12:20 ET
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Pete TamellESPN
Recruiting the quarterback with blue chips Arch Manning, a rare clash of talent, pedigree and opportunity, has captivated college football for years.
Manning ended the intrigue on Thursday afternoon by pledging to Texas over suitors, including Georgia, Alabama, LSU, Clemson and Virginia.
While Manning has long been considered the best player in the class of 2023, the family continues to try to keep his hiring as secret as possible. His Instagram is private and he has not been an active participant in name, image and likeness opportunities. But this is still difficult, given the family’s pedigree and the extent to which its decision could affect the state of the program.
Manning even used his first tweet to make the message, to a verified Twitter account with a biography that simply says “high school student.”
Dedicated to the University of Texas. #HookEm pic.twitter.com/jHYbjBaF5K
– Arch Manning (@ArchManning) June 23, 2022
Texas coach Steve Sargsyan also responded to Manning’s announcement by first retouching his new quarterback, then writing “All gas, no brakes !!!” in a subsequent post.
Manning is the nephew of Ellie and Peyton Manning, the grandson of Archie Manning and the son of Ole Miss Cooper’s former successor Manning. He is the star quarterback at Isidore Newman High School in New Orleans – throwing 5,731 yards and 72 touchdowns in his first three years of high school football – and is considered a promising best player in high school.
Every bite of news around quarterback has gotten a lot of excitement across the recruiting universe. The engagement of Manning’s high school teammate and a close friend of Manning’s, the three-star tight-end man Will Randall, attracted interest as it was a guide to where Manning could lean.
His commitment to Texas is also represented by Arch Manning, who is making his own way and perhaps reuniting with the roots of the SEC family. The Manning family has strong ties to Ole Miss and Tennessee, and Arch Manning could be linked to the SEC, as he could be Texas’ initial quarterback in 2025, when the Longhorns are set to make their conference debut.
The engagement is Texas’s number one overall in the ESPN 300 era (since 2006) and its first quarterback to be ranked in the top 20 since Gareth Gilbert in 2009. It also gives Texas a key building block for its recruitment class. in 2023, with players with skills expected to be attracted to a talent game like Manning.
The decision marked a huge victory for Sargsyan, especially after his debut season 5-7, which included a loss at home to Kansas. Manning’s decision reaffirms Sargsyan as one of the best quarterback tutors in the country and Texas as a quarterback destination. Sargsyan is the Longhorns player and has trained defenders such as Tua Tagovailoa, McJones and Matt Leinart.
Sargsyan has also had two NFL coachings, with the Raiders and Falcons. Arch Manning’s preparation for the NFL was a major motivator as the Mannings orientated themselves in the recruitment process.
The Manning family also built a strong bond with Texas quarterback coach AJ Milwee, who played a big role in the comfort level of sending him to Austin.
Manning’s decision gives Texas one of the strongest and most competitive quarterback rooms in the country. The Longhorns have the transfer of Ohio State Queen Quirsey, who was widely considered the best quarterback in the 2021 class. They also have talented defenders in Malik Murphy, a rookie from the ESPN 300 in the 2022 class, and Hudson Card, who was an ESPN number. 2 quarterbacks recruit in class 2020.
How good is Manning? A coach who recruited him told ESPN that he would probably still be the number one player in his class if his last name was anything other than Manning.
“He really has a big hand,” the coach said. “He is much more mobile than everyone thinks. He’s not like Manning, who can’t move. He can get out of trouble. It is not a statue in your pocket. He played basketball and could score.
“He’s a prototype kid who sees the pitch well. He won’t make bad decisions and he won’t make bad games worse and he will really control the attack.”
Manning has built a reputation as a sports rat who loves football. The biggest blow to him is the level of competition in high school, as there will be a sharp correction in college. But the coaches who hired Manning were struck by his work ethic as he embraced the details.
“What I’m impressed with is that he lives with the tension,” the coach said. “He has to live with that pressure and deal with it all. It could be a good transition for him. He’s been doing it throughout his high school career. No scene is going to be too big.”
And for Texas, the commitment gives Longhorns a player to build for his trip to the SEC. Texas scored 40-21 in Arkansas last year – a barometer of how far the program must go to compete with the group’s middle in the conference.
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