Does Alabama even need to sign Arch Manning?

The Alabama football team might be losing ground on Arch Manning, but here is why that may not even really matter in the end.

In a three-to-four-team race for Arch Manning, Nick Saban’s Alabama football team could finish in third place for the five-star quarterback.

While not much has come out about Manning’s high-profile recruitment of late, Chad Simmons of On3 may have pulled back the curtain a bit during his column published last week. Though Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss and Texas appear to be his final four, Simmons believes Manning’s commitment may come down to either Georgia or Texas in the end. Alabama could finish in third.

How concerned should Alabama fans be about not ending up with Manning’s commitment?

Alabama football: Why not winning Arch Manning sweepstakes is not a big deal

Even though things would line up perfectly for Manning to take over for Bryce Young, there does not seem to be as strong of a connection between him and Alabama as it is with Georgia or Texas. The Mannings know Kirby Smart very well. Todd Monken is a former NFL offensive coordinator and Athens is an awesome college town. Texas has Steve Sarkisian and needs to be brought back.

By looking at who is recruiting Manning to those respective schools, it says everything about who is really in the race to land him. Manning’s primary recruiter to Texas is quarterbacks coach A.J. Milwee with cornerbacks coach and New Orleans native Terry Joseph backing him up. Factor in Manning’s well-documented liking of the offense that Sarkisian runs, and he could be a Longhorn.

Even though Georgia lost Manning’s previous primary recruiter in former Ole Miss head coach and offensive line guru Matt Luke, Monken has stepped up to be his primary. Backing him up is passing game coordinator/wide receivers coach Bryan McClendon. Now back at his alma mater for a second time, Georgia putting McClendon on Arch Watch is huge, given his role as an ace recruiter.

As for Alabama, defensive coordinator Pete Golding has long been Manning’s primary recruiter to the Crimson Tide, presumably stepping up after Sarkisian left Tuscaloosa for Texas. Only until recently has offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien really entered the Manning recruiting fray as his secondary. It helps, but Alabama may not roll out the red carpet for him like Georgia or Texas will.

So where does this leave Alabama? It could be The Ty Simpson Show beginning in 2023. The Crimson Tide are also turning their attention to former Texas A&M commit Eli Holstein. Given that O’Brien had great success in the NFL as a head coach and worked with the first Heisman Trophy-winning signal-caller in school history, top-flight quarterback recruits will now flock to Tuscaloosa.

Simply put, Alabama is not desperate enough to land Manning, as Georgia and Texas clearly are. Georgia won a national title with a former walk-on. While they have not had great success with an elite high school prospect since Aaron Murray and Matthew Stafford before that, the Dawgs continue to win big whether it is a Stetson Bennett IV or a JT Daniels starting games for them.

As far as Texas is concerned, yes, the Longhorns have Quinn Ewers on the roster, but this team needs to start winning some games. Texas could not even go bowling in Sarkisian’s first year on the job, and that was in the Big 12. With Texas joining the SEC in short order, they are going to need a quarterback who can play up. It could be Ewers, but it might be Manning if he picks them.

Manning can thrive at Alabama, but the fit is not ideal and the need for him is not exactly pressing.

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