Texas’ Steve Sarkisian Discusses Arch Manning’s Development, Compares QB to Peyton, Eli | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats & Rumors

While Quinn Ewers will be the starting quarterback for Texas this season, the Longhorns have a talented quarterback on the bench waiting for his moment.

Ahead of the 2024 season, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian spoke highly of sophomore Arch Manning. Sarkisian emphasized that Manning has developed well, but still needs in-game reps.

“I think the development that Arch has gone through behind the scenes from year 1 to year 2 has been tremendous as well,” Sarkisian said on the Rich Eisen Show on Monday. “For us, the hope is that Arch gets a lot of playing time, which means we’ll probably play pretty well, and he’ll get a lot of opportunities to play. We’ve got to let him play, we’ve got to get him into games. The limited action he got last year, he did a good job.”

Manning’s uncles, Peyton and Eli, weren’t exactly known for their ability to play on the floor. Sarkisian said Manning is different.

“He’s really developed physically. He’s a very well put together guy,” Sarkisian said. “He can run, he’s extremely athletic. Probably more athletic than his uncles, maybe a little bit more like his grandpa. I’m sure I’ll hear about that from Peyton and Eli.”

For Manning, coming to Texas as a five-star player and sitting on the bench for his first two years probably wasn’t ideal. However, Sarkisian explained how much Manning trusted the process, comparing it to Peyton and Eli’s situations at Tennessee and Ole Miss, respectively.

“I think they understand the process,” Sarkisian said on the Dan Patrick Show. “We’re in a world of instant gratification, whether it’s social media or whether it’s the five-star recruit coming in and starting right away. But if you really look back at the history of Eli and Peyton, they didn’t start their freshman year. It took a while for them to develop because I think the one thing the Mannings understand is that when it’s your time to play, they really want to play well. They don’t want to learn on the job. We have a pretty good history and tradition of developing quarterbacks over the last 20 years, going all the way back to Carson Palmer and all the guys we’ve coached. I think we’ve seen an immense amount of development in Arch. We feel really good about if and when he gets in the game that he’s going to play good football for us.”

Manning saw limited action in his first year at Texas, but completed two of his five passes for 30 yards in a matchup against Texas Tech. Sarkisian and Manning are likely both hoping this year’s schedule features multiple blowout wins, allowing him to come in, get comfortable and continue to develop.

The Longhorns open their season on August 31 with a game against Colorado State.