Arch Manning, other early enrollees discuss progress made during Texas football's winter workouts
The Texas football program rarely makes true freshmen available to the media, especially not freshmen who just arrived on campus in January as early enrollees. However, the Longhorn football program’s own in-house media operation does receive access to players who elected to skip their last semester of high school for offseason workouts.
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Texas posted a video on Wednesday featuring Arch Manning, CJ Baxter, and others describing the overall progress they made during offseason conditioning with strength coach Torre Becton.
Manning, a Five-Star Plus+ quarterback and top prospect in the 2023 On3 Industry Rankings, spoke glowingly about the progress he’s made under Becton.
“Graduating early, it’s definitely been a great head start for me,” Manning said. “Coach Becton and his staff have been very helpful. I’ve gotten bigger, faster, and stronger. He’s going to push you, and he wants what’s best for you. He asks you the first day you’re here, what do you want to do and what are your goals? He’s going to help you get there. That’s his job. He’s the best.”
Fellow On3 Industry Rankings five-star Anthony Hill was more succinct in his description of the workouts.
“Hard, long, tired,” Hill said laughing. “That’s about it.”
Hill would later say, “I feel like they got me a little stronger, a little more explosive, just helping me get some of the movements right. Working on little explosive movements, working on quickness and strength.”
Manning was one of several who mentioned how Becton acclimated the freshmen to the workout experience before grouping them together with the entire team. He said they make an effort to nail down techniques for warmups and workouts before joining the rest of the roster for activities.
Freshman O-lineman Connor Stroh elaborated further, saying there are strength coaches assigned to the freshmen to help them during individual workouts.
Once they join the entire roster, the work is no easy task.
“At first it was really hard,” Stroh said. “Everything they do here is meant to help you. The workouts, it’s intense, intense, intense all the time.”
Said Baxter, “it’s definitely way more intense. They definitely critique a lot of things. They want you to pretty much be perfect when it comes to doing the things. But they want to teach you. They pride themselves on making you better, so that’s the main thing.”
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To a man, progress has been made.
“I feel like I’m in the best shape of my life right now,” Manning said. “My body’s feeling good.”
Said Stroh, “I already think I’m in better shape than I’ve ever been in my life. I’ve gotten my weight down. I’ve gotten my speed up. They’ve done a great job. Especially with the nutrition, too. They’ve done a great job of shaping my body into what it needs to be.”
Baxter, who, like Manning, is already running with the twos during spring drills, noted progress as well.
“I got bigger and stronger,” Baxter said. “A lot of speed work, too. So (Becton) is definitely getting me faster and getting my agility better when it comes to moving side to side. That’ll translate in the game and help me make the people miss.”
Baxter added there was unseen progress made during the winter as well.
“Mentally, too, when it comes to telling yourself you can finish it and get through the drill,” he said.
The video was the first of a “Fresh Faces on the Forty” video package, so there likely are other videos documenting progress made by Manning, Baxter, Hill, and others on the way.
Other Longhorn early enrollees from the 2023 class include Johntay Cook, Malik Muhammad, Colton Vasek, DeAndre Moore Jr., Derion Gullette, Jaydon Chatman, Sydir Mitchell, Liona Lefau, Payton Kirkland, and Andre Cojoe.
