Kirk Herbstreit on Arch Manning's commitment: 'Texas is not back right now'

On3 imageby:Nick Schultz06/23/22

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Texas landed the biggest fish in the recruiting pond on Thursday when Five Star Plus+ quarterback Arch Manning announced his commitment to Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns. Fans started asking whether or not Texas is “back” — and ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit shared his thoughts on that question.

During an interview on SportsCenter with Elle Duncan Thursday, Herbstreit said Manning’s commitment is huge for the future of the Longhorns program under Sarkisian. He added Manning has a good chance to succeed in the offense and could lead more big-time recruits to look at Texas to play with him.

However, he’s not quite ready to say Texas is “back” — at least, not just yet.

“It’s big because not only do you get Arch Manning, but we all know how this is going to impact tight ends, receivers, running backs who are all going to want to play with him,” Kirk Herbstreit said. “I keep going back to Sark. You can count on one hand how many offensive minds have an ability to put a quarterback in a position to have success the way Steve Sarkisian can as a play-caller and the way he designs plays. He’s a guy that ultimately knows how to attack. I’m sure the relationship that he had with the family had a lot to do with this.

“This is a big day to celebrate. I’m not one of these to say anybody’s ‘back.’