CFB Analyst: Arch Manning Commitment Helped Longhorns 'Overtake' Aggies in Recruiting
The Texas Longhorns stole the show of the college football offseason Thursday when 2023 Isidore Newman (New Orleans) quarterback Arch Manning announced his commitment to Texas.
The Longhorns will soon be on their way to the SEC in the next few years, joining a conference that has housed their longtime rival Texas A&M Aggies for over a decade now. But after Manning's commitment, college football analyst Joel Klatt thinks Texas could be on track to beat its historic rival in recruiting despite the successful haul of commits from coach Jimbo Fisher and A&M over the past year.
Klatt made an appearance Friday on FOX Sports' The Herd to discuss what Manning's arrival to Austin means for the future of Texas recruiting and the eventual success for the Longhorns against the Aggies.
"It might overtake what A&M has done in recruiting, cause remember A&M won the year last year," Klatt said. "You can say 'well, Texas A&M and Jimbo Fisher, they're the best recruiting program in the state of Texas.' Can you say that now with Arch Manning going to the University of Texas? I'm not sure. I think we're probably gonna see a slide and movement towards Texas and Sarkisian."
Klatt said the commitment puts "a feather in the hat" for Sarkisian, as the perception of Texas' second-year coach is certain to change from here on out.
"This is a big deal," Klatt said. "And it's not just cause of his rating, it's because of his name. Steve Sarkisian won the most coveted prospect we may have ever seen in recruiting in college football. It's not just that (Arch Manning) chose Texas. It's that the Manning family chose Texas and Steve Sarkisian. I really believe that this is going to send Texas into another stratosphere as far as recruiting goes."
Shockwaves were sent through social media Tuesday once Manning committed, as a slew of recruits took to Twitter to react.
"Every single recruit out there, particularly offensive skill position players are gonna be looking at this and saying 'listen, it doesn't matter who wins this position. We're gonna have a quarterback at Texas that's outstanding and a quarterback that understands how to operate."
Sarkisian, who spent three season with the Alabama Crimson Tide, helped lead the team to a national title as offensive coordinator in 2020 with an offense that was loaded with future NFL talent. Klatt has seen what the coach has done with elite players before and can see something similar down the road happening in Austin.
"Remember now, the last time Sarkisian had weapons, he had one of the best offenses in the history of college football with Mac Jones, Devonta Smith, and Najee Harris. All these guys at Alabama and you see what he was able to do. I firmly believe that Texas is heading right down that road to have an offense like that here in the next couple of years."
Now with Manning, the nation's eyes will on Texas more so than ever. But it's all just hype in the offseason, as the Aggies will have a chance to prove that their on-field product is better despite all the attention centered on Austin.
You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7
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