There’s no holding back now. No pretense or protection.
“I hope it’s not a no-brainer for him to come back to school,” Sarkisian said.
And with those comments to the Touchdown Club of Houston, the offseason of hype has begun for the quarterback who has thrown all of 95 career passes.
That’s not some throwaway line from Sarkisian. It’s a unique window into what could one day be considered a monumentally poor decision by one of the game’s best coaches.
By not playing Manning more in 2024, and eventually putting him in position to play at a high level late in the season in games that mattered, did Sarkisian cost a uber-talented Texas team the chance to win a national title?
Because if Manning plays so well this fall that he leaves for the NFL after one season as a starter, what does that say about Sarkisian’s decision to start (and play) Quinn Ewers in 2024?
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If Manning is talented enough to play at a high level in 2025 and earn a pre-NFL Draft grade that warrants him leaving early, he should’ve been playing in 2024, too. If not starting.
Especially for a team that had a program-record 12 players drafted last week. For a program that has strung together three straight top five recruiting classes, and is as talented as any Texas team in decades.
Instead, Manning started two gimme games in 2024 when Ewers was hurt. He threw passes in all of six games for a team talented enough to win the national title.
A team that, at the end of the season, couldn’t move the ball on Ohio State in the College Football Playoff semifinals, scored a lousy 14 points and lost by two touchdowns. The obvious question is what could’ve or would’ve been different had Manning played against Ohio State?
Could Texas have done more in 2024?
Like it or not, this is the backdrop to the 2025 season, the most anticipated one at Texas in 20 years. In 2004, Texas beat Michigan to win the Rose Bowl, and a young phenom quarterback had just begun to grow into the hype.
A year later and with expectations at an all-time high, Vince Young had a monster season in his second year as the Texas starting quarterback, and the Longhorns went undefeated and won it all — by beating then-unbeatable Southern California in the BCS national championship game.
Texas coach Mack Brown was criticized during Young’s early career, when he was redshirted as a freshman in 2002 and played behind Chance Mock for half of 2003. Texas fans saw it as missing out on 1 1/2 years of Young as the starter.
Manning redshirted in 2023, and outside of starts against Louisiana-Monroe and Mississippi State in 2024, was a situational substitute. Think about this: Manning threw six passes against non-Mississippi State SEC competition.
He didn’t attempt a pass in the SEC championship game, and two playoff games. And that’s your Heisman Trophy favorite heading into the 2025 season.
This is the quarterback who forced Ewers’ hand to leave early for the NFL. Ewers wasn’t going to play anywhere but Texas, and it was clear Texas was moving on to Manning.
Ewers was selected in the seventh round of last week’s NFL Draft.
A day later at the Touchdown Club of Houston event, Sarkisian asked for patience with his new quarterback.
“Arch is a great player, but I hope for everybody here that we don’t get too far ahead of ourselves,” Sarkisian said. “Let this guy go play this year. Let’s let him have fun in finally getting his opportunity as the starting quarterback.”
But should he have had that opportunity a year earlier? And much like Young, what would he have done with it — and how far would Texas has gone with him?
Sarkisian said during spring practice that he believes Manning will play well in 2025, and that the offense has the pieces to be highly productive. He says he doesn’t expect a drop-off from last season.
If Sarkisian is talking about a no-brainer decision for Manning to leave early for the NFL, it’s more than just avoiding a drop-off. It’s playing at a high level and leading Texas beyond where the season ended the last two years.
“Here’s what I hope,” Sarkisian told the Touchdown Club. “I hope he’s got a really hard decision to make on about January 21st. That means we played a long time. That means he’s probably had a really good season. And that means he’s probably trying to figure out, ‘Do I want one more year in the burnt orange, or is it time to go to the NFL?’”
That also means Sarkisian made a mistake playing Ewers. Or at least not playing Manning more in 2024.
There’s your no-brainer.
Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.