Steve Sarkisian details how his experience can help Arch Manning: 'We chose this'

Throughout his coaching career, Steve Sarkisian worked with some notable quarterbacks. Names such as Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart, Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones played under his watchful eye.

Arch Manning will be next. The rising redshirt sophomore is set to succeed Quinn Ewers as Texas’ starting quarterback following back-to-back College Football Playoff semifinal appearances.

The hype continues to build around Manning, who’s already generating buzz as a potential Heisman Trophy contender. For Sarkisian, his experience with talented quarterbacks could be important as the former Five Star Plus+ recruit enters the next phase of his development.

“In the end, I think leaning into my experience in coaching a lot of Heisman hopefuls and a couple guys who’ve won Heismans,” Sarkisian told Kay Adams on Up and Adams. “Had my share of Top-10 draft picks. I think leaning into that type of stuff for him is like, okay, we know where I’m supposed to be. What am I supposed to do next? It is what it is.

“I tell these guys all the time when it’s the quarterback, it’s like, we chose this. You chose to play quarterback, I chose to be a head coach. We chose to be at the University of Texas. Granted, everything’s bigger in Texas. The spotlight’s on Austin, we’ve got a really good team, so on and so forth. So some of that stuff comes with the territory. But that’s what we chose to do. Nobody forced us to do this. So now, let’s embrace it and let’s make this a great experience.”

A look at Arch Manning’s journey at Texas

Arch Manning’s recruitment was one of the most notable in recent memory. The grandson of Archie, son of Cooper and nephew of Peyton and Eli, he hails from one of the most notable families in football history.

But for two years, Manning was down the depth chart. He sat behind Quinn Ewers and Maalik Murphy as a freshman, and was Ewers’ primary backup this past season. He still made 10 appearances, throwing for 969 yards and nine touchdowns while adding 115 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground.

Now that he’s the starter in Austin, Manning is getting attention as a potential contender for the Heisman Trophy. He’s also now cashing in on the NIL front, notably signing a deal with Red Bull. But as expectations rise – along with his profile – Steve Sarkisian said the redshirt junior quarterback keeps his focus on the task at hand.

“I think the good thing for us is one, he’s a grounded young man,” Sarkisian said. “He’s not a big social media guy. He’s not a guy that sits on his phone and thumbs Instagram and X and whatever we call that stuff now. He’s really just about, what do I need to do? How do I be a good teammate? What can I do extra to get myself better?”