It was reported on Friday that five-star quarterback recruit Arch Manning is visiting Virginia football and here’s why the Cavaliers are a legit threat.
Recruiting is always unpredictable and on Friday, there was a curveball thrown into the race for five-star quarterback Arch Manning, who reportedly took a visit to Virginia football according to 247 sports.
Manning’s recruitment has included mostly big-name programs such as Alabama, Texas, Georgia, Ole Miss, Clemson, LSU, Florida, and others.
Clemson was eliminated a couple of months ago and maybe it was because Tony Elliott left to be Virginia’s football coach because he was able to get Arch Manning on campus — something only a few programs have been able to do this spring.
Over the past few weekends, Arch Manning has visited Georgia, Alabama, and Texas. Those are the three favorites but after news of the visit was reported, you have to wonder if Virginia football is a real threat to land his commitment.
While we don’t know for sure (we aren’t Arch Manning) we look at three reasons why Virginia football could be a threat to win his recruitment.
Relationship with Tony Elliott
Virginia football made a great hire in Elliott who ran the offense for Clemson during its championship runs and his work with Trevor Lawrence should certainly give the credibility needed to land a recruit like Arch Manning.
There are some other reasons why Manning possibly took the visit to Virginia and we’ll cover that next, but it probably doesn’t happen without Elliott, who is surely selling Manning on the idea of turning the Cavaliers into an ACC contender very quickly.
Elliott is a first-time head coach but he’s familiar with Manning because he recruited him while he was still at Clemson and it looks like that relationship is strong, otherwise I doubt Manning makes a stop at Virginia.
Family ties
The Manning family is very closely connected and that’s why some thought if Texas hired David Cutcliffe that could give the Longhorns an edge in part because of his connection to both Eli and Peyton Manning.
So when you look at all the family ties the Mannings have to Virginia, it’s not really that shocking that the Cavaliers would be of interest to Arch Manning.
Along with reporting about the actual visit, 247 sports also reported that Arch Manning’s sister is going to Virginia right now and that Peyton Manning’s wife went there too. Maybe most importantly Arch’s mom graduated from the University of Virginia.
Arch is his own person, but it doesn’t seem like Eli Manning would have gone to Ole Miss if his dad didn’t.
At the same time, Peyton Manning didn’t follow in those footsteps and there’s no reason to believe any family members are pushing Arch to go anywhere.
But with the Virginia football program under the direction of a coach he knows, it seems as if it’s at least giving him something to think about.
3. Manning is determining the school’s future, not his own
One thing you hear a lot about is how college football recruits want to go somewhere that’s going to help them get to the NFL.
Well, Arch Manning isn’t doing to need any help in that department. He’s big, can make all the throws, and probably already has NFL teams thinking about his NFL potential.
So unless he went to an absolute dumpster fire, this decision isn’t going to determine Manning’s NFL future. He’s not an underrated kid that needs to develop his skills for the NFL. Manning is as solid a prospect as there is and he’ll be ready to start from day one in college football.
Virginia football will give him that chance, as will most other college football teams, even the Alabama’s and Georgia’s of the world.
But when you think about it, the Mannings don’t have a reputation for going to the big-name schools. Peyton went to Tennessee which was and is a solid program, but not a blue-blood and Ole Miss has never been considered that and still got Eli.
You never really know what can happen in recruiting and the truth is, none of us know what the top priorities are for Arch Manning.
However, it seems late in the process to visit Virginia if there isn’t any possibility, regardless of how remote it could be, that he might pick the Cavaliers. And for all the reasons laid out here, it’s possible that UVA is a legitimate threat along with Bama, Texas, and Georgia.