Your dad, John Arnaud, was a three-year starter on the ISU defense in the secondary. Did you come to a lot of games at Jack Trice Stadium growing up?

Absolutely. When I was growing up, I watched a million games. Coach McCarney was there when I was there growing up. I knew Coach Mac growing up all the way through Ames High. One of my buddies was his neighbor at one time. I’ve known Coach Mac for a long time. I went to those games as a kid and played football on the hillsides with my buddies and watched all the great ones, Darren Davis, Troy Davis, Seneca Wallace, Sage [Rosenfels], Todd Bandhauer. Just a ton of great players that I grew up watching that shaped this program.

You grew up in Ames and were also recruited by Iowa, what made you want to stay home and play for Iowa State?

Actually growing up and being around [the program] was kind of a big thing. My dad played there. Hometown, from Ames, I got recruited by other schools in the Big 12 North, Iowa and a few schools down south, but ultimately it was Iowa State or bust for me because I had been around it as a young kid. Bleeding cardinal and gold — I still have an old Troy Davis jersey and a Seneca [Wallace] jersey from when I was elementary, middle and high school age.

You redshirted your first year at Iowa State. What were you able to learn that year from starter Bret Meyer?

It was great working under Bret. As you know, [he] is the most storied quarterback at Iowa State through statistics and records. I think I’m second to him in about every category except for maybe completion percentage, but it was great. I’ve got a relationship with Bret where even today I could call him right now if I’ve got a problem going on or something going on. We can take care of each other, and Bret’s a great guy.

What I learned most from Bret was how to be that starting quarterback. He started the entire year when I did redshirt as a true freshman. We played some great opponents that year. We went down to Oklahoma and played Adrian Peterson and the Sooners; we played Colt McCoy and Texas. Bret is your prototypical Division I quarterback. Everyone in the locker room respected him and loved him, and I took something from that.

You went through three different head coaches and three different offensive coordinators in your time at Iowa State. How much does that affect a player’s growth at the quarterback position?

I’d be lying to you if I said it was easy. It was far from easy, and that’s why coach [Paul] Rhoads came in, and we all bought in. At that point when Coach Rhoads came in, I had three coaches in four years, quick turnaround with all. I appreciate all of the experiences I had with the coaches.

Coach McCarney, I’m forever indebted to. He offered me a scholarship, and when [coach Gene] Chizik got there, I had no problems with Coach Chizik. The program he ran was sound. He wasn’t well liked as everyone knows, but he was a good X’s and O’s guy; he was a good coach with a good staff, we just weren’t very successful.

As far as having the different coordinators, it kind of shaped me off the field to be able to deal with adversity. That’s what me and my close-knit group of friends, the 12 to 15 seniors that graduated and the juniors before us. Guys like Reggie Stephens, Marquis Hamilton, guys in that junior class a head of me. There was a lot of lessons to learn about sticking together and always being positive. You’re never promised tomorrow, and we were exceptional with Coach Rhoads and playing in the moment. 

It was your junior year when Coach Rhoads came to Iowa State, and your team went 7-6 with an Insight Bowl win. What was that moment like when you ran to get the Insight Bowl trophy after the adversity from previous years?

Besides being engaged to my fiancee and recently buying a house, those are my top three moments in life. Being able to say we went to a bowl game in Coach Rhoads’ first year, the only bowl game Coach Rhoads has won, that was a special group, and Coach Rhoads will tell you that as well. The first team to make it to a bowl game in awhile and win it.

It was a special moment. It was just complete jubilation. There were tears of joy, and it’s one of those moments that I’ll never forget and thankful that I was a part of. 

In your senior season, you became the only quarterback in ISU history to lead the Cyclones to a win against Texas. What was that win like against a program with a rich football history?

Going to Darrell K. Royal Stadium, it’s a tough place to play any day. It doesn’t matter if you’re Iowa State or Sam Houston State. That year Texas was down, sure they went 5-7, but still Saturdays in that state are shut down to watch them play.

I have a decent personal relationship with Mack Brown. He was at Iowa State when my dad was there. Whenever we played Texas, Mack always made sure to find me and say: “I really loved coaching your dad in the short time I was at Iowa State.” It was kind of cool, before the game Mack came up to me and said: “Your dad was a great player and congratulations for all of the accolades that you have accomplished at Iowa State.” In that sense you go to a perennial powerhouse in college football and beat them on their home field.

Along with Nebraska my junior year, I didn’t actually get to play, but Jerome Tiller played and won the game for us. Those two along with an Insight Bowl win, those are the three biggest wins I was ever a part of. Very thankful and blessed to be a part of those and something I would never trade in my five years at Iowa State 

Is there a moment in that win against Texas that stood out to you? There were a lot of big plays by different Cyclones that day.

The nail in the coffin. We go zone read, and Alexander [Robinson] put the icing on the cake with about a 20-yard touchdown run, and he had an absolute, he was the MVP that day, and he had a great game. There was a lot of good players on that Texas team that we could say we beat.