Jackson Arnold explains why he is not attending Manning Passing Academy

Jackson Arnold is hoping to excel at Auburn during his first season with the Tigers. He’s doing everything he can to endear himself to his teammates, including skipping the Manning Passing Academy in Louisiana this summer.

While Arnold admitted he had a great time at the event when he went in the past, the quarterback believes it’s more important for him to spend time gelling with his new teammates at Auburn. He took some time to elaborate on his decision earlier this week.

“Yeah, it is true. I went last year and I had a great experience, but I felt, for me, I needed to be around these guys as much as possible,” Arnold told the media. “I knew going there meant I would have to miss a couple of workouts with those guys, and I felt like that wasn’t fair to them. I felt like I should go through the whole summer with them, and just keep on working together, keep on gelling with them. … I walked into a brand new situation. I didn’t know a single person on this team before I came here.

“I feel like it’s just — it’s just big for me to be around the guys. Get to know me, and me get to know them, and just create a relationship, so on the field they’ll trust me, and they’ll respect me.”

Evidently, team chemistry appears to be big for Arnold, wanting to make sure they hit the ground running this season after he transferred in from Oklahoma. Inside the vaunted SEC, Auburn is going to have plenty of competition, so any extra reps its quarterback can gain will go a long way toward success in 2025.

Additionally, Auburn is still going through a quarterback competition. Hugh Freeze has yet to officially announce a winner but from the outside, Arnold appears to be the favorite. Two others are involved in Deuce Knight and Ashton Daniels. Knight is just a true freshman while Daniels, another transfer via Stanford, is not yet on campus.

Of the trio, Arnold is the only one with experience inside the SEC. Ten appearances in 2024 for Oklahoma, six of which were against conference foes, saw Arnold throw for 1,421 yards, 12 touchdowns, and three interceptions.

His feet were certainly a weapon too, with 444 yards and three touchdowns on 150 carries. Auburn fans will love the performance against Alabama as Arnold guided the Sooners to an upset victory due to 131 yards on the ground.

June 26 is when the Manning Passing Academy will begin, running for three days through June 29. A full list of camp counselors has not yet been released. It always has big-time names from the sport and for now, we know Arnold’s name will not be present.

All attention appears to be on the upcoming season, set to begin Friday, Aug. 29, with a road game against Baylor. The Tigers lost last season’s marquee non-conference game to Cal, something Hugh Freeze hopes to avoid in 2025, and Jackson Arnold isn’t taking any chances.

— On3’s Griffin McVeigh contributed to this article.