Brent Venables on Jackson Arnold's mindset as backup: 'He's handled things great'

Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables made the bold move of benching starting quarterback Jackson Arnold against Tennessee and moving him to the backup role moving forward.

It was a move that could have a negative impact on Arnold’s mindset. However, Venables shared that this hasn’t been the case to this point, which he attributes to how the young quarterback has handled the switch.

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“Great. That’s my perspective but [he] worked hard to make sure he’s got the right mindset,” Brent Venables said. “And everybody’s got a role. He’s gotta stay ready, you know, he’s gotta stay ready. And so he’s handled things great. Really, really good in every way. More so than you’d probably think as just a second-year player. And incredibly probably disappointed. It would be naive if we didn’t think that’s not a piece of what he’s going through.”

The offense was struggling against Tennessee, with turnovers in particular being an issue. When he was benched, Arnold had completed just 7 of 16 passes for 54 yards and an interception. He also ran for -21 yards rushing, with sack yardage impacting that total. He was replaced by Michael Hawkins, a freshman who seemed to spark the offense a little. Hawkins was later named the starting quarterback moving forward.

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“But I think he’s got the maturity to be like ‘I’m going to be better from this.’ We’ve tried to put lots of different examples from lots of different people. Testimonials,” Venables said. “And we do that non-stop for all of our guys. That’s this game. That’s life. You know? And help guys manage these moments where you’re going through a challenging time. Some choppy waters.”

The move to bench Jackson Arnold was surprising in many respects, but one of the biggest reasons it was a surprise was the recruiting pedigree that Arnold comes from. A former five-star recruit in the Class of 2023, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, Arnold was the fourth-ranked quarterback recruit that cycle and seemed poised to replace Dillon Gabriel throughout the entirety of the 2023 season.

Overall, in his four games as the starter for Oklahoma this season, Jackson Arnold has completed 59.8 percent of passes for 548 yards, seven touchdowns, and three interceptions.

Amid this challenging time for Jackson Arnold, he has put his best foot forward. Even Michael Hawkins, the quarterback who replaced him, praised him for the relationship the two have had since the benching.

“It’s been great, we have the same relationship we had before so nothing has changed. It’s a good relationship,” Hawkins said. “We always try to help each other out in film or even off the football field.”

The Sooners are on a bye this week before playing in Red River against Texas. It’s a game where Brent Venables knows he’s going to need to get the best out of his quarterback if Oklahoma is going to be able to beat the Longhorns again.