Quarterback Jackson Arnold will return to Oklahoma on Saturday with the No. 22 Auburn Tigers, and as almost everyone on the opposing sideline is familiar with the former Sooner, the man who could have been his position coach and coordinator is not.
Arnold's return to OU after transferring this offseason will be the top storyline all week, prompting questions about Arnold to everyone within the program, even those who weren't even in Norman at the same time, including offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle.
Arbuckle discusses Arnold before matchup with Auburn
The Sooners announced Arbuckle as their new OC and quarterbacks coach on Dec. 2 before they even played in their bowl game. Just two days later, after being the Sooners' QB1 most of 2024, news broke that Arnold was in the Transfer Portal.
Even at that point, the writing was on the wall that Washington State quarterback John Mateer would soon follow his offensive coordinator to Norman. By Dec. 16, exactly two weeks after Arbuckle was announced as the Sooners' OC, Mateer was also a Sooner.
Who really knows if Arnold had already made up his mind before that, or if it really mattered who OU hired and what QB was coming with the new OC.
Arnold's exit wasn't immediate, but dang near close. However, it was just long enough for Arbuckle to have one parting conversation with the QB that could have ran his offense one day.
"I had one conversation with Jackson," Arbuckle said Tuesday before the game. "He was great. He's super respectful. But that's really about kind of where it ended. It's just one of those deals where he felt like he needed a change for whatever reason it was, and all I've heard from everybody is that he's a great young man.
"Besides this week, I hope nothing but the best for him. I like rooting for good people. And everyone that I've talked to says he's a great young man, but as far as our communication, we really had one conversation and that was about it."
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