Auburn head football coach Hugh Freeze seemingly had ex-Boston College quarterback Thomas Castellanos penciled in as his transfer portal answer under center. Castellanos revealed how Florida State offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, who Castellanos played for at UCF, made Freeze pivot to Jackson Arnold three days later with an offer the QB ended up taking.
“I’m not gonna lie, it was kind of shocking, especially after everything that happened and then schools still calling, trying to get me to come to their school and come play for them,” Castellanos said of the transfer process, per On3. “Auburn was the school that got me in the portal. They had me really locked on them, to be honest.
“When I got in, it was kind of crazy. I had visits lined up, but Gus Malzahn gave me a call, man, and there’s no way I could say no. There’s no way I could say no.”
Freeze probably doesn't regret how things played out.
Freeze gushed over Arnold after his spring ended prematurely following an injury during practice.
"Really excited about Jackson," Freeze said on the Paul Finebaum Show, per Auburn Undercover. "He and Deuce (Knight), we only had those two guys here, so they got all the reps. I think that was a good thing. Jackson obviously has all the tools to be one of the top quarterbacks in the nation, in my opinion. Coming out of high school obviously was Gatorade Player of the Year. Just needed probably a restart for whatever reason. I'm just excited about what I saw.
"He's got the arm talent. He's got the legs. He's got the football IQ. I think he just needs confidence. I think that confidence grew this spring along with his rapport with our receivers. Truthfully, you probably don't regain that confidence and swagger until we really get into the battles and have success, but I'm really confident with what I saw with him and Deuce throughout the spring."
Castellanos heads to Tallahassee with pressure to elevate the Seminoles and save Mike Norvell's job. Malzahn is also coaching for a chance to jump to another Power 4 coaching job after he voluntarily bowed out of Orlando.
Arnold comes in with expectations just as high, but with more time to grow on the Plains.
If the Tigers can avoid another losing season, of course.