Oklahoma Five-Star Plus+ QB signee Jackson Arnold talks Peyton Bowen, upcoming arrival to Norman

On National Signing Day, Five-Star Plus+ quarterback Jackson Arnold and five-star safety Peyton Bowen — teammates at Denton (Texas) Guyer — were headed to different programs. Arnold signed with Oklahoma, while Bowen flipped to Oregon from Notre Dame.

24 hours later, circumstances changed. Bowen flipped to the Sooners from the Ducks, reuniting with Arnold.

“At that point, it was up to Peyton,” Arnold told reporters at hotel check-in for the Under Armour All-America Game. “We said all we could. We showed him all we could. We laid out the foundation for him. He just had to make the choice.”

Arnold is “super pumped” that Bowen is joining him in Norman and shared that he has “a roommate now.” The 6-foot-1, 198-pound signal-caller made sure to allow Bowen to make his own decision during the recruiting process.

“He’s one of my best friends,” said Arnold, the No. 8 overall prospect and No. 3 quarterback in the 2023 On3 Consensus. “You don’t push it too much. Like the other night, I’m hanging out with him. I don’t ask him on and on where he’s going to school or why he should go to Oklahoma and stuff like that. After a while, it gets old, so I try not to push his buttons all the time, but definitely get the message across every so often.”

Check out more updates from hotel check-in for the 2023 Under Armour All-America Game.

Arnold is excited to get started at Oklahoma

The Lone Star State native is heading to Oklahoma as the top-ranked prospect in the Sooners’ 2023 recruiting class. He almost committed the first time he met head coach Brent Venables and his staff, but decided to make that choice on Jan. 24.

Regarding name, image and likeness, it did not seem like a top factor for Arnold. He shared that finding a place where he was comfortable, a good situation to potentially play early and a chance to be developed were his main priorities

“Definitely these past couple weeks, I’ve reflected on everything and I’m super excited,” Arnold said. “A little nervous, as expected, but not scared to go there. I think that’s a big thing for me, just kind of going in with confidence, knowing that I belong at a place like that. Just going in and learning as much as I can is something I’m really looking forward to.”

When Arnold officially visited Norman on the weekend of June 4, he was hosted by Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel. The five-star shared that he and Gabriel are “pretty close” and that he texted him yesterday for his birthday.

Gabriel was the Sooners’ starting quarterback for the 2022 season. Arnold believes that learning under him will be a great introduction to his Oklahoma career.

“In my opinion, I think it’s a good situation for me, just because I’m behind a guy that’s been playing three, four-plus years,” Arnold said. “Just learning from somebody like that, just learning from a veteran will only help me.”