Texas Football: Sarkisian floored by 5-Star QB Arch Manning

Without a doubt, the top target for new head coach Steve Sarkisian and his staff in the 2023 Texas football recruiting class is the elite five-star Isidore Newman quarterback Arch Manning. And Texas looks to sit in a great position right now with the Louisiana native Manning. He was just on campus for the Oklahoma State game two weekends ago.

And despite the tough loss for Sark and the Longhorns in complete meltdown fashion, it appears that Manning still had a very positive visit on the weekend of Oct. 16. Texas needs to continue to build on this momentum this fall.

Finding more success in the win column would be a very good start here. Texas is looking to snap a two-game losing streak coming out of the bye week, facing the No. 16 ranked Baylor Bears on the road at McLane Stadium.

Impressing Manning this fall could go a long way to securing a commitment out of him in the coming months. If he does come to a final decision before the summer of 2022, what Texas does in his pursuit this fall is extremely crucial.

And most indications point to a final decision coming down from Manning before next summer.

The connection between Sark and Manning on the recruiting trail truly seems to be a special one. That largely looks to be why Texas is still hanging around among his top schools at this point, despite some of the struggles on the field of late.

Texas football HC Steve Sarkisian loved the notes that 5-Star Arch Manning took on a visit

And according to a piece from ESPN, Sark once found the notes that Manning left on a visit to Texas earlier this year, and was impressed by what he had taken down.

Here’s more on what Sark noted about Manning’s notes that he left behind in his unofficial visit to the Forty Acres back in June, detailed in this ESPN piece.

"When Arch took an unofficial visit to Texas in June, he spent time with Sarkisian and other coaches in front of a whiteboard. He accidentally left his notes behind. Someone found them and gave them to Sarkisian. “Coach Sarkisian called me and said it took their breath away and that it was staggering how much information he was writing down,” Stewart said."

Manning is going to be the highest priority on the recruiting trail for at least the next four or six months for Sark and the Longhorns. It seems like Sark and first-year quarterbacks coach AJ Milwee have formed a great relationship with Manning thus far, which could go a long way to eventually getting a commitment out of him.

Some of the other top schools in the running to land a commitment from Manning are the LSU Tigers, Alabama Crimson Tide, Clemson Tigers, and Georgia Bulldogs, among a couple of others. But the early signs are that Texas, Alabama, and Georgia could be emerging as the frontrunners for Manning.

Texas has yet to land its first commit in the 2023 class. It’s looking like Sark and his staff are playing a patient game with top targets in the 2023 class such as Manning, five-star Denton-Ryan linebacker Anthony Hill, and four-star DeSoto wide receiver Johntay Cook, among others.