Arch Manning explains his somewhat shocking decision to strong-arm transfer portal

Despite being the best high school recruit in his class, Arch Manning has rarely seen the field for Texas. He made his Longhorns debut in the regular-season finale vs. in-state rival Texas Tech before playing again sparingly vs. Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Championship Game. With Quinn Ewers returning to Austin for his senior season, maybe people wondered why Manning did not transfer.

Manning expounded on why he is remaining committed and loyal while at the Manning Passing Academy his family puts on in his native Louisiana annually. For a guy who has had the spotlight thrust upon him at such a young age, Manning not so surprisingly had a calculated response as to why he is going to stick it out at Texas. It has become en vogue in college to hit the transfer portal.

At the end of the day, Texas is where Manning wants to be, and will remain there until it is his time.

“It’s tough because you want to be out there playing with your boys. But (it came down to) just realizing there’s nowhere else I want to be, and it was my dream to play at Texas. I’m going to stick it out and play there eventually," said Manning, h/t Larry Holder of The Athletic.

In Holder's latest for The Athletic, the writer went on a deep dive as to why so many of the game's top quarterbacks opted to hit the transfer portal at least once in college. Ewers was at Ohio State previously. Ole Miss' Jaxson Dart used to play for Utah. Heck, new Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel has transferred twice after having been at Oklahoma and UCF previously. There is one outlier.

That would be Carson Beck, who waited his turn at Georgia. Beck might be Manning's inspiration.

Let's now discuss if this was the right course of action for Manning to make or if he messed up here.

Arch Manning on why he did not transfer away from Texas after last year

In Holder's article, Beck would explain how challenging it was for him to stay the course, be patient and wait for his turn to come at Georgia. The former four-star recruit from Jacksonville had to back up Stetson Bennett IV for two-and-a-half years before taking the SEC by storm a season ago. All the reps he got in practice and the mental reps on the sidelines got him ready for the day it was his turn.

Truth be told, Beck is an ideal role model for Manning in this. Georgia and Texas are the two most likely candidates to win the College Football Playoff out of the SEC this season. The Dawgs have won two of the last three national titles, while the Horns just made the playoff a season ago. What I am having a hard time grasping is how Manning is not conducting himself with Manning-type behavior.

Do you think Uncle Eli would be this even-keeled about not starting in college? Maybe, but absolutey not after getting benched by the New York Giants in favor of Geno Smith by Ben McAdoo back in 2017. If you told Uncle Peyton to watch someone else play, he would get someone to go punch you.

Overall, I don't think it is a mistake for Manning to be firmly riding pine in year two at Texas. If his last name was Smith, we wouldn't be making as much of a deal out of his backup situation. What this really comes down to is Manning did not play against the highest level of comp in high school ball while attending New Orleans private school Isidore Newman. It is a gigantic leap up to SEC Texas.

My best guess is Manning will be more than ready to start for Texas in 2025, but we shall wait and see.