Arch Manning's dad says 'cranking up' Texas was part of the appeal

Arch Manning signed with Texas a week ago today, making his long-time commitment to the Longhorns official. The nephew of two Super Bowl champions, Arch is the biggest name and the No. 1 overall recruit in the class of 2023.

Manning had plenty of college offers to choose from, including reigning national champion Georgia and perennial powerhouse Alabama, which were his other finalists. His father Cooper told Trey Wingo at ESPN that his son chose Texas because the chance to crank up a program that hasn’t been as good as expected lately was part of the appeal. Watch:

With the entire college football world wanting Arch Manning to play for them, Copper Manning saw his role change from Dad … to travel agent.

Great to have Cooper on Half-Forgotten History.

to full show: https://t.co/JASqlcCA6u pic.twitter.com/pA7HAKn9hU

— trey wingo (@wingoz) December 22, 2022

The Longhorns were one of college football’s top teams in the aughts under Mack Brown, posting 10 wins or more for nine straight years (2001-2009). Their most-recent 10-win season was in 2018, though. 2023 will be their third year with Steve Sarkisian as head coach. The team improved from 5-7 his first season to 8-4 this year.

Manning will be tasked with taking that next step, but he won’t be alone. They’ve put together a strong recruiting class around him, which ranks No. 3 in the country.

Texas will be facing Washington tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. ET in the Alamo Bowl. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.

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