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Adam Rittenberg
AROUND MIDDAY SATURDAY, Jackson Arnold will hop off a bus and stroll into Gaylord Household – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.
He’ll know his approach round however will not take the acquainted route towards the house locker room. Nor will he placed on the crimson and white Oklahoma jersey. As an alternative, he’ll swimsuit up for Auburn and start remaining preparations for a sport brimming with emotion and nostalgia.
Arnold, ESPN’s No. 2 recruit within the 2023 class, was imagined to be the subsequent nice quarterback at Oklahoma, which has produced three Heisman Trophy winners, a Heisman runner-up and a sequence of all-league and All-America alternatives since 2015. However a tough 2024 season led him and the Sooners to half methods. He entered the switch portal and located a brand new workforce. And, like many transfers, Arnold will now line up in opposition to his former workforce.
“He is very mature and he does not give any credit score to any noise or speak,” Auburn coach Hugh Freeze mentioned. “He is a professional. All of us perceive folks may cheer for him, boo him, no matter it’s. I believe he is mentally robust.”
Arnold’s scenario has develop into a weekly incidence round school soccer, even within the younger 2025 season. Final week, Duke quarterback Darian Mensah returned to New Orleans and confronted Tulane, the workforce he helped to a 9-2 begin final season earlier than touchdown an NIL cope with the Blue Devils that might pay him $8 million over two seasons.
When Kansas State and Arizona met final Friday in Tucson, security Gunner Maldonado and vast receiver Tre Spivey have been suiting up for various units of Wildcats. Maldonado is in his first season at Kansas State after 4 with Arizona, and Spivey is in his first with Arizona after two with Kansas State.
Earl Little Jr. transferred from Alabama after the 2023 season, slogged by a 2-10 marketing campaign with Florida State final fall after which opened this season on Aug. 30 in opposition to his former workforce, recording a team-high 9 tackles because the Seminoles surprised the Crimson Tide.
Switch reunions are actually baked into this period of school soccer, requiring a fragile but intentional method from all these concerned as they attempt to not solely get by the video games however come out with wins.
“This isn’t new,” Duke coach Manny Diaz instructed ESPN earlier than the Tulane sport. “There have been guys by the years we have had which have confronted a former workforce, and definitely in professional sports activities, this occurs on a regular basis. Should you deny the emotional half, then you are doing your self a disservice, however when you acknowledge that the feelings are what they’re, then it is nonetheless only a sport.”
WHEN A TRANSFER reunion looms, coaches and gamers are consistently taking the emotional temperature. Florida State’s Little needed to hear concerning the Alabama sport all through the offseason.
“I had folks coming for my neck day-after-day, speaking concerning the large sport or what I used to be going to do and every thing, however I did not take heed to the surface noise,” he mentioned.
Arnold, who did not meet with reporters this week, had the same response when requested about Oklahoma following Auburn’s win in opposition to South Alabama. He mentioned he isn’t on social media, joking that “there is no noise for me.”
The emotional part is heightened for these video games and can’t be ignored. Texas coach Steve Sarkisian saved a watch on defensive lineman Hero Kanu within the leadup to the season opener at Ohio State, the workforce Kanu performed for in 2024.
“I attempt to get a fairly good sense of the texture for our gamers all through the summer season, all through fall camp,” Sarkisian mentioned. “Then, I attempt to monitor the participant that [game] week, and if I really feel like they’re getting out of character, I handle it. If I really feel like they’re training nicely, they’re being themselves, I do not handle it. Generally you may make one thing out of nothing once you begin to do issues like that.
“With Hero, I believed he was in a fantastic place going into the sport, and I believed he performed nicely within the sport. I by no means addressed it with him one time.”
Freeze did not play school soccer, however he has been by an expertise much like what Arnold will undergo this week. As Liberty’s coach in 2021, he returned to Ole Miss, the place he coached from 2012 till being fired shortly earlier than the 2017 season.
“That entire week, it was a problem for me not to consider a few of that,” Freeze mentioned. “I do know the identical can be true for Jackson. … My recommendation to him is to simply hold the deal with our workforce. That was my recommendation to myself. It isn’t about you. It isn’t about me. It is about our workforce getting ready to go in to play.”
Little centered on retaining “a peaceful thoughts” when he arrived at Doak Campbell Stadium for the opener in opposition to Alabama. When Florida State’s defensive backs started warmups, he bumped into some former Alabama teammates and others from this system whom he knew from his time there.
They briefly exchanged greetings.
“No unhealthy blood in any respect, it was all good vibes,” Little mentioned.
Weeks after Stanford fired coach Troy Taylor, vast receiver Tiger Bachmeier and his youthful brother, Bear, an incoming freshman quarterback, entered the switch portal. As BYU got here into focus as their seemingly vacation spot, the Bachmeier brothers instantly seen that the workforce could be internet hosting Stanford in Week 2.
As quickly as BYU completed its season-opening win in opposition to Portland State, Tiger Bachmeier sensed what was coming.
“You begin to get a little bit of anxiousness, not nervousness or nastiness,” he mentioned. “You may’t actually clarify it. There’s one thing eerie and peculiar concerning the feeling.”
Though Bear Bachmeier would find yourself beginning for BYU, he had been at Stanford for only some months. Tiger, in the meantime, had began 13 video games for the Cardinal and earned his laptop science diploma there in 2½ years.
“You construct lasting relationships, after which once you pull the plug on that, it is positively an emotional factor,” Tiger Bachmeier mentioned. “It was extra indifferent for Bear.”
