Jackson Arnold’s college football journey might be pivoting to exactly what the talented but troubled quarterback needs. After bouncing from Oklahoma to Auburn and enduring one of the most frustrating seasons imaginable in the SEC, the former top-10 national recruit is looking for a fresh start. And it appears that he has found one.

CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz broke the news, tweeting that “UNLV has emerged as an early team to watch as a possibility for Auburn QB transfer Jackson Arnold, sources tell @CBSSports. The former top-10 overall recruit has made 18 career starts at Auburn and Oklahoma.” The report comes just days after Arnold officially entered the transfer portal following Auburn’s disastrous 2025 campaign. 

It marks a significant shift for a player who once seemed destined for stardom at college football’s highest level. Arnold, who was the No. 3 overall recruit in the Class of 2023 and Gatorade National Player of the Year coming out of Denton, Texas, now finds himself headed to the Group of Five. It’s a humbling but potentially career-saving move.​

The 2025 season at Auburn was nothing short of a nightmare for Arnold and the entire Tigers program. He completed 63.3% of his passes for a meager 1,309 yards with six touchdowns and two interceptions across ten games. But those numbers only tell part of the story.

The real issue was that Arnold was absolutely brutalized behind one of the worst offensive lines in college football. He got sacked a staggering 30 times, which included a school-record-tying nine sacks in a single game against his former team, Oklahoma’s 24-17 loss. Auburn finished 5-7 overall and a pathetic 1-7 in SEC play, leading to head coach Hugh Freeze’s firing in early November. 

UNLV under Dan Mullen might be the perfect landing spot for Arnold’s reset. The Rebels just wrapped up a stellar 10-4 season in Mullen’s first year at the helm. They reached the Mountain West Championship game before falling to Boise State. More importantly, UNLV’s starting quarterback, Anthony Colandrea, recently entered the transfer portal after throwing for 3,275 yards and 23 touchdowns. It leaves a massive hole under center that Arnold could fill immediately. The Rebels have proven they can compete at a high level.

What makes this move even more intriguing is the presence of Dan Mullen. He has one of the most impressive quarterback development resumes in all of college football. Mullen has mentored Alex Smith at Utah into the No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick. He has coached Tim Tebow to a Heisman Trophy at Florida. He has also transformed Dak Prescott from a three-star recruit at Mississippi State into an NFL Pro Bowler and Rookie of the Year. 

Hence, if anyone can help Arnold tap into the five-star potential that made him such a coveted recruit, it’s Mullen. Moving to UNLV gives Arnold a chance to play behind a competent offensive line and prove he can be the player everyone thought he’d become. Sometimes a step down in competition is actually a step up in opportunity. For Jackson Arnold, Las Vegas might just be where his luck finally changes.​

Mullen’s Master Plan

Dan Mullen didn’t mess around when he took the UNLV job in December 2024. Most Group of Five coaches spend years developing overlooked high school recruits. But Mullen went straight to the source. He raided the biggest programs in college football.

By the time summer rolled around, UNLV had accumulated 37 players with Power 4 experience on the roster, including 33 new signees, which was more than double what any other Mountain West school had managed. Twenty-one of those newcomers came from the Big Ten or SEC. And an absurd 16 were former four- or five-star recruits who’d been lost in the shuffle at their blue-blood programs. It was a transfer portal shopping spree unlike anything the conference had ever seen. And the results spoke for themselves. UNLV finished 10-4 and played for the Mountain West Championship in Mullen’s first season.​​

The strategy wasn’t just about quantity, though. Mullen was selective about who fit his vision. “You can’t take everybody that is a ‘Last Chance U’ guy,” he told CBS Sports back in August. “You can’t have a roster where everybody hasn’t played much. You have to get the right combination.” Mullen’s track record at Florida and Mississippi State gave him the credibility to convince these former top recruits that UNLV could be their redemption arc. It’s a top-down roster construction model that’s become Mullen’s calling card. And it’s the environment where a player like Jackson Arnold could thrive.​

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