Dillon Gabriel and Jackson Arnold spent one year together at Oklahoma before Gabriel transferred to Oregon this offseason.
It was a year that Arnold expects to help him as he takes over as the Sooners starting quarterback in 2024 and beyond. Arnold is at the Manning Passing Academy this week.
He spoke with reporters on Friday, including On3’s Shea Dixon, about what it was like to learn from Dillon Gabriel last fall. Arnold credits Gabriel for helping him to become a better leader.
“Just the expectations he set and just the drive to want to be around the other people on our team, whether that’s the receivers, tight ends, running backs, people with the offense, even people with the defense,” Jackson Arnold said. “Just kind of being an example of how a QB should be and how they should treat other people around them in order to create that chemistry, in order to bring those guys together to ultimately perform well on the field.”
Oklahoma finished the regular season 10-2 in 2023, including earning a rivalry win over Texas. Gabriel then entered the transfer portal at the conclusion of the regular season, leaving Arnold as the starting quarterback for the bowl game.
Arnold threw for 361 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the Alamo Bowl against Arizona, but he also threw three interceptions.
Still, expectations are high for him as he enters his sophomore season. The former five-star recruit heads into 2024 with plenty of confidence, thanks in part to what he learned from Gabriel.
“Definitely the way he prepares for the game, whether that’s film study. I was with him all during the week. We’d watch film together. He’d kind of show me what he was looking at and what he was looking for, things on the defense, little keys and little takeaways he could take from defenses and what he watches,” Jackson Arnold said.
“And just like also in walk throughs, I would see how he mentally prepares himself. Even before the game, we’re going over our tips and reminders sheets. Just little things like that. Just how he prepares for the game is what he taught me and what I’ve been focusing on this offseason.”
Arnold was ranked as a five-star recruit and the No. 8 overall player in the country in the class of 2023, per the On3 Industry rankings. In total last season, the Denton, Texas native threw for 563 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions.
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