Arizona coach Brent Brennan mentioned it is essential to acknowledge that transfers have a spread of experiences with their former groups and people they left behind. When reunion video games come round, his message is similar: No matter how issues went earlier than, the main focus should stay on the present workforce and its mission.
Like different coaches, Brennan does not amplify the scenario, however he does not ignore it, both.
“It could be a easy one-off dialog firstly of the week after which a reminder someplace late within the week,” Brennan mentioned. “You are attempting to maintain them locked into the workforce and what the workforce wants from them on that day, and simply attempting to assist them navigate any of the feelings they may have, and never letting that develop into both a distraction in your workforce or detrimental to their very own play.”
COACHES ARE TASKED with getting each participant able to carry out on sport days. They’re additionally attempting to realize each benefit doable, together with potential intel on the opponent.
“I’d say there in all probability is [information gathering],” Florida coach Billy Napier mentioned, whereas including, “not that you’d discuss it [publicly].”
Final week, Arkansas confronted an Ole Miss workforce that added three Razorbacks transfers within the offseason: offensive lineman Patrick Kutas, cornerback Jaylon Braxton and tight finish Luke Hasz. Offensive lineman Kavion Broussard, in the meantime, got here to Arkansas from Ole Miss and has seen motion this season.
The transactions might have impacted each groups of their preparation, particularly since Arkansas and Ole Miss have the identical head coaches and first coordinators from 2024.
“I am certain that there is conversations occurring about calls and educating and the way we did issues right here, possibly,” Arkansas coach Sam Pittman mentioned earlier than the workforce’s 41-35 loss at Ole Miss. “… It isn’t simply Ole Miss, it is anyone that transfers, the place they might presumably assist their workforce win a sport. So we definitely perceive that and are conscious of that.”
When coaches get data, in addition they should assess how a lot, if in any respect, to regulate their plans.
“There is a nice line in there, and generally you can begin to outsmart your self,” Sarkisian mentioned. “Each workforce you play is aware of that they’ve a participant that could be a former participant in your workforce. After which, OK, what do we have to change? What do we have to regulate? Generally you will get that data after which a coach can outsmart you. … I simply assume it’s important to watch out in terms of attempting to get data for former gamers from a college, assuming they know that participant they usually can outfox us.”
How Oklahoma coach Brent Venables defends Arnold can be a significant subplot to Saturday’s sport. On Tuesday, Venables applauded Arnold’s early success with Auburn after a 2024 season wherein he eclipsed 200 passing yards simply as soon as.
Venables mentioned he sees “the identical man … with a wholesome soccer workforce round him,” referring to the surge of accidents that hit Oklahoma’s vast receiver group and different areas of the offense final fall. The coach additionally downplayed the potential benefit he can have in scheming in opposition to his former quarterback.
“Guys can change from one yr to the subsequent,” Venables mentioned. “There’s loads that you do not know, since you’re not with them for the final eight months. … Jackson’s one of the gifted gamers in all of school soccer. He is can throw, he is obtained an enormous arm, he can run, he is obtained a fantastic capability intellectually and nice management abilities, he is been a winner his entire life. So I do not assume there’s any form of benefit by any means.
“He noticed our protection each single day in apply, so there’s going to be a familiarity to that.”
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BEFORE BYU HOSTED Stanford, Tiger Bachmeier’s Cougars teammates quizzed him about a few of Stanford’s gamers. Bachmeier, who describes himself as “fairly optimistic on everybody,” tried to focus on their greatest qualities.
“I loved telling humorous tales concerning the guys and the reminiscences, character traits versus how he units blocks,” Bachmeier mentioned. “I do not know if that is what they have been on the lookout for. A few of these guys are my greatest buddies.”
After leaving for BYU within the spring, Bachmeier stayed in touch with a number of Stanford gamers. The correspondence dwindled throughout coaching camp. When sport week arrived, they merely wished one another good luck and requested if they need to take photos earlier than or after the sport.
One Stanford participant prompt a pregame prayer. Earlier than a sport final yr at Stanford Stadium, Bachmeier had met his brother Hank, a quarterback at Wake Forest, within the tunnel they usually prayed collectively. However the group prayer was tougher to coordinate.
“That was a very, actually bizarre environment throughout pregame since you’re attempting to remain centered and also you see your folks who you have not seen for 5 months,” Tiger Bachmeier mentioned. “You wish to say, ‘What’s up?'”
After the sport, Bachmeier obtained an opportunity to see vast receiver Myles Libman, security Charlie Eckhardt and offensive lineman Fisher Anderson — and take photos.
“All of us form of ran up to one another and gave one another hugs for 5 straight minutes,” Bachmeier mentioned. “That is what it is all about.”
Little hoped to see his Alabama buddies after the opener, however Florida State followers had different concepts after the Seminoles’ 31-17 win.
“The sector obtained rushed fairly rapidly, so I sadly could not go and holler at a few of my outdated teammates,” Little mentioned. “All of the followers have been leaping on me. I could not say something to these guys.”
He reached out to some, however “they have been mad at me,” Little joked, including that the Alabama gamers did provide their congratulations.
“We missed one another,” Little mentioned. “When it was time to step on the soccer discipline, it is struggle. However on the finish of the day, I am nonetheless cool with these guys and have a lot respect for them.”
Arnold undoubtedly can be tracked earlier than, throughout and after Saturday’s sport, as many wish to see how he interacts with Venables and others from his time at Oklahoma. However gamers and coaches who’ve been by switch reunions say the trickiest half is the hours and minutes earlier than kickoff.
“There is not any a technique that it goes down,” Diaz mentioned. “What I’ve discovered, greater than something is, as soon as the sport begins, the sport turns into concerning the sport, and all people simply type of strikes on.”
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