game.
As he watched his son walk away, Todd understood that this was the moment that would make Jackson Arnold.
Not break him.
“That game, that moment, it showed him that sometimes you have to fail,” Todd said. “He didn’t like it, but he failed and he learned from it.”
The weight of failure — the one he carried since that day — would resurface four years later. After former starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel left for Oregon in December, Oklahoma called on the freshman ahead of its game against Arizona in the Alamo Bowl.
“I felt like I was in the same situation as my freshman year of high school,” Jackson said. “It was a similar situation as going into that state championship game. Even then, I was using that as a growing experience rather than looking at it and seeing something negative.”
Most things matched up. Jackson was a true freshman playing behind a veteran quarterback and had to prepare quickly after Gabriel’s departure. However, this time, he took valuable snaps throughout the season, including playing at BYU and leading OU to a 31-24 win after Gabriel suffered a head injury before halftime.
Though he struggled to take care of the ball early in the game against Arizona — throwing three interceptions, two in the first three drives — there were bright spots for the quarterback. Jackson rallied in the second half, finishing 26-of-45 for 361 yards and two touchdowns.
Junior linebacker Danny Stutsman and freshman quarterback Jackson Arnold after the game against Arizona on Dec. 28.
“It’s tough,” Jackson said in June while reflecting on OU’s 38-24 loss in San Antonio. “You don’t want your first college start to be in a bowl game against a good Arizona team, but I just kind of treated it as a learning opportunity, using it to grow.”
Sitting in the stands of the Alamodome, the same way he had four years prior at AT&T Stadium, Todd thought about what he said to Jackson after the state championship game and understood his message never changed.
“This game does not have to define you,” Todd said, meeting the gaze of both the 15-year-old boy in a Denton Guyer uniform and the 19-year-old man in crimson and cream. “But the way you come back from this game will.”
‘Not everybody is wired that way’
Jordan Johnson dropped his controller and watched Jackson’s slight irritation steam into boiling anger.
The Denton Guyer offensive coordinator had walked by his office countless times, seeing the quarterback playing video games with teammates during breaks or after practice. However, this was the first time Johnson had ever stopped to join him.
“It had been years since I had played Madden, but he played all the time,” Johnson recalled. “That day, I ended up beating him, and he got legitimately mad in my office.”
Though it was just a game and Johnson was far from a seasoned player, he understood why the high schooler cared. Jackson was, in that moment, and every moment prior to that, the picture of a winner.
“He has an extremely competitive nature,” Johnson told the OU Daily. “I always think about some of the biggest games that we played in, I think about how he was before we even kicked off. How excited he would be to play in some of the moments that would later define his high school career. His demeanor in all of that is pretty remarkable.
“I mean, Jackson was born to compete, and not everybody’s wired that way.”
Seeing Jackson lose in his office that day, Johnson reflected on the only other time he had witnessed the future five-star quarterback falter.
Three years before, the coach had sat as a spectator and watched a freshman in the state championship game. Even from the stands, Johnson could see the quarterback’s potential, but the process would take time.
Watching Jackson struggle through four quarters, Johnson never imagined he would become his offensive coordinator in just six months. His hire, for both player and coach, would change their relationships with the game and with each other.
“Watching him go from that freshman on the field at that state championship game to the guy that is leading the Oklahoma Sooners has been such a neat evolution to watch,” Johnson said. “But with anything, it didn’t just happen overnight.”
Jackson would still have to endure another 365 days of sitting on the sidelines, watching, learning and absorbing the game from his least favorite point of view.
Two years spent behind Stowers at Denton Guyer eased Jackson’s transition from high school to college, with Gabriel taking on the role of Oklahoma’s veteran quarterback.
“He doesn’t like sitting,” Todd said. “He has made the statement publicly that, ‘Not playing sucks.’ But during his sophomore year of high school, when he had to play behind Eli Stowers, it was also really similar to his first year at OU. I think it is good to learn from a veteran who has been there for a while, and in both scenarios with Eli, and with Dillon this past year, those are productive situations to be in.”
Johnson knew that the sophomore quarterback could have started at any school in Texas, but the offensive coordinator was invested in growing the version of Jackson that would one day lead OU into its first season in a new conference.
Sophomore quarterback Jackson Arnold during 2024 SEC Media Days on July 16.
While waiting for his opportunity, it was Jackson’s mindset and his ability to attack the game, even while getting no playing time, that would inevitably make him one of the most sought-after recruits in the nation.
The growth he achieved from his sophomore to senior seasons turned him from a backup to the No. 1-ranked quarterback in the 2023 class, according to ESPN.
“Jackson was always really critical of how quick, compact and efficient his release was,” Johnson said. “One of the biggest things from his freshman year to when he graduated, from both a physical standpoint and playing the position from a technical standpoint, was the improvement of that release.
“If you watch old tapes and break down his motion you can see the difference. As a sophomore, he had a long, methodical release that even he did not like, and by his senior year, I had never seen a guy who threw the ball that efficiently with that much zip. That work changed who he was as a quarterback.”
Over the next two years, Jackson went 28-3 as a starter and amassed over 7,000 passing yards, 67 passing touchdowns and just eight interceptions. He also rushed for 1,580 yards and 36 touchdowns in his junior and senior seasons, leading Guyer to the 2021 Texas 6A Division II state championship game and a state semifinal appearance in 2022.
Jackson would be named the 2022-23 Gatorade National Football Player of the Year, capping off his high school career and highlighting his perseverance and commitment to the Denton Guyer program.
“He was just a student of the game,” Johnson said. “He learned as much during his junior and senior years as he did when he was a sophomore. Jackson’s high football IQ, his desire to talk about the game and his interest in the X’s and O’s led to him being so well-versed. It was his understanding of the game that set him apart.”
Jackson forged through growing pains and even in moments of humility — whether at AT&T Stadium, waiting behind Stowers or losing in Johnson’s office — he found what fueled him.
“The thing that separates people is their work ethic,” Johnson said. “ I saw his work ethic and passion for football and knew it was inevitable that he was going to turn out to be who he is now.
“There are talented people everywhere, there are physically gifted kids everywhere but not everyone is like Jackson Arnold.”
‘You don’t even know if this is what you hoped for’
Sitting in the sand on a beach during his vacation, Todd pulled out his phone, shaded it from the bright sky overhead and watched as his son answered questions during media days.
“This is surreal,” he thought to himself.
“You have big dreams for your child,” Todd said. “But do you ever dream of something like this?”
Freshman quarterback Jackson Arnold during the game against Arizona on Dec. 28.
There the quarterback sat, in a gray suit and a crimson tie, cementing his legacy as the face of OU football and the unquestioned leader ahead of the program’s historic first season in the Southeastern Conference.
Since Gabriel’s departure, it became apparent that just as Oklahoma is navigating its transition into a highly competitive conference, Jackson would also step into the spotlight as the new starting quarterback.
The daunting task of proving they belong looms, especially for Jackson, as the 19-year-old has the potential to curate what comes next.
“He can be creative,” Todd said.
But with a fresh canvas comes the expectation of making something worth viewing and investing in. It’s a reality Jackson is embracing as he carves his path ahead of the 2024 season.
“Just block out the pressure,” Jackson reminds himself. “I feel like there's only pressure if you bring that pressure onto yourself.”
For the quarterback, extra work compensates for the lack of in-game collegiate experience, and he spent the summer learning from quarterback trainers and the OU coaching staff.
That commitment is evident to those around him, especially his teammates.
For every summer day that Jackson worked on routes with redshirt sophomore wide receiver Nic Anderson in Denton, Texas, was another night during fall camp that his roommate, sophomore defensive back Peyton Bowen noticed he was gone.
“I’ve seen him grow a lot,” Bowen said. “It has been nice to see. I live with him, so I see like, oh, he is still not home, and I know he is up there still watching film. It is a great feeling knowing that our starting quarterback is doing all that preparation and hard work in the dark that people don’t see.”
Although the work is private, the performance is public, and as Jackson prepares for the season, it is OU head coach Brent Venables who is confident that his quarterback is ready for what is next.
“You have to be able to play within the system and understand that there will be some mistakes, not everything's going to go your way,” Venables said. “How you handle those, those tough moments, the challenging moments in the course of a game or course of a season, is ultimately how you're going to be defined. And Jackson, well, he's got a great grasp on that."
Struggles at the Alamo Bowl prompted concerns, but Jackson has proved he knows how to succeed after facing setbacks, and now, the stakes are higher than ever before. With the weight of a storied program and the hopes of a fanbase on his shoulders, the quarterback knows the margin for error is small as he leads OU into a new era.
Developing tough skin, taking one step at a time and loving the game of football have gotten him this far, and it will stick with him as he encounters the natural ebbs and flows of a season.
“For me, I feel like I've learned to be resilient, especially after the bowl game,” Jackson said. “I had that experience my freshman year of high school. It's different at the college level. There are a lot more eyes on me, and a lot more negativity that can be thrown your way. Just being resilient and being able to overcome that adversity was huge for me in the bowl game and will be this fall because we will face adversity.”
Todd knows there will be highs and lows this season. But as he envisions his son stepping out onto the field during Oklahoma’s home opener against Temple, he is reminded that the aspirations once harbored are all possibilities.
“When you are watching your kid in front of 80,000 people, or you see his name scroll across the ticker on ESPN, you don’t even know if this is what you’ve hoped for,” Todd said. “You want them to love what they do and be successful at it, but this, sometimes you just have to pinch yourself.”
For OU football, this dream has quickly turned into a reality, and now it is up to the quarterback to answer the question everyone is asking:
Is Jackson Arnold ready for this?
