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Texas Recruiting Notes 2023: Strippers, Monkeys, and 5-Stars

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Sandbagging Steve

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1 minute ago, Happy Gilmore said:

Pettaway may be looking at it from a touch perspective rather than coach. Unfortunate but understandable in a sense that the WR room here is continuing to get stock piled with elite talent where as OU is damn near bare. Bit of a role reversal from the past 10 years 

I don't think we are stacked at receiver here, especially in the timeframe Pettaway would be playing here. And anyone who has the speed, deep ball ability of Pettaway has as good a chance as anyone of finding success in Sark's offense. Add to that the Arch commitment. It is what it is though. Maybe the staff will get more aggressive in the recruitment in order to land him; or maybe they aren't as high on him. I think OU has simply out-recruited Texas for Pettaway.

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TXRed

TXRed 3248

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On 10/27/2021 at 1:14 PM, TXRed said:

Hypothetically, if Ewers were to hit the portal and pick Texas, would we have a chance at getting both Arch and Ewers since they’re now two years apart, or would it seal the deal for Manning to Georgia/Bama? I could see, in a perfect scenario, Ewers coming here for two years then going to the NFL, which would still leave an opportunity for Arch to start after 2023.  

 

On 10/27/2021 at 1:19 PM, Hornlover said:

If Adriana Lima wants to come have sex with me every night, but then Elle MacPherson and Heidi Klum decide that they want to come double-team me twice a day, but only if I promise to kick Adriana to the curb, then I guess I gotta break up with Adriana. 

(since we're dreaming up unlikely scenarios at this point...)

So did you kick Adriana to the curb or did you fuck all three of them?

On 10/27/2021 at 1:50 PM, irishtexan said:

Poorly. It would affect the recruitment of Manning poorly. But you already knew that. You just wanted to do some wishcasting.

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Happy Gilmore

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11 minutes ago, Sandbagging Steve said:

I don't think we are stacked at receiver here, especially in the timeframe Pettaway would be playing here. And anyone who has the speed, deep ball ability of Pettaway has as good a chance as anyone of finding success in Sark's offense. Add to that the Arch commitment. It is what it is though. Maybe the staff will get more aggressive in the recruitment in order to land him; or maybe they aren't as high on him. I think OU has simply out-recruited Texas for Pettaway.

Fair enough. Point mainly being he could probably see himself starting at OU next year. If his goal is to get on the field as fast as possible that is. Either way one position in not worried about with Sark is WR. He'll find some dudes regardless. 

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Vito Andolini

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I’m an hour behind, back when some were posting about whether this kid could be “overrated.”:

Two years ago, Steve Sarkisian and A.J. Milwee developed a pudgy, former child model/tennis player into a National Championship QB, and eventual NFL first round draft pick who was pretty clearly the most pro-ready of all the rookie quarterbacks. I think they can help a 6’4” kid with a big arm and Archie Fucking Manning’s DNA coursing thru his body reach his potential.

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Getafix

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The Huddle: Cedric Baxter notes, checking in on two five-stars, another crystal ball

Hudson Standish

 

Spoiler

 

The Huddle: Cedric Baxter notes, checking in on two five-stars, another crystal ball

Hudson Standish
 

I mentioned today in the comments of a post that the early vibe from Cedric Baxter was that the Arch Manning commitment news was "lit, but wouldn't impact his recruiting process." What the source who relayed that message told me was that he views Texas as the current leader and Baxter isn't going to alter his timeline so you end up with the above quote.

I made a couple more calls about Baxter and across multiple recruiting circles the overwhelming word is that Texas is the leader. So I decided to follow Steve Wiltfong and make a crystal ball prediction for Baxter to Texas. As we've previously reported, Texas A&M is the biggest threat in this recruitment.

Mike and I have talked on the podcast and reported since Baxter's official visit that we loved where Texas stands in his recruitment and this pick reflects that trendline more than a reactionary prediction after Arch Manning popped.

Two national recruits that we have been circling for the past month are five-star offensive tackle Kadyn Proctor and five-star tight end Duce Robinson. The early returns we're getting from Proctor are that it might be too late for the Horns to make a substantial push as the mammoth OT is prioritizing Iowa and Alabama at the moment. We're going to continue to monitor Proctor as we know for a fact he and Manning have a pretty solid relationship but as of right now I struggle to see much developing.

Where we have heard some initial positive returns is Pinnacle's (Pheonix, AZ) Duce Robinson. We're waiting on a few calls and updates from Robinson at the moment, but as I stay cautious on Proctor I think there is some room for Texas to truly enter the race with Georgia and USC for Robinson. 

