Jackson Arnold is reportedly closing in on a deal with a Mountain West school after two unsuccessful SEC stints with the Oklahoma Sooners in 2023 and 2024, and the Auburn Tigers during the 2025 season.
Per CBS Sports' Matt Zenitz, Dan Mullen's UNLV Rebels have "emerged as an early team to watch as a possibility" for Arnold. The Rebels lost Anthony Colandrea, who had 3,459 passing yards and 23 touchdowns in 2025, to the transfer portal.
Mullen promised that UNLV would get busy in the portal.
“In January, we’re going to get to work,” Mullen said. “This time last year we had like three coaches and 15 players. When I wake up tomorrow, there will be more than that in the program. But we’re going to continue to grow, continue to improve, continue to raise that standard of being a program that’s going to compete for championships year in and year out.
"Get back to work with the birth of a new team and a new year and we’ll get after it.”
Going with Arnold is quite the page-turner to a new chapter.
Jackson Arnold has volatile potential
Now entering his fourth year in College Football, Arnold isn't really someone you should be discussing potential about. He should've arrived by now, but hasn't. He's transferred twice now, and clearly, he's transferred out of the Power 4 ranks.
Arnold was always going to get these kinds of looks in the portal, from schools that are below the tier below the top. He can do a lot worse than a big-market program that can spend above its weight class.
What would the Rebels be spending their money on? That's a big question in the rev-share era after big spenders like the Texas Tech Red Raiders and Ohio State Buckeyes being sent out of the postseason early.
Arnold has the chance to answer that question positively if/when he finds his third CFB home this month.