Why would Arch Manning choose Texas of all places?

Promising high school QB Arch Manning just announced his commitment to the Texas Longhorns. Why in the world would he do that?

In any form of media, it is not recommended for pundits to criticize their subject matters too harshly, and that is especially the case with younger individuals. However, quarterback Arch Manning committing to the Texas Longhorns makes virtually no sense.

The reason for this is because there is simply no upside to the move, whether it be in regards to location, finances, or the current state of the program itself.

For starters, the Longhorns are not holding up very well as of late, with last season being their fourth to see a losing record in the last decade. And while we’re on the topic of failure to execute, the difficulty in doing so successfully is unlikely to lessen anytime soon.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian is entering just his second year with the program, but the showing that it is following is hard to brush off as a case of 1st-season jitters when considering that his career as an HC has never been very good (all-time record of 51-42). And who wants to bet that we won’t see some outstanding breach in that reality once the Horns are playing in the death trap commonly known as the SEC?

Speaking of the SEC, its two best programs—Alabama and Georgia, both of which saw the national title game last season—showed great interest in landing Arch Manning as well. The difference between them and Texas comes in when seeing just how much stronger the pair is, along with their current superiority in producing NFL talent. With all of that in mind, Texas should have been the last choice, not the first.

But hey, UT is still a big brand with a ton of talent always coming to and from there, so maybe Manning is merely hoping to take advantage of a weak quarterback situation at a household name, right? Wrong.

Manning has competition at Texas

Another promising young QB, Quinn Ewers, recently transferred to the Longhorns from Ohio State, and he is looking to cement himself as their number-1 guy moving forward. If he exhibits the potential of his capabilities while on the field with them next season, Manning might end up walking in on a starting job that’s already been locked down.

What about personal reasons, though? Maybe the lad has family ties to the university somehow? Not quite, as his sister, mother, father, grandfather (Archie), and uncles (Peyton and Eli) all went to schools that were in entirely different locations. Not even the Manning Passing Academy is held there.

There is one last reason—that I can think of—that could have led to the young talent choosing the Longhorns: they offered him a heap of money. However, unless something concrete about such an act taking place ever hits the press, I wouldn’t humor that thought too much; I would assume that money could only talk so loudly to a kid from the Manning family.

I want to be clear that Arch Manning’s commitment was his decision and his alone, so this shouldn’t come off as a critical response. And through it all, UT is still a big brand in a marketable location, so it’s definitely smarter for a prospect to go there than most other places.

But when looking at what all Manning passed up to go there, I question whether or not the Longhorns are that appealing nowadays.