In addition to Manning's commitment, how Texas effectively uses Jahleel Billinsgley and Ja'Tavion Sanders at tight end this upcoming season will be watched closely. The likelihood of Texas basing out of 12 personnel gives me the feeling a three tight end class isn't out of the possibility.

 

 

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Octavian

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4 minutes ago, Getafix said:

 

The Huddle: Cedric Baxter notes, checking in on two five-stars, another crystal ball

Hudson Standish

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

The Huddle: Cedric Baxter notes, checking in on two five-stars, another crystal ball

Hudson Standish
 

I mentioned today in the comments of a post that the early vibe from Cedric Baxter was that the Arch Manning commitment news was "lit, but wouldn't impact his recruiting process." What the source who relayed that message told me was that he views Texas as the current leader and Baxter isn't going to alter his timeline so you end up with the above quote.

I made a couple more calls about Baxter and across multiple recruiting circles the overwhelming word is that Texas is the leader. So I decided to follow Steve Wiltfong and make a crystal ball prediction for Baxter to Texas. As we've previously reported, Texas A&M is the biggest threat in this recruitment.

Mike and I have talked on the podcast and reported since Baxter's official visit that we loved where Texas stands in his recruitment and this pick reflects that trendline more than a reactionary prediction after Arch Manning popped.

Two national recruits that we have been circling for the past month are five-star offensive tackle Kadyn Proctor and five-star tight end Duce Robinson. The early returns we're getting from Proctor are that it might be too late for the Horns to make a substantial push as the mammoth OT is prioritizing Iowa and Alabama at the moment. We're going to continue to monitor Proctor as we know for a fact he and Manning have a pretty solid relationship but as of right now I struggle to see much developing.

Where we have heard some initial positive returns is Pinnacle's (Pheonix, AZ) Duce Robinson. We're waiting on a few calls and updates from Robinson at the moment, but as I stay cautious on Proctor I think there is some room for Texas to truly enter the race with Georgia and USC for Robinson. 

In addition to Manning's commitment, how Texas effectively uses Jahleel Billinsgley and Ja'Tavion Sanders at tight end this upcoming season will be watched closely. The likelihood of Texas basing out of 12 personnel gives me the feeling a three tight end class isn't out of the possibility.

 

 

Sad to hear that about Proctor. That kid is a titan.

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tokamak

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The Athletic on Arch:

Article 1: Arch Manning commits to Texas in most impactful pledge of modern recruiting era: Wasserman

Spoiler

Everyone speculated, but nobody really knew what direction five-star quarterback Arch Manning of New Orleans (La.) Isidore Newman was headed. Where he was going, when he was announcing, what his commitment would mean, all of it, was the perfect cocktail that makes college football recruiting what it is — a tornado of rumors, television segments, radio appearances and message board posts.

So when we got the answer Thursday — where Manning would ultimately choose to go to school — it appropriately happened in a flash. It was loud and quiet at the same time.

It was a work of art. It was poetic. It was Manning.

Manning, the prince of football royalty, broke his silence without saying anything other than providing the information people wanted. He posted a picture of himself wearing a white Texas shirt with a simple message: “Committed to the University of Texas. #HookEm.”

Committed to the University of Texas. #HookEm pic.twitter.com/jHYbjBaF5K

— Arch Manning (@ArchManning) June 23, 2022

No long monologue, no thank yous, no reason given, no explanation of his future plans, nothing more. It was his decision, then out. Back to silence.

“Arch is unapologetically who he is,” Isidore Newman head coach Nelson Stewart said. “That’s what makes him great.”

Manning was built in a college football hype machine. He’s 6-feet-4, has a solid 220-pound frame, a rocket arm, golden-brown hair and is a member of the first family of football. His uncles are Peyton and Eli Manning, and his grandfather, Archie Manning, is a legend. Mix all of that together and he’s an NIL goldmine. But he’s also a player who could give a program desperate to be a national championship contender hope again.

Calling him a savior is an understatement — just ask Texas fans.

That’s what Texas got Thursday, interestingly enough, less than a year after Quinn Ewers — a former No. 1 overall recruit in the nation, transferred to Texas from Ohio State. If Ewers, who played at Southlake (Texas) Carroll in the Dallas suburbs, was Texas’ savior, what does that make Manning?

If you can find the words, apply them. One thing’s for sure: Manning’s commitment makes you want to scream from the top of your lungs:

“TEXAS IS BACK!!!”

