Did Nick Saban subtly drop recruiting pitch for Arch Manning?

Alabama head coach Nick Saban visited ESPN’s Monday Night Football ManningCast to chat with Peyton and Eli Manning.

It didn’t take long for many watching to draw connections between Peyton and Eli’s nephew Arch Manning and Saban’s recruiting of the top quarterback prospect.

Manning is the No. 1 recruit in the 2023 On3 Top 100, and regarded as a generational talent at the quarterback position. He is scheduled to visit Alabama this weekend.

The battle for his commitment is shaping up to be one of the biggest in recent memory.

And Nick Saban may have used the face time with Arch’s uncles to do some subtle recruiting.

What did Saban say about quarterbacks?

Former Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts was leading a drive while Saban was on the show.

Eli Manning called Hurts an Oklahoma quarterback, while Peyton responded by saying he should call him an Alabama guy around Saban.

Saban then told the following story about Hurts.

“I have to say this about Jalen. There are not very many guys who played college football who went 26-2 as a starter and got replaced — by Tua,” Saban said. “And I think it speaks a lot to him that he stayed here for another year and really worked on becoming a better passer. Worked everyday in practice and then when we played in the SEC championship, Tua got hurt, kid worked hard all year he came on and won the championship for us. It speaks a lot of him about his character and the kind of person that he is.

“It was a joint decision for us when he had another year to play as to where he would go to school. And he asked me where he should go and I said who has the best players? He said Oklahoma. I said that’s where you should go.

“As the quarterback, it’s really important that you have good players around you.

“I know they have a good system there and you’ll do well. I think he did really well there and that’s why he’s got an opportunity now in the league.”

Yahoo Sports columnist Dan Wetzel believed it was a subtle message directed towards Arch Manning. And he wasn’t the only one.

On the Manningcast Nick Saban said it’s important that a quarterback go to the team where he’ll be surrounded by the most talent. I’m sure that wasn’t directed at Arch Manning.

— Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) September 28, 2021

Arch Manning is the best player in the 2023 class

Arch Manning is the latest quarterback in Manning family dynasty, and is living up to the early hype.

He is unanimous No. 1 recruit in the 2023 class, and On3 Director of Scouting and Rankings Charles Power believes

“Simply put, Arch Manning has one of the quickest and purest releases I’ve seen from a high school quarterback,” Power said. “His throwing motion is concise with no moving parts. The ball consistently comes out quick. In-person, it’s almost easy to not notice the release unless you’re watching it explicitly.”