Senior Week: Arnold looking to leave Reser Stadium a winner
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Safety Brandon Arnold, like so many other seniors at Oregon State, will see his time come to an end in just a few short weeks and the journey of members in his class has been a difficult one.
Many of them have had three different head coaches and each transition has taken its toll.
“Honestly, every experience has been different,” Arnold said. “With Riley, I wasn’t there for it when it happened. It sucks because then you form a great relationship with another head coach (Gary Andersen) and the next thing you know he’s leaving too and it’s like, can I catch a break? Can I just get a head coach who can stay with me? Now we have a head coach (Cory Hall) that everybody loves and is a funny guy, and I love being around him. It has its pros and cons, but at the end of the day, I just have to take care of myself.”
When asked about whether or not it’s hit him in regards to playing his last two games as a Beaver, Arnold said that it's starting to creep its way into his head.
“I’ve been thinking about it a little bit here and there,” Arnold said with a smile. “Of course as it gets closer it’s sinking in more and more and hitting home. I understand it, and I expect it and I’m going to just keep trying to make the best of my opportunities regardless.”
With a lot of uncertainty surrounding the program after this season in terms of who’s going to be head coach, what players will stay, and so on, the outlook for the future of Beaver football is very much in question. For a senior like Arnold who won’t be around next year, he feels that the program will be in good hands with whoever runs the show, but that the players would really like it to be Hall.
But, at the same time, he’s confident that the team will rally behind whoever the new coach is to bring Beaver football back to prominence.
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“I truly do believe that the whole team is all in with coach Hall,” Arnold said. “But, at the end of the day, it isn’t our decision. Of course we want coach Hall, because of the petition that went out and we are all #HALLIN on social media. Everybody wants him here, but it’s not fully in our power to keep him here.”
Last season when the Beavers were reeling after multiple tough losses, they came home for games against Arizona and Oregon where they found their footing to make a tough season much easier by blowing out the Wildcats, and beating Oregon for the first time since 2007.
This year, the Beavers have two games left against Arizona State and at Oregon. Arnold sees a lot of parallels between last year's situation and this years situation where all the Beavers want to do is end the season on a high note, and particularly this season, for coach Hall.
“It’s the same thing honestly, but we are even more motivated this year,” Arnold said. “Coach Hall has talked to me about it, and for the seniors to go out and leave it all out there. We want to end the season with some sort of positivity not only for ourselves but for the younger generation and underclassmen. It’s a big deal to finish the season high, but it’s a bigger deal to inspire the young guys and give them something to go with next season.”