That’s become a running joke. But after attaining a commitment from Manning — the No. 1 overall player in the 2023 class with a perfect rating of 1.000 — Texas is clearly taking a giant step in the right direction. When you think about what this commitment means symbolically, it’s almost as significant as anything that could be done on the field. Manning could have gone anywhere. But after all of his visits and research and thought, he decided that Texas — a program that won only five games in 2021 — was the best place for him to pursue what will assuredly be a memorable college football career.

Put a value on that.

Put a value on a kid who wears a ball cap every day, drives a truck and picks up all of his friends and drives them to and from school. And he’s just like Peyton — a former top-tier recruit who was friends with other elite-level prospects and was on the phone with them the day he committed to Tennessee. Arch Manning was never in front of cameras or posting Twitter messages that drew manufactured love from anonymous college football fans, but he was on group text messages with top-100 players from coast to coast. You can bet Manning’s phone is buzzing right now — not only because of his commitment but because other top-tier prospects who want to play with him are now considering Texas.

“He’s very social,” Stewart said. “He’s very popular. He’s always surrounded by friends, a lot of which he’s had since he was in pre-K at Newman. He’s just not caught up in the rest of what maybe other people would be. We never discuss things like NIL or conferences or uniforms teams wear. He’s just about the school, forming relationships and forming relationships with the entire staff. Not just the head coach, but the offensive coordinator, the strength coach the recruiting staffers, all of them. But the most important thing to him? Getting along in the locker room.”

It was fun hanging with the boys last night. pic.twitter.com/6M0nYz5ZlD

— Eli Manning (@EliManning) June 23, 2022

Since the beginning of Manning’s recruitment, there has been no shortage of people who will tell you he’s overrated, that he wouldn’t be a five-star prospect if his last name were Smith. But all evaluations lead back to the same thing — he’s worth the hype.

Part of the evaluation process with a quarterback is intangibles, too. So how do you rate a kid who is all about football and relationships, not the drama of becoming the most media-savvy recruit of all time? If Manning wanted to turn his recruitment into a documentary, Netflix would have been at his front door before the phone clicked off. If he wanted NIL money, he’d have more sponsorships than he’d know what to do with. Flo from Progressive would have to learn how to weave football puns into a commercial urging you to bundle your home and auto insurance. This is a kid who has everything he wants at his fingertips. Money, attention, hype, profile, all of it was right there for the taking.

But all he cares about is playing ball.

“I’ve worked with Arch as a young quarterback,” said Dave Cutcliffe, a longtime college coach and Manning family friend who recruited Peyton to Tennessee and Eli to Ole Miss. “He has a deep-seated love for the game. He has a deep-seated love for competition and winning.”

So what you get is a prospect who didn’t talk to reporters and intentionally chose a different uniform number than his grandfather, dad and uncles wore (in the NFL) to ensure that he would be viewed as his own player. Add that up with the talent, and what kind of evaluations do you think you’re going to get?

Here are a few:

Steve Wiltfong, director of recruiting 247Sports: “You look at the physical stuff, he’s ready to walk into a college quarterback room and be ready to go. You look at the arm talent, there’s not a throw on the field he can’t make. I think that when you watch him on film, you see the anticipation, you see him be accurate with the football. Then you put him on the chalkboard, and just his high football IQ, his ability to command the game from that standpoint is exciting. And then obviously the intangibles, he’s a great kid, great leader, great student, you know, people gravitate towards him. I’ve been over to Isidore Newman for practice. And I’ve watched almost all his games, just the way his team responds to him.”

And if his last name weren’t Manning? “The kid is talented, man,” Wiltfong said. “The apple didn’t fall far from the tree. He comes from good genetics. His mom and dad were good athletes, too. It just so happens his last name is the most powerful last name in football, but those traits that were passed down to him are relevant.”

A Pac-12 recruiting staffer who has broken down Manning’s film: “Arch is tall with long arms, narrow hips and skinny legs. There is no question he is a Power 5 talent, and he would be even if his last name wasn’t Manning. But he has some things to work on to live up to being a national recruit. Arch is a smart quarterback who makes quick decisions because his eyes are in the right place. Has a good understanding of time and space. He has the range to make big throws down the field, and also has fastball velocity to throw short to intermediate darts through tight windows. He is elusive in the pocket but is by no means a dual-threat. Clean pocket accuracy is very good but misses a lot of throws on the move. When he is moved off his spot, his accuracy drops significantly.

“I question his production and success against better competition. Game gets fast for him when he is under duress. Dropped to 34-for-64 in two losses against St. Charles Catholic and Berkeley Prep last season while only putting up 31 points in those games. That said, as he gets battle-tested and the game slows down for him, he has the natural ability to be a solid starter at the Power 5 level in Year 2 or 3 of college.”

