Offer for Texas 2023 QB Jackson Arnold meant a little bit extra
Tennessee’s recent scholarship offer to Jackson Arnold meant quite a bit to the Denton, Texas native out of Guyer High School.
Arnold spent a good chunk of his life in Ringgold, Georgia, just south of the Chattanooga area where much of his Dad’s family is from.
“It was really awesome because I actually grew up in Georgia, so I grew up around my Dad’s family that is on the Tennessee border and are Vol fans,” Arnold told VolQuest. “I’ve been watching Tennessee football pretty much my whole life, so I think it was really cool getting an offer from them.”
Arnold moved out to Texas about seven years ago when his mother received a job promotion. Still, he’s kept up with the Vols and was thrilled to hear from Tennessee quarterbacks coach Joey Halzle and offensive analyst Mitch Militello.
“Coach Militello reached out to my coach and sent me his contact information so that I could give him a call,” Arnold said.
“When I did, he told me to call him at a particular time the next day so that I could talk to Coach Halzle. Then, the next day comes and I call Coach Halzle, and he was talking about how much they liked my game and that they wanted to offer me.
“I thought Coach Halzle was a cool guy. I haven’t met him in person yet, but my first impression was that he’s a cool guy.”
Out of the 11 early offers for the junior, Arnold says Ole Miss, TCU, Arkansas, Tennessee, Notre Dame and Michigan State are the schools standing out to most to him at the moment.
He was able to visit Ole Miss, Arkansas, TCU and Notre Dame during the summer.
“I didn’t get to visit Tennessee because they hadn’t offered me yet, but the plan is to definitely get out there next summer for sure,” Arnold said. “Coming to a game this fall would be awesome. I’ll have to link with Coach Halzlee and see if our schedule matches so that I can try to get to a game.”
Although Arnold likely won’t be able to make it to Tennessee during the season, he’ll still be keeping a close eye on the Vols in Josh Heupel’s first year as head coach.
“I just want to see the offense and see how they run what they run,” Arnold said. “How they play tempo and things like that.”
Arnold has impressed those in Texas through two games of his junior season. This past Friday, the 6-foot-1, 195-pound gunslinger was 17-of-31 passing for 176 yards and two touchdowns in a 14-7 win over rival Denton Ryan.
Arnold was 16-of-27 passing for 167 yards, a touchdown and an interception in his opener. He added 58 yards and a score on eight carries in the 46-17 win over Hebron.