Joel Klatt explains Texas' ranking in Way-Too-Early Top-10

A new era at Texas has them as the number two team in the country coming into next season for Joel Klatt.

Klatt spoke on his ranking of the Longhorns at No. 2 in his Way-Too-Early Top-10 on his show following the season’s end. That obviously started with what many have been waiting on with Arch Manning finally being Texas’ QB1 and how that affects what their offense can be next fall.

“It’s officially Arch Manning time in Austin. This is so rare in college football and Steve Sarkisian is going to be the benefactor of an incredible amount of patience from a young player and his family,” said Klatt. “Now, granted, this family has such a unique perspective and the benefit of seeing everything from MVPs and Super Bowls down to college success. So the urgency from the family is there, yes, but it’s not a panicked urgency like you would get with most players and families. So, what that has led to is patience. Patience – and Arch Manning sat for a couple of years. Even when some of us thought, hey, he might be the better option, he was able to sit and develop and learn for two years under Steve Sarkisian.”

“That offense is going to look a little bit different because of his skillset running the football,” continued Klatt. “I’m not saying that they’re going to dive into, like, the Vince Young-zone read offense of Texas’ past. No – but I am going to tell you, though, when he can take off and affect the defense scrambling? That’s huge. That’s huge and that’s something that they did not have with Quinn Ewers.”

Still, Manning isn’t all that they’ll have down on The 40 Acres.

Texas is a program and roster that has improved each season under Sarkisian as they made the SEC Championship and are coming off two straight appearances in the College Football Playoff. They should now continue to do so with the No. 1 class in On3’s 2025 Industry Team Recruiting Rankings plus their five additions in the NCAA Transfer Portal.

“This is a team that continues to build their roster with elite-level recruiting. You know they’re going to do well in the transfer portal,” Klatt added.

As for his lone issue with the Longhorns, Klatt wants to see what they do on the offensive line. That unit was a finalist for the Joe Moore Award but will now be losing multiple members of it, due to the draft and graduations, that they’ll need to replace.

“The major question I have is that their offensive line was so good. Who’s going to be up front?” asked Klat. “They’ve got to replace four of the five offensive line starters. That’s going to be the most difficult part.”

Again, Texas has improved in each of its four seasons under Sark. That could now be the same for a fifth consecutive year with Klatt having them coming in as a top-two team in the sport.

“I look at this Texas team and I think that they’re going to be fantastic,” said Klatt. “They’re going to be right there. I’d be surprised if that’s not one of the better teams in the country.”