When NFL insider explained how Arch Manning almost committed to another SEC team

Quarterback Arch Manning is gearing up to take over the Texas Longhorns' starting role next season. He began his first season with the team as a backup to Quinn Ewers. However, the Longhorns' star player impressed fans in his freshman year and created intrigue about his future.

However, his trajectory could have turned out differently. In an episode of ESPN's First Take in 2022, NFL insider Rece Davis shared that Manning could have played for the Georgia Bulldogs. He claimed he had heard Georgia had tried to acquire the quarterback before he committed to Texas. However, Manning wanted to play for coach Steve Sarkisian.

"The relationship with Sarkisian was huge and has been there from his (Sarkisian) days as a coordinator from his days at Alabama and carried over to Texas. What I had thought and from hearing things in recent weeks is that Georgia had sort of turned the tide so to speak and I expected that he would go to Georgia, but I guess the relationship with Sarkisian carried the day," Davis said (0:14 onwards).

The fan-favorite quarterback was redshirted during the 2023 season but made a great impression last year. He finished the 2024 season with 61 completed passes for 939 yards and nine touchdowns.

His best performance came in the team's 56-7 blowout win over the UTSA Roadrunners on Sept. 14, 2024. He completed 9 of 12 passes for 223 yards and four touchdowns.

Despite his efforts when active, coach Sarkisian decided to have Ewers as the starting quarterback over the freshman. Texas had a successful season and made it to the College Football Playoff semifinals. However, the team suffered a 28-14 loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes to get eliminated from the tournament on Jan. 10.

Arch Manning begins training for the 2025 season

On Jan. 15, Quinn Ewers decided to enter the 2025 NFL Draft after three seasons with the Texas Longhorns. He finished his college career by completing 737 passes for 9,128 yards and 68 touchdowns.

The announcement excited fans, as Manning will assume the starting role for the upcoming season.

On Monday, Texas posted a photo of Manning training for his sophomore year on X, formerly known as Twitter. The tweet had the caption "Day one (with the sign of the horns emoji)." He was captured yelling, seemingly hyping up his teammates.

Texas fans hope he can lead the team to another playoff appearance and potentially a national championship victory.