Steve Sarkisian raves about Arch Manning's maturity, growth ahead of first season as Texas' QB1

Steve Sarkisian joined SportsCenter on Saturday morning, where the Texas Longhorns leader spoke glowingly about Arch Manning, his journey and the growth he’s underwent since his arrival in Austin.

The quarterback is entering a pivotal season in 2025, set to succeed Quinn Ewers as Texas’ starting quarterback following back-to-back College Football Playoff semifinal appearances. Sarkisian has a ton of confidence in what Manning can do, and he believes the patience the quarterback showed over the past couple of seasons is about the pay off.

“You always see guys mature, right? We get them when they’re 17, 18-years old, and then, you know, as they grow in the program, and you start to see them, not only physically mature, but mentally mature. It’s no different. This guy has really grown up in our program,” Sarkisian stated, regarding Manning. “You know, he was the guy that was so fired up, every gameday, he showed up.

“But I think he saw the value of learning, and kind of taking heed to what Quinn was going through, ‘Okay, how would I handle those situations?’ And so, I think we’re getting a guy that might be a first-year starter, but yet, kind of has the experience of what it’s going to feel like to handle some of those situations as they come up.”

All told, it’s easy to see why the hype continues to build around Manning, as he’s generating buzz as a potential Heisman Trophy contender. For Sarkisian, his experience with talented quarterbacks could be important as ever in 2025, 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, via an appearance 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.”

Texas will certainly be a team to keep an eye on in 2025, and the combination of Steve Sarkisian and Arch Manning could take the Longhorns a long way. It all begins with a trip to Columbus, Ohio on Aug. 30, where they’ll face Ohio State in a rematch of last season’s College Football Playoff Semifinal showdown.

— On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this article.