Fans were worried Texas QB Arch Manning, the No. 1 recruit in the 2023 class, would transfer when Quinn Ewers announced his return this offseason. However, head coach Steve Sarkisian put transfer portal rumors to bed at SEC Media Days.
Steve Sarkisian Quells Arch Manning College Football Transfer Portal Rumors
The College Football Playoff loss to Washington and wanting to improve his NFL Draft stock brought Ewers back to Austin, and his return led to Sarkisian’s first question at the podium.
When asked how difficult it has been to retain Manning in the transfer portal era, Sarkisian said, “Part of recruiting is your track record, and we’ve been fortunate to coach some pretty good quarterbacks. We’ve been fortunate to do it for decades now. We’ve been fortunate to have some pretty good quarterback rooms, and I think the Manning family is pretty well aware of that.”
“I think they trained Arch to try to put himself in the best position and play in the best conference in America, and ultimately, put himself in the best position to further his career and play in the NFL. With that, I think Arch’s development has been important to the family, and he’s reaping the benefit of those things. It hasn’t been difficult at all — I think it’s been pretty simple.”
Manning was third on the depth chart last season, behind Ewers and now-Duke signal-caller Maalik Murphy. Although Manning is stepping into the QB2 role, Sarkisian doesn’t plan on altering the way the Longhorns handle the position. “We’re probably going to need both those guys at some point this season.”
Ewers has missed multiple games in each of the last two years due to upper-body injuries (a clavicle sprain in 2022 and a Grade 2 AC joint sprain in his throwing shoulder in 2023). Thus, it’s likely Manning could see meaningful playing time in his true sophomore season.
Manning struggled in Texas’ spring game last year, completing just 5 of 13 passes for 30 yards. However, he looked like a completely different passer (as you’d expect after a year at a top-tier collegiate program) in the 2024 iteration of the game, connecting on his first 10 passes and finishing with 355 yards and three touchdowns.
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A significant factor in Manning’s off and on-field growth was the humility that came with going from No. 1 in the nation to No. 3 on the depth chart.
“There were a lot of tough days, I’m not going to lie,” Manning said last December.
“I was never a backup in high school. So there are some days when you graduate early, you’re alone in your dorm room, you’re like, just another day of fighting for the third-string job. Some days, it’s tough. There’s hard workouts, hard practices, they expect a lot out of you. I’m glad I went through that to help me grow.”
Sarkisian also cleared up any misconceptions about the relationship between his star QBs in an interview with ESPN.
“These guys are great, great friends. Nobody gets along better. There’s a real level of appreciation for what each guy is doing. Because they know the journey, they know the path, they know how we coach him.”
“From Arch’s perspective, he’s watching Quinn have to go through some of the adversity, having a fight through injury, having to deal with the criticism of being the quarterback of Texas, so to see him have success, I think Arch is fired up for Quinn.”
“On the flip side, I think Quinn recognizes Arch’s journey Year 1 in our system and what that’s like. If you go back to the spring game Arch’s true freshman year, what that looked like, and then to see how he played Year 2 in the system, there’s great appreciation from Quinn for what Arch is doing. ”
The present is bright for Texas as they attempt to win the SEC title in their first year in the conference and return to the College Football Playoff. Yet, with Manning waiting in the wings, the future could be even brighter.
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