Texas football broke the bank to wow Arch Manning on recruiting visit
By John Buhler
The Texas football program spent an ungodly amount of money to help land Arch Manning.
Things are always bigger in Texas, as illustrated by the recruiting budget used during Arch Manning’s official visit to the Texas football program back in June.
Sam Khan Jr. of The Athletic (subscription required) documented all that went into Texas beating out Georgia and Alabama to win the Arch Manning sweepstakes. Although he was not the only recruit in attendance that weekend, Texas spent nearly $280,000 to make sure The Mannings would be saying “Hook ‘Em, Horns!” instead of “Go Dawgs!” or “Roll Tide!” He will be a freshman this spring.
The Longhorns went a disastrous 5-7 in Steve Sarkisian’s first season in Austin, but Manning could be the recruiting catalyst to (dare I say it…) Texas finally being back!
Texas football spent more money than god to land Arch Manning in recruitment
Don’t kid yourself. This is the price of doing business with the prince of America’s royal football family. While Georgia went all-in on Manning and came up short, Alabama quickly pivoted to former Texas A&M commit Eli Holstein once it became apparent that the Crimson Tide were not going to finish top two. Of course, nothing is official until Manning signs his NLI and enrolls early.
Look, good for Texas being willing to step up to the plate and battle with the big boys for the most prized quarterback recruit since Manning’s Uncle Peyton chose Tennessee back in the early 1990s. While the decadent over-the-top spending to entice Manning to commit to Texas was probably not necessary, this was not about landing one recruit, but rather several to change the narrative.
If Manning feels like Texas is the place for him, that is so cool. More importantly, if many of the other top recruits in the country think he is the real deal, they are going to follow him into battle like the pied piper he is, no matter what school he picks. Of course, Manning has a massive target on his back and there are other outstanding quarterback prospects in the recruiting class for 2023.
It would be such a shame if this $280,000 tab resulted in a continual quagmire of 8-4 campaigns…
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