Terrion Arnold opens up on what it means to him to play for Alabama

Highly-touted defensive back Terrion Arnold didn’t get a chance to play last season as he redshirted his freshman season at Alabama. But he’s excited to get to work and get on the field in his second season in Tuscaloosa.

The rising redshirt freshman recently sat down for an interview with Kyle Henderson of BamaInsider.com to discuss his mindset heading into the 2022 season. As part of their conversation, Henderson asked Arnold what emotions he expects when he finally suits up and runs through the tunnel for the first time with the expectation of actually playing in the game.

Here was his response:

“It was jaw-dropping,” Arnold said of the first time he ran out of the tunnel, even as a redshirt. “I mean, it’s really nothing like it. Like, it was surreal for me. I mean, my first college game we were at Miami, so ran out there and saw that, I was like…Oh my God.

“We say our little thing like — ‘SEC, where I wanna be’ — you want to be, for real. Just even being in that system, being on that team, or in a program like that, where you know you’re going to play in at least three big games a year. Like Texas, Texas A&M, hopefully the College Football Playoff, the National Championship. That’s the standard. I feel like we’re getting back to that has a team.

The expansive stadiums, big games and bright lights have Arnold’s eyes as wide as dinner plates heading into his first true season of playing SEC football.

Terrion Arnold background

Arnold was a blue-chip member of Alabama’s No. 1 ranked 2021 recruiting class, per the On3 Consensus. In the player consensus for On3, Arnold ranked as a very high four-star defensive back (and a five-star in On3’s own rankings) and was the 35th overall player, as well as the No. 2 safety in the class and the No. 8 player in the state of Florida. As a side note: holy moly, what a crop of talent out of Florida in 2021. Eight of the top 35 players in the entire nation is an amazing class for a single state.

The Tallahassee native attended the prestigious John Paul II high school, where he earned his rise in the rankings playing against the best talent in the state of Florida. And, by proxy, the best talent in the entire country.

This kid has some serious talent. With a year of patiently watching from the sidelines under his belt, Arnold could be in for a serious snap count even as a redshirt freshman.