Oklahoma's Offer to 2023 QB Arch Manning Could Be a Compelling Development

Arch Manning has never had any real interest in Oklahoma — and with good reason.

But that reason has changed, and now Oklahoma is interested in Arch Manning.

247 Sports reported this week that Oklahoma has finally extended an offer to the prohibitive No. 1 quarterback in the 2023 class.

The reason the Sooners hadn’t? Easy: Malachi Nelson. Lincoln Riley went after the California kid early and got a verbal commitment from the prospect widely regarded as No. 2 in the nation behind only Manning.

Manning’s prodigious ability is almost as inescapable as his royal lineage: he’s Hall of Fame Archie Manning’s grandson, and two-time Super Bowl winners Peyton and Eli Manning are his uncles.

To borrow a line from the Batman franchise: other quarterback prospects merely adopted the Manning Passing Academy. Arch was born in it; molded by it.

But with Nelson in the fold, Oklahoma under Lincoln Riley had no need for Manning.

Oklahoma under Brent Venables — and more specifically offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby — most certainly have a need.

Lebby worked under Lane Kiffin for two years as offensive coordinator at Eli and Archie’s alma mater, Ole Miss. But the Manning family’s appreciation for all things Lebby goes even deeper than that.

Shortly after Lebby was hired by Venables back in December, Archie Manning made an appearance in Oklahoma City for a local charity. During a media interview with former OKC mayor and TV personality Mick Cornett, Manning offered up what a good coach Lebby was, how OU landed a good one and how much respect he has for Lebby.

The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Arch Manning is midway through his junior year at Isidore Newman High School in New Orleans, and he’s been regarded as the crown jewel of the 2023 class for several years already.

Life moves pretty fast when you’re Arch Manning. Last summer, Manning reportedly visited Clemson, SMU, Texas, LSU, Alabama and Georgia. Half of those have changed head coaches since then; the other half changed offensive coordinators either in 2020, 2021 or 2022.

That alone means Oklahoma’s recent changes at the top can’t rule out the Sooners. The one constant in college football, it seems, is change.

Something else that has changed: projecting the Oklahoma quarterback picture 18 months into the future is no longer a dark and foreboding place.

With Spencer Rattler off to South Carolina and Caleb Williams still limboing in the NCAA Transfer Portal, the future recently looked bleak. But UCF transfer Dillon Gabriel’s arrival via the portal brightened things up, as he’ll have eligibility (if he wants it) on the 2023 roster. And landing 2022 freshman Nick Evers on National Signing Day in December helped change the post-Riley narrative.

Manning is the elite level of prospect that could most likely walk in and start on Day 1 of his freshman year. He’s that good. But just in case he’s not, it’s a decent bet that Gabriel and/or Evers will be there in August 2023.

There’s also the possibility of another quarterback coming to Norman. Just this week, Florida State transfer Chubba Purdy took an official visit to Oklahoma after Lebby offered him a scholarship; and it’s expected that USC transfer Jaxson Dart will get an offer and visit as well — possibly as early as this weekend.

Lebby’s vast network of quarterback connections — as well as his prolific offenses — should still attract the best and brightest to OU.

Will it all be enough to attract Arch Manning?

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