Arch Manning may want to reconsider staying at Texas after Steve Sarkisian surprise

Everything seemed set up perfect for the Texas Longhorns future no matter what happens in the Cotton Bowl for their College Football Playoff semifinal matchup against Ohio State. Whenever Texas' final game eventually is this year, that is almost surely the end of Quinn Ewers in Austin and the Arch Manning era under head coach Steve Sarkisian will officially begin.

Manning even said as much in the past week. Prior to Texas' thrilling Peach Bowl victory over Arizona State, the former No. 1 overall recruit from the 2023 class was asked about his offseason intentions. Arch shut down any speculation regarding him entering his name in the transfer portal, making a strong affirmation that he'd be staying with the Longhorns.

But a bombshell report might alter those plans.

As the NFL coaching carousel is about to heat up, there are reports that there will be interest in Sarkisian for pro head coaching jobs this offseason as franchises could look to pry him away from Texas.

Steve Sarkisian leaving Texas would open up Arch Manning to transfer

ESPN insider Adam Schefter reported on NFL Live ahead of Week 18 that Sarkisian is a name to keep an eye on in the coaching cycle as there could be more than a half-dozen opening forthcoming at the conclusion of the regular season and the following days and weeks.

"I would expect some teams to call and inquire about the Texas head coach, Steve Sarkisian, who's drawn some interest from the NFL level," Schefter reported.

This shouldn't be a tremendous shock to many. Sarkisian has coached at the top level of college football for the past half-decade as the Alabama offensive coordinator before taking over the Longhorns. But prior to that, he served two seasons as the Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator and was the quarterbacks coach for the then-Oakland Raiders back in the 2004 season.

Sarkisian's ability to develop quarterbacks and scheme up difficult-to-defend offenses makes him a reasonable NFL candidate, to be sure. However, if he were to leave, it would almost surely make Arch Manning reconsider the decision to stay at Texas.

Throughout his recruitment and ultimately his decision to commit to the Longhorns, Sark was a huge reason for Manning coming to Austin. Manning spoke glowingly of Sarkisian's ability to develop players at his position and referred to him as a "freak of a coach" back in 2021 in an interview with 247Sports and noted that as part of the reason why he committed to the program. With a change at head coach, that could change the math on that decision.

That's not to say Sarkisian leaving Texas would 100% guarantee that Manning would leave the Longhorns. The Manning Family has made it clear that they don't want the young quarterback to spend his college career in the transfer portal. But at the same time, with how calculated their decision-making has been, not being coached by Sarkisian could be a deal-breaker in regards to the future of Arch at Texas.

There's also no guarantee that Sarkisian would leave for the NFL, it should be said. Last offseason, we heard his name connected to replacing Nick Saban at Alabama, but some speculated that was only to help find leverage for a raise. Could this be more of the same in that capacity? Absolutely. But if it's not, then Texas could be hit even harder than losing their head coach by also losing their all-world quarterback of the future.