Arch Manning chooses Texas over Georgia, Ole Miss and others

After being pursued by a legion of big-name schools, Arch Manning has decided to take his talent to Austin, playing for the Texas Longhorns.

Is Texas back? Arch Manning is hoping to finally make it so.

On Thursday morning, Manning declared his intention to play in Austin for the University of Texas, this after being recruited by a slew of high-powered schools including SEC powers in the Ole Miss Rebels, Florida Gators, Georgia Bulldogs, Alabama Crimson Tide and others.

Manning, who is the nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning, and grandson of Archie Manning, will take aim at turning around a program that has not won a National Championship since 2005, when Vince Young out-dueled USC in the ’06 Rose Bowl.

Arch Manning has chosen Texas as his college football home

As for Manning’s decision, it’s a potential game-changer for the Longhorns, who are slated to move into the SEC soon but for now, remain in the Big XII. They’ve been run over in recent years by their chief rivals in the Oklahoma Sooners, who have consistently had better quarterback play in Jalen Hurts, Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray, the latter two being No. 1 overall picks.

Now, with Manning taking snaps, Texas has the country’s top recruit at quarterback to fight back with, giving Longhorns fans real hope of contending for both a conference and national title in the upcoming years.

Finally, for head coach Steve Sarkisian, this is a monster day. Entering his second year and coming off a 5-7 campaign, landing Manning will buy him both time and respect from the boosters and the fanbase.

Texas isn’t back yet, but this is a huge step towards getting there.