Terrion Arnold reveals how Alabama’s offensive talent has helped him improve

Defensive back Terrion Arnold did not play a major role in the Alabama defense as a freshman but promises to breakthrough moving forward after a year going against some of the best offensive talent in the country. The former four-star recruit brings versatility and now more experience to his game in year two.

During an appearance on The Player’s Lounge podcast, Terrion Arnold discussed his first experience at Alabama practice and how things have progressed since then due to constant battles against the offensive talent.

“When I first got there, I was guarding (Jameson Williams), like press man-to-man,” said Arnold. “Guys didn’t really Jamo could go like that, next thing you know he’s hitting different gears and I’m like, ‘golly,’ because the first day you’re just doing basic stuff. Just man-to-man doing that, and then when we kind of got further on into practices it really started to get complex for me because I’m like, ‘ok it’s cover seven, cover eight, what is this?’

“That’s one of the big things that I was really impressed with myself coming in, even from this spring, just watching the game slow down for me. At first, it was way too fast. Just seeing the game slow down, I like it. When I get out there now, I’m not really focused on what to do, it’s more so looking at my keys now because I know what to do. It’s how to do it now.”

Terrion Arnold on growth at Alabama

Despite taking a redshirt in 2021, the first year on campus provided the 6-foot defensive back an opportunity to watch, learn and acclimate.

“First thing’s first, I learned how disciplined I was coming from high school,” said Arnold. “I knew it was going to be a big transition but it was actually pretty, pretty easy because of just being around good people. Coach Saban, he doesn’t recruit bad people or people with character issues. There’s never any drama, people talking negatively about each other, it’s just a positive atmosphere, positive vibe. So that’s something I learned about myself, getting in there and being able to mix with the guys because obviously, everybody wants that when they get there.

“I really found myself. Found myself doing a lot of soul searching. It’s new, 17 years old, you’re a child. You’re playing with old men now. It was a process that I had to figure out but I really grew a lot from last year.”