Arch Manning is Trending After Steve Sarkisian's Recent Comments

Arch Manning is heading into his second campaign with the Texas Longhorns this coming college football season.

As the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2023 class, Manning could've been an immediate starter at the vast majority of college football programs. Instead, the nephew of Peyton and Eli decided to take his talents to Austin.

After the conclusion of the 2023 season, Longhorns starter Quinn Ewers announced his intentions to return for one more season at UT.

Manning didn't hit the transfer portal like many expected he might. Instead, he's elected to return for another year of development at Texas.

Manning was praised for this decision. But during a recent interview, head coach Steve Sarkisian pointed out the absurdity of this praise.

"I get a chuckle out of this," Sarkisian said. "Everyone's praising Arch for staying at Texas. He's going into Year 2!

"... That's the mentality... 'Good for Arch, he's sticking it out with Texas in Year 2.' I'm like 'Yeah, that's part of the process.' We're developing him to be a great football player and a great leader — and he's going to be."

Manning is trending on social media after these comments.

"About time somebody like Sark said this out loud," one fan wrote.

"Completely right. It’s crazy with the portal era now how surprised people become when a highly rated recruit sits for a couple years. That used to be the norm," another said.

"Exactly….a few years back nobody would bat an eye at what Arch staying.. times have changed indeed," another added.

Manning was the third-string option on the Longhorns' quarterback depth chart behind Ewers and Maalik Murphy in 2023. After Murphy transferred to Duke earlier this offseason, Manning became the primary backup behind Ewers.