'I think this is where he belongs': Arch Manning's high school coach explains why top-ranked QB chose Texas
For a Texas Longhorns program that’s been waiting for something big to happen since the fifth play of the 2009 national championship game, Thursday sure felt earth-shattering.
Arch Manning, the nation’s No. 1 high school recruit for the class of 2023, announced on his seldom-used Twitter account that he was “Committed to the University of Texas.”
It’s easily the biggest UT recruiting news in a generation. The star quarterback from New Orleans left no doubt. His Twitter account appears to have been created for only one message — “#HookEm.”
Reaction was swift. "Manning up," Matthew McConaughey tweeted. Texas ex Kevin Durant followed by tweeting, “Let’s get it Arch.” Even Texas Sen. Ted Cruz tweet-shouted “Hot diggity damn!”
Manning’s commitment is easily the biggest UT football recruiting news since Vince Young’s commitment in 2002. You could argue it’s equal to Chris Simms’ decision to ditch the Tennessee Volunteers for Texas in 1999.
Quinn Ewers’ decision to transfer to UT during the offseason was certainly big. He was originally the No. 1 overall recruit in the class of 2022 before reclassifying to the 2021 class and enrolling early at Ohio State. But Manning’s decision — and the family name attached to his bio — makes this enormous.
So who truly represents UT’s future? Ewers, Hudson Card, Maalik Murphy now or Manning in 2023? Fans hope someone, anyone or a combination of all is the answer the program has been looking for since Colt McCoy’s shoulder injury in the 2009 BCS title game against Alabama. The program has been adrift ever since.
Bright future?: With Arch Manning commitment, Texas football could be ready to take SEC by storm
Sign up for our sports newsletter: All the sports news you need to know delivered right to you!
Tankers of ink will be spilled detailing who Manning is as a player. But earlier this week, he and his teammate Will Randle showed a commitment to humanity, too.
Manning and Randle spent last weekend in Austin on their official recruiting visits to UT. But they were back in the weight room at 6 a.m. Monday, and Isidore Newman coach Nelson Stewart needed a favor.
Stewart told his players how his daughter, who has special needs, attends a New Orleans-area school that needed help moving desks and supplies to a new location.
“I told them it’s a hard ask, but if anyone has an interest in driving out 30 minutes and helping … it’s not mandatory, not anything,” Stewart told the Austin American-Statesman on Thursday. “They were two of about 20 kids.”
So here’s Manning, the most sought-after high school quarterback in the nation, and Randle sweating it out to help someone else in need on a random June morning. This is the stuff UT coach Steve Sarkisian loves to see from any athlete, including those recruits atop his board.
Opinion: Longhorns' bet on Steve Sarkisian recruiting them out of awful decade paying off
“When I was carrying the locker with him, I was thinking to myself this is worth more than any touchdown,” Stewart said. “He’s a great kid, he’s selfless, teachers like him, the students love him and he’s humble. But he’s a teenager. There’s a lot of living left to do.
“I actually sent Sark some pictures and said, ‘How about this? This is what these two do,’ ” Stewart added. “He called me two minutes later.”
In Stewart’s mind, Manning is far more than someone who threw for 5,731 yards and 72 touchdowns the last three seasons. He’s more than the latest quarterback off a golden assembly line. By now, most everyone knows that Arch is Archie Manning’s grandson, Peyton and Eli Manning’s nephew and the son of Cooper Manning.
Arch is his own thinker, Stewart said. His own man. As far as committing to the Longhorns, Stewart said, “I think this is where he belongs.”
For right now, Manning himself does not plan to do many, if any, interviews. Stewart said the family wanted to let the weekend pass and for things to calm down.
Stewart has been the de facto Manning spokesman for months, since he knows the entire family and played high school football with Cooper. Now, Stewart is coaching Arch at his alma mater.
Will Arch Manning be Horns' future?
Asked about the competition Manning will face in Austin, Stewart said, “You know, I can’t speak to that directly. I can just tell you that competition, he’s not afraid of one single bit. But he had a tremendous admiration and respect for them.
“Nothing is going to be given,” Stewart added. “Any Power Five quarterback room in the country, you’re going to have these situations. You’re going to have competition, especially when you have someone like Sark. I’m sure they’ll make each other better.”
Sarkisian made the decision months ago to go all-in on Manning. Alabama and Georgia were among the finalists, and both schools had a lot to sell. But frankly, they wanted Manning; Texas needed him. Sarkisian needed him and the turbo-charging recruiting blast it should create — especially after Sarkisian's 5-7 debut season.
Memory lane: How college football's past 20 top QB recruits have fared
With Manning, UT has eight commitments for the class of 2023. The group ranks 19th nationally, according to 247Sports' composite rankings. Odds are that’ll likely rise going forward.
“I don’t panic,” Sarkisian told reporters in late May in Houston. “You know, I didn’t panic last year with the linemen. I won’t panic with the quarterbacks this year, or any year, for that matter.
“I think we pride ourselves on the ability to develop the relationships with the kids and their families,” Sarkisian added. “You earn trust. If I didn’t feel good about a situation, I would go in another direction.”
Steve Sarkisian's recruiting gamble pays off for Texas football
Stewart said the Sarkisian-Manning relationship goes back to the pandemic. Don’t shortchange quarterbacks coach AJ Milwee’s role in all this, either. Milwee created his own relationship with Manning, Stewart said.
“Certainly, his recruitment has been like no other,” Stewart said. “For the past, feels like seven years, this has been a second job. But he is a wonderful young man that just does things the right way, he’s a great teammate,” Stewart said. “It’s crazy the first Zoom that I went on during the pandemic was Sark. AJ was setting up the computer and it was like, ‘Hey, how you guys doing?’ There they are!”
One can only imagine the conversations.
“Sark, he went all-in,” Stewart said. “And I know a lot of people said that was crazy, but I just had a good feeling. I talked to AJ Milwee more in the past two years than my wife.”
Stewart was adamant that Manning’s decision was no reflection on the work Alabama and Georgia coaches did during the process. “All phenomenal. Everyone did a great job,” he said. “I can’t thank everyone enough for it in the process, but this was a collaborative effort with Sark and AJ.”
Stewart said Sarkisian’s offensive mind, his playbook and tempos are “second to none. But he’s a great person.”
“To me, this is a credit to them and the job they did,” Stewart said. “This is his choice. I think all of us involved have worked really hard to develop (Manning) where he can learn to think for himself. He’s very smart. He’s an independent thinker. He was able to develop that relationship and this was right for him.”
As for the timetable, Stewart went back to something Sarkisian always said throughout the entire process.
“When you know, you know.”
Randle was offered a scholarship and committed to the Longhorns on Sunday. Manning was ready on Thursday. “His decision and his alone,” Stewart said.
Now, Manning can get ready for his senior year at Isidore Newman. Oral commitments are non-binding. The first day Manning could sign his letter of intent is Dec. 15.
“It probably lightens the load,” Stewart said. “It was just his time to do it.”
Contact Brian Davis by phone or text at 512-445-3957. Email bdavis@statesman.com or follow on Twitter via @BDavisAAS.