Brent Venables pleased with progress made by Jackson Arnold

Brent Venables has been pleased with what he’s seen from Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Jackson Arnold this offseason.

Following Oklahoma‘s annual spring game last month, Arnold took some time to evaluate his performance. The young quarterback was humble, believing there’s some throws he wishes he could have back, but Arnold was satisfied overall.

“I thought I played good,” Arnold said after the scrimmage. “Obviously, there are some plays and some throws that I want back, but overall I thought it was solid. The (offensive) line played great — just the offense as a whole looked great in my opinion. Receivers played great, running backs played great.”

As for Venables, the coach was more than happy with the quarterback, believing Arnold is doing what he can to be the next in a long line of tremendous talents for Oklahoma at the position.

“Today was another day,” Venables started. “I always look at again, the body of work. I go all the way back to January, and I’m incredibly pleased with the progress. His leadership. The things that he does, from a decision making standpoint, and taking care of the football. Those are the things that I look for, and he’s been a great leader, as well. Both in our out of season program, and then once we jumped into spring ball. Again, I expect another jump during the course of the summer. A lot of player-led things happen in the summertime, so they’ve got to do a great job, for us to be where we want to be when we come back in August. He’s got to do a great job, and everybody. It’s not just one person. But he leads the way, from a you know, being player driven and getting things done.

“Being efficient, and working together. Again, continuing to build, again, our chemistry. Our cohesion. Our relationships. All of those things, that our incredibly important. 30% of those guys in that locker room, that was their first spring game. By the time we get back together in August, just under 40%, I think it’s 38% will be first-time fall participants. So really looking forward to that, and really excited about the additions that we’ve made, both through high school and the portal additions, as well. So I really feel like that’s been a group of guys that have helped us. They’ve created a value for themselves, earned some trust and again, the summertime will be another opportunity for them to continue to enhance that.”

Alas, it’ll be a huge season for Oklahoma, as they move to the SEC. Jackson Arnold will play a huge role in that, and Brent Venables recognizes he’ll have to have his quarterback’s back all season long.