It appears Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorn football staff made a great first impression with New Orleans Isidore Newman quarterback Arch Manning this past weekend.
My sources told me Manning enjoyed his unofficial visit to Austin. Manning visited Clemson prior to Texas. However, Texas rolled out the red carpet for Manning and his family in Austin. In addition, Manning was able to attend Texas’ baseball game against USF on Saturday, which gave him a chance to experience a live sporting event and be around fans of a school that has his interest.
In fact, the visit went so well, I was told the Mannings are interested in attending a Texas home game this season. To my knowledge, those details have not been worked out yet.
Manning received a campus tour and visited the athletic facilities while in Austin. The visit also gave Manning an opportunity to connect with other elite recruits who were on campus this past weekend.
Traditionally, most recruits spend the spring visiting college campuses, but they were not allowed to do that this year due to Covid-19 restrictions. Players were permitted to start visiting college campuses on June 1, which is why recruits are going to several schools this month and in July.
More importantly, it appears Sarkisian had a good rapport with Manning during their first in-person meeting. I do not have the details of their conversations, but Sarkisian seemingly worked his recruiting magic during the visit.
The vibe my sources received is that Manning and his family believe Texas is a program that could excel under Sarkisian. I sense the results from Sarkisian’s first season in Austin will impact Manning’s eventual decision. It does not appear Texas needs to achieve a specific win total to convince Manning to wear burnt orange.
However, I believe Sarkisian and his staff understand how on-the-field success in 2021 could help them compete against Clemson and other top programs for Manning.
Manning will visit Alabama this weekend, followed by Georgia.
I will keep you posted.
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