'He had to pick one': How Texas beat Georgia for Arch Manning -- and what it means now

Texas heads into this weekend's visit with Georgia playing to keep its College Football Playoff hopes alive. 

After a shaky start to the season that saw Arch Manning struggle and led several reactionary college voices to dub him the biggest bust in college football history, Manning looks to be figuring it out. In the last two games, the former five-star passer threw for 674 yards and six touchdowns as Texas moved to 7-2 on the season.

Considering they started the season ranked No. 1 in both the coaches and AP poll, that record seems like a disappointment, but given the way the early part of the season started and the noise around Manning, the Longhorns being in striking distance of their season goals is a positive development. A monstrous three-game stretch begins Saturday Between the Hedges. 

But for a few changes of fortune, Texas could be lining up against Manning.

Georgia was front and center in the recruitment and ended up being one of the biggest opponents for Texas in their pursuit of the most high-profile recruit of all time. The Longhorns won out by a comfortable margin with Manning, but Georgia was right there in the thick of the fight. 

"I got to know him, our staff got to know him," Georgia coach Kirby Smart said this week of Manning's recruitment. "He came over here a lot. He was very honest and had his thoughts about both programs. He liked both programs. He had to pick one."

Here's a look back at how two college football giants went head-to-head for Manning in the most famous race in recruiting history.

Manning's post-sophomore barnstorming tour

The Manning family knew that Arch's recruitment could turn into a circus if it wasn't managed correctly. Following his highly profiled freshman season at New Orleans' Isidore Newman, the family kept offers quiet and recruiting largely off of his radar. After he completed his sophomore season, Manning's parents and grandparents decided to start honing in on the schools he was interested in.

During the summer following his sophomore season (so, 2021), Manning made trips to SMU, Clemson, LSU, Texas, Georgia, Alabama and Ole Miss. It was a preliminary tour designed to lay some groundwork for his list of offers and figure out where he wanted to return for game visits that fall. Steve Sarkisian and quarterbacks coach AJ Milwee at Texas were already building a strong bond with Manning, but the family loved what then-OC Todd Monken brought to the table as a play-caller at Georgia. Manning also told 247Sports prior to his junior season that Athens was "the coolest college town there is." Georgia may have been the early favorite, though there's no telling. 

Manning's recruitment heats up during junior season

As he moved into his junior year (fall of 2021) Texas, Alabama and Georgia started to separate as Manning made several campus visits. Ole Miss also remained in the picture given the family ties to the Rebels, but there was talk behind the scenes the family wanted Arch to choose his own path. 

Manning visited Athens for a September matchup against South Carolina, where he was photographed in the stands in Georgia gear. The Bulldogs had involvement from Monken along with Buster Faulkner, who served as an assistant quarterbacks coach. The family also had a great relationship with offensive line coach Matt Luke, who was formerly the head coach at Ole Miss.

Manning then attended a game at Alabama in early October before going to Texas a few weeks later. Texas suffered a disappointing loss to Oklahoma State in Year 1 of Sarkisian's tenure, but sources told us that Manning loved the visit and was building a bond with several recruits and players near the program. Manning's former head coach Nelson Stewart told 247Sports that Texas was doing a phenomenal job recruiting Manning.

"I think they have done an outstanding job establishing a relationship with him from the start," Stewart said. "Coach Sark's direct involvement in his recruitment comes across as very authentic and special. It's obvious Arch and him have a great connection. It's all happened very naturally and nothing has been forced. AJ Milwee has also been instrumental in establishing the same type of connection with Arch. Credit to Texas for the way they have handled his recruitment and done things how I feel is the right way. That's why they are where they are with him."

Trio of powerhouses emerge after junior season

Manning finished his junior season and took some time away from recruiting to consider his options. Though he never officially named favorites, sources indicated that Texas, Georgia and Alabama were the top three schools in contention for Manning. It was setting up to be a heavyweight battle with Manning scheduling spring visits (2022) following his basketball season before he ultimately set his summer official visit schedule.

Manning's first two spring visits were scheduled to Georgia on March 19 and Texas on March 24. While there was lip service paid to schools like LSU, Florida and Virginia, nobody with any knowledge of the situation thought he'd end up outside of the trio of bluebloods. Coming out of those trips, Manning set a return visit to Alabama, but the buzz was that Texas and Georgia had pulled ahead. Texas continued to set the tone on the relationship front while the overall operation at Georgia impressed Manning and his family.

"Both he and his dad loved the organization of practice," Isidore Newman head coach Nelson Stewart said. "It was really, just everybody was always moving. They loved the meetings and installs with Coach (Todd) Monken. It sounded like the structure was just great. Everything flowed and the attention to detail. Obviously Kirby's enthusiasm, not just with the starters but with the backups, that was something both said was great. The energy Kirby has, you see on the sideline, coaching all his players, not just one specific group.

"Obviously they love Athens. Love the facilities and I think they came away reaffirmed with things they thought. Just incredibly well organized, energetic and I'm glad he's able to go into meetings and go into practice and see how things are really run. That's the neat thing about Arch, his family, this recruitment. It's not about the bells and whistles, it's about getting in the weeds and seeing how things work and forming those relationships and I think both came back really excited about everything he saw."

Though it didn't eliminate Alabama from contention, the Crimson Tide took fellow Louisiana passer Eli Holstein in the class, flipping him from Texas A&M (Holstein is at Pitt now). Manning set three official visits for Georgia (June 3), Alabama (June 10) and Texas (June 17).

Manning chooses Texas in pivotal summer decision

Coming out of his March visit, the talk was around Texas and Georgia, but several sources close to Manning conceded that the Longhorns held the edge. Over the previous two years, Manning had been making friends with targets of several of the programs he was looking into, but it was clear he was making inroads with more players from Texas than anywhere else.

He'd also grown close to several current and former players at prestigious Austin Westlake High School, including safety Michael Taaffe, who was a walk-on for the Longhorns at the time. Taaffe earned near-legendary status for being Manning's primary host on his visits and building a bond that would ultimately help get Manning to Austin. Manning's relationship with the Westlake players was so good, there was briefly a rumor around the state that Manning would transfer to the Austin area to play his senior season, though there was ultimately nothing to that.

After Manning finished his visits, there was talk that he could stretch the recruitment into the fall and consider more programs. Though nobody near Manning was talking much, he'd made his decision. He'd make that commitment public nearly a week later on June 23, 2022. His head coach told 247Sports that the relationships made the difference.

"From the beginning of their recruitment. from the first Zoom he had with Sark, it was a real connection between the two," Stewart said. "I think the authenticity, getting to know him and the extension of A.J. Milwee and the importance of the quarterback coach being able to echo the sentiments of the head coach, they're a great team. It's all been very natural. They worked tremendously hard in recruiting. I remember two times I came into the weight room in the morning and AJ is already sitting there with the lights on with his Starbucks."

Texas used Manning's commitment to build momentum and finish with the No. 3 recruiting class in the 2023 cycle. After sitting for two years behind Quinn Ewers, Manning made his debut as a regular starter. Saturday's matchup against Georgia will have big implications for the SEC race and playoff picture, and if Manning plays a role in a Texas win, it's a reminder of how a recruiting win can change fortunes.

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