SAN ANTONIO - Wide receiver Omar Manning remains committed to TCU, but the Lancaster product is keeping the door open to other schools, and the Texas Longhorns are one of the programs pushing for his commitment.
In December, shortly after Tom Herman was hired at Texas and had begun putting his staff in place, Manning took an official visit to Texas and he said he liked what he saw and heard from the new staff members.
“What stood out was getting to meet the new coaching staff, getting to meet coach Herman,” Manning said. “And I got on the phone with coach (Drew) Mehringer and we chopped it up.”
Mehringer, who will coach wide receivers for the Longhorns, has a longstanding relationship with Manning that could help Texas’ cause.
“He was recruiting me since my sophomore year when I was at Houston,” Manning said. “We had a good relationship there and then he left (for Rutgers). When he was coming back, I was pretty thrilled.
“He’s just a real guy. He’s really down to earth and he’s a good coach too.”
Manning is planning to visit TCU on January 13 and Ole Miss on January 20. Those are the only visits he has planned. At this point, he still considers himself a solid TCU pledge, but admits he wants to compare and contrast all his options.
“Right now I’m still pretty solid. I just want to go look at other places and see how they are,” Manning said.
And what would a school like Texas or Ole Miss have to do flip the Army All-American?
“I just see how it is. If it’s better than TCU or if they have more to offer, that would probably stand out,” Manning said.
The 6-3, 200-pounder rated his TCU commitment a 100 and said his feelings about Texas are a 98, so it is a close race heading down the stretch. As for what Texas is selling, Manning said the coaches have told him he would have the opportunity to compete for early playing time.
“If I come in and learn the system, learn the play book, I can compete to play early,” Manning said of UT’s sales pitch.
Manning is rooming with fellow TCU commitment Shawn Robinson while in San Antonio for Army Bowl week. The current Texas commitments, including Sam Ehlinger and Josh Thompson, are working on him on UT’s behalf.
With Texas undergoing a coaching change, Manning is having to put some faith that Herman and staff will get UT back on track, but he said he has confidence in the new Longhorns coaches and believes Texas will get back to its winning ways very soon.
“I think he’ll turn it around. He was a good coach at Houston. I think he’ll do the same thing with better athletes at Houston,” Manning said.
