Steve Sarkisian reveals 'trust' from Arch Manning, family to develop at Texas

Steve Sarkisian knew it was a big get to land Arch Manning in recruiting, considering the hype. Coming from an elite football family, many want to see Manning in action already.

However, Manning is set to backup Quinn Ewers for the second straight season as a redshirt freshman. His time is seemingly coming, but he’ll have to wait.

That patience is a testament to the long term plan for Manning and the vision he and his family saw at Texas under Sarkisian.

“Well that’s something you know, historically for us, you know, part of recruiting is your track record,” Sarkisian said at SEC Media Days. “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. 

“And I think they trained Arch to try to put himself in the best position to try to play in the best conference in America, and then ultimately put himself in the best position to further his career playing in the National Football League. And so with that, you know, I think Arch’s development has been important to the family, and he’s reaping the benefit of those things. It hasn’t been very difficult at all. I think it’s been pretty simple for him.”

Arch Manning proving patience is a virtue

Rather than chase a starting gig elsewhere in the transfer portal, Manning staying with Texas was the right decision, according to Missouri’s Brady Cook.

“I think he’s doing the right thing,” Cook said. “He’s learning so much from Quinn right now, and he’s already so talented. He already has so much knowledge of the game. His mentors, we don’t even have to go through that list. So he’s already so smart. He’s in a great spot. For him to be able to learn from Quinn for another year, bounce ideas off of him, collaborate together and play together, that’s huge for him.”

As a member of the Class of 2023, Manning was a five-star-plus recruit out of New Orleans (La.) Isidore Newman, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 1 overall prospect in the state, the No. 1 quarterback in the class and the No. 1 overall prospect in the class.