When Auburn quarterback Jackson Arnold took his seat in front of a sprawling media scrum at the College Football Hall of Fame on Tuesday, it had been 364 days since he sat on a similar stage, but with a different logo pin on his suit.

Tuesday was Arnold’s second career appearance at SEC Media Days, but this year was “a lot different” from last.

The former five-star signal caller went from an eager redshirt freshman getting ready to take on his first year as the starter at Oklahoma, to a veteran transfer at Auburn, hardened by the trials of an SEC season in which nothing went right.

In Arnold’s one full season as the starter at Oklahoma, the threw for fewer than 1,500 yards, was briefly benched in the middle of the year and never had any continuity with his receivers or play callers.

As Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze later put it, he needed a reset. Arnold landed at Auburn after a brief transfer portal stint in December. The biggest factor in his decision, Arnold said, was scheme.

“I feel like if the scheme didn’t fit, Coach Freeze wouldn’t have recruited me to begin with,” Arnold said. “The RPO system that he runs and the shots he takes reminded me a lot of high school and my years at OU.”

The feeling of finding a perfect fit for the offense was mutual on Freeze’s side. Throughout the spring and into the summer, Freeze hasn’t wavered in his confidence and support for the Oklahoma transfer.

Arnold’s film from last season wasn’t pretty at times, but the context of why it wasn’t pretty gave Freeze the confidence that Arnold can live up to his high school star rating at Auburn.

“I knew he had the toughness to him,” Freeze said. “And now it was just a matter of, man, let’s give this guy a restart and let him regain his swagger and confidence, and I knew that the receiver room we had could assist in that.”

As Arnold took questions at media days, sporting a simple blue suit with an orange tie, he faced just about every question you could think of.

“Why Auburn?”

“What’s different at Auburn?”

“What’s your favorite SEC uniform?”

“Have you golfed with Hugh Freeze yet?”

Arnold took the questions in stride. He didn’t poke his chest out or flex with any of his answers, but he didn’t come off as nervous or overwhelmed by the stage either.

With “getting his swagger back” being one of the biggest keys for Arnold at Auburn, facing the public and the national media is the first step toward showcasing that.

Freeze said it was important to bring Arnold with him to media days, saying, “If I really want him to be my guy, then he’s gotta be my guy.”

Proclaiming Arnold as Auburn’s starter early on is part of building his confidence. However, confidence is only one part of improvement, and Arnold pointed out some of the tangible reasons why he thinks this year at Auburn will be different.

The wide receivers are the first piece; a unit Arnold has prioritized getting to know since arriving on the Plains. He even skipped the Manning Passing Academy this year, an event he was invited to and attended in 2024, just to spend more time with his new pass catchers.

With summer in full swing and fall camp two weeks away, Arnold says the chemistry-building is going well. Between workouts and spending time together off the field, Arnold believes in the process, even if it’s not headline-grabbing.

“There doesn’t always have to be theatrics involved with everything. If I go and take the O-line out to dinner, like I’ll take them out to dinner, but I don’t have to post about it,” Arnold said. “I just want to go out there and be with my guys and go hang out with the receivers and hang out with running backs and tight ends and whoever.”

The chemistry is one part, but the receivers need to be talented too. Auburn has that.

From former five-star prospect Cam Coleman to Eric Singleton Jr., the top-ranked receiver in the transfer portal this offseason, the production is there. On top of that, Arnold said the group isn’t shying away from putting in the work either.

“I got Cam texting me at 8:30 at night wanting to throw damn near every night,” Arnold told The Next Round.

Arnold’s offensive line was an issue at Oklahoma last year too. The sooners led the SEC in sacks allowed, giving up 23 more than Auburn in 2024.

The Tigers are set to return four of their offensive line starters, while adding starting caliber tackles Xavier Chaplin and Mason Murphy out of the transfer portal. Connor Lew, Auburn’s center and arguably the top returner on the offensive line, joined Arnold at media days.

“Having a dude like Connor Lew is awesome. I mean, he’s like a general on our offense,” Arnold said. “I’m super, super excited to play behind him this year.”

Arnold is confident. So is Freeze. Did their words at SEC Media Days inject that feeling into America? Time will tell, but who’s to say that matters.

America will buy in when the results start changing. Auburn is confident Arnold can be the catalyst for that.

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at [email protected]m