That second evaluation was refreshing, right? It may seem harsh, but that staffer rates Manning the No. 9 overall player and the No. 1 quarterback on his big board for the 2023 class. It’s a nice reminder of how college evaluators view five-star quarterback prospects in comparison to what we expect from them.

It’s a nice reminder that Arch isn’t Peyton yet. He isn’t Eli yet. He isn’t a Super Bowl champion yet.

He’s a five-star recruit, one who has earned his ranking through good genes, relentless effort and keeping his eyes on the prize in a world where the temptation to do otherwise is so powerful. If his name were something else, he would still be a five-star quarterback prospect. But because his name is what it is, the significance of this commitment carries a weight that can’t be compared.

Texas isn’t the same program today as it was yesterday.

Texas has Manning. What’s next has never been more exciting.

 

Article 2: How Texas landed Arch Manning

Spoiler

Among the multitudes of coaches who wanted to land quarterback Arch Manning, the top 2023 recruit who committed on Thursday to Texas, A.J. Milwee had a workaround.

When coaches were allowed to be on the road for the six-week spring evaluation period, the 36-year-old Longhorns quarterbacks coach would arrive at the weight room of Isidore Newman School in New Orleans before anyone else. He’d even beat Manning’s coach, Nelson Stewart.

“When A.J. came down this spring two times, he turned the lights on in the weight room,” Stewart told The Athletic this week. “That’s how early he got there.”

Texas and second-year coach Steve Sarkisian won Manning’s commitment with a relentless effort in building the relationship, on top of making a strong first impression and selling a promising vision for the future. One of the most closely watched recruitments in history culminated when the grandson of Archie, son of Cooper and nephew of Peyton and Eli, announced his decision on Twitter.

Committed to the University of Texas. #HookEm pic.twitter.com/jHYbjBaF5K

— Arch Manning (@ArchManning) June 23, 2022

Coming off a disastrous 5-7 season, the Longhorns pulled off a recruiting win that may be as meaningful and consequential as landing Vince Young, who was also the No. 1 overall recruit in the country, in the 2002 class. The Longhorns outlasted SEC powers and recent national champions Alabama and Georgia in the process, with Manning taking official visits to all three programs this month.

Stewart detailed to The Athletic this week an inside look at the efforts Sarkisian and his staff put in to earn Manning’s pledge.

Building an ‘authentic’ relationship

When Manning made his first visit to the Texas campus last June and met Sarkisian for the first time, Stewart said, it was as if the pair already knew each other. At that time, Stewart said, “no staff, no coaches have worked harder than Coach Sark” in building a relationship with Manning.

Over the course of the past year, the relationship was maintained. Sarkisian and Milwee found the perfect balance of staying in consistent contact and showing Manning that he was a priority while also giving him the space to make a defining decision.

🤘🤘🤘

— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) June 23, 2022

Stewart said he heard from Milwee often, whether the coach was in another part of the country recruiting, stuck in an airport or making a long drive. He joked that he talks to Milwee more than his own wife and called him “a star who will only rise.”

Milwee and Sarkisian spoke with Manning weekly. The demeanor of Milwee, a former QB at North Alabama, analyst at Alabama and offensive coordinator at Akron, earned trust from the Mannings.

“He is as real and authentic and regular as possible,” Stewart said. “We don’t just talk about football. … The way that he carries himself, everybody likes him. There’s no ego with A.J.”

Sarkisian prioritized Manning. He was the only quarterback the Longhorns offered, while Alabama took a commitment from fellow Louisianan Eli Holstein and Georgia had offered others as well. Sarkisian had no public backup.

When asked how long he was willing to wait for a quarterback commitment in May, Sarkisian said “I don’t panic,” indicating he’d wait as long as necessary, even if that meant into the fall, which is well after most power programs secure a quarterback commitment.

“We pride ourselves on the ability to develop the relationships with the kids, their families,” Sarkisian said then. “You earn trust. If I didn’t feel good about a situation, I would go in another direction.”

Stewart said it spoke volumes of Texas’ commitment to Manning that they put all their chips in with him. And there was never a push from the Longhorns for Manning to decide within a particular timeline.

And it wasn’t just Sarkisian and Milwee doing the legwork. Stewart said special teams coordinator and tight ends coach Jeff Banks and secondary coach Terry Joseph also put in a lot of work.

“I really admire and respect the way they’ve gone about this,” Stewart said. “They really are about the kid and the relationship. There’s never negative recruiting. It’s all about positive experiences and what they’re doing. They’re really special.”

Football junkies

Texas made a terrific first impression. After the 14-month pandemic-induced dead period lifted last June, Manning hit the road to visit multiple campuses. When he visited Texas, the Longhorns wowed him.

Sarkisian and Milwee dialed into Manning’s football acumen by talking about the offense and going through details of the offensive installation. “Arch is a football junkie,” Stewart said. “He loves it, he loves consuming it. The presentations have to be clean, the language, all that.”

Stewart said Milwee’s football IQ is “off the charts. He has a beautiful football mind.”

Like most top recruits, Manning got a golf cart tour of campus and a hard-hat look at the $175 million end zone facility, which was still two months from completion. He performed in a camp with some of Texas’ top receiver targets, including 2023 receiver Johntay Cook, and exclaimed afterward that those were the fastest receivers he’d ever thrown to.

Manning and his family loved Austin, Stewart said, and Arch even said it reminded him of his hometown, New Orleans. “That was the first thing that resonated,” Stewart said.

There were multiple Texas legends on campus during the visit, including Young and Heisman Trophy winner Earl Campbell. Arch met Campbell, a Pro Football Hall of Famer who was NFL teammates with Arch’s grandfather, Archie Manning, in the early 1980s. Campbell called Archie about it after the visit.

Every time Arch called Stewart on FaceTime during the visit, “he always had a smile on his face,” Stewart said.

Everyone in the Manning clan came away impressed.

“You could tell Sark and A.J. put a lot of preparation into making it a special experience,” Stewart said. “Texas certainly lived up to the expectations.”

‘It’s all about the future’

With Alabama and Georgia being the other top contenders, it’s sensible to ask, why Texas? Compared with the Bulldogs, who are coming off a national title, and Alabama, which has double-digit national titles and Nick Saban, why bet on the team that lost to Kansas last season, has just one double-digit win season since 2010 and has had three head coaches since pushing Mack Brown out in 2013?

Sarkisian sold Manning on his long-term vision. Sarkisian’s first full recruiting class at Texas ranked fifth nationally. It heavily addressed an area of major need in the offensive line, with the Longhorns signing seven at the position. They signed eight defensive linemen, a nod to Sarkisian’s preparation for Texas’ move to SEC football in 2025 (or sooner).

Even when the Longhorns were in the midst of a six-game losing streak last year, Stewart said Sarkisian and Milwee maintained a positive outlook, both privately with Manning and publicly.

“The thing I was so impressed with, was even when they were going through the toughest streaks last year, Sark and A.J. were still calling and texting,” Stewart said. “They were still positive. They never dipped. Even in their press conferences, (Sarkisian) just conveyed that energy and positivity and belief. I think kids see that.”

Sarkisian, a former college quarterback at BYU, has a documented history of working with accomplished quarterbacks. From Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at USC to Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones at Alabama, and even Matt Ryan during Sarkisian’s brief time with the Atlanta Falcons, he has a long resume.

“Sark is universally respected across college football and professional football, and his work speaks for itself,” Stewart said. “I understand the business of winning, but there’s an understanding about the build. … It takes time.”

Sarkisian’s offensive repertoire is something Stewart even adapted for his team at Isidore Newman. He designed his offense to be “pretty close” to Sarkisian’s, with the mix of run-pass option plays, downfield passing and multiple motions and personnel groupings.

It helped Manning and his teammate, tight end Will Randle, who committed to the Longhorns on Sunday, prepare for their possible futures at Texas.

“(Manning) will have an array of knowledge (in this offense), so hopefully he can get right in that room and understand some things and put his best foot forward,” Stewart said.

Last season was rough for Texas quarterbacks, with Sarkisian starting Hudson Card for the first two games, then benching him for Casey Thompson, who started the last 10 before transferring to Nebraska after the season. But Sarkisian responded by getting a similarly touted blue-chip quarterback, former No. 1 overall recruit Quinn Ewers, who transferred home from Ohio State.

Amid all the struggles, Sarkisian struck a tone that resonated with Manning.

“They’re building it,” Stewart said. “To me, it’s all about the future. When he says it’s All Gas No Brakes, it’s always moving forward.

“It really just has been all about the relationship and the vision for Texas long term.”

 

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Sir Ulrich

Sir Ulrich 5187

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On 9/5/2021 at 8:34 PM, Sir Ulrich said:

Still drinking the Kool aid so gonna go with the following bold predictions to happen in the next 14 days.

1. Texas curb stomps Arkansas. 

2. Texas to the SEC in 2022 is announced or leaked after the Arkansas win. 

3. Texas lands Arch to kick off the biggest swing of recruiting momentum since Texas Sally started making her cookies. 

It look longer than 14 days but a .333 batting average isn't terrible

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