Texas is still two months away from opening the 2026 season, but the conversation around Arch Manning is already moving at full speed.
The Longhorns are headed into fall camp with Steve Sarkisian working from what has been described as arguably the most talented roster in the country, and Manning figures to be one of the central pieces of it. After a 2025 season that served as his first full year running the offense, the quarterback enters this fall with a different kind of momentum behind him.
That’s part of why Mack Brown’s recent comments carry weight. The former Texas head coach didn’t hold back when asked about Manning on a recent episode of THE STAMPEDE.
"I'm so impressed with Arch because he will listen. He will ask questions. He will ask me questions at practice," Brown explained on a recent episode of THE STAMPEDE.
Brown also addressed the bigger picture around Manning, whose name has carried a football spotlight long before he settled in as the Longhorns’ starter. With Peyton and Eli Manning as uncles, the expectations have always come attached to the jersey. But the message around Arch has been clear during his time in Austin: he isn’t trying to live in anyone else’s shadow.
Instead, the focus is on building his own identity and his own legacy.
That’s the reality of being a Manning, even before a career is anywhere near complete. The comparisons are going to keep coming, fair or not, and Brown’s praise only adds to the sense that this season could be the one where Texas sees the biggest leap from its quarterback.
If that happens, the Longhorns’ ceiling gets even higher.
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Sean Millers latest recruiting win already comes with a familiar modern-college-basketball asterisk. Texas landed five-star combo guard Austin Goosby, giving the Longhorns another elite backcourt piece to build around, but the buzz around his arrival is arriving alongside the usual questions about how long a player of that caliber might stay on campus. In a sport where top freshmen are increasingly treated as short-term difference-makers, Texas fans are already being asked to think about both the upside and the timeline.
An ESPN 2027 NBA Mock Draft only sharpened that reality by placing Goosby in the kind of first-round conversation that can change a programs plans fast if his freshman season goes well. Texas has lived through this before with elite recruits who flashed star potential and moved on quickly, and Goosby now enters Austin with the same kind of attention that comes with being more than just a college addition. The Longhorns are happy to have him now, but the longer-term question is whether theyll have him long enough to fully reap it. [Read more 🡒]
Texas May Be Losing Another Key Piece Of Its 2027 Class
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The concern is not just the uncertainty around one defensive back. LSU has also stayed in the picture for Texas five-star wide receiver commit Easton Royal, giving the Tigers a chance to make this a much bigger story for the Longhorns if the momentum keeps moving the wrong way. For Texas, it is another reminder that even a class with plenty of promise can be vulnerable when other heavyweights start pushing late. [Read more 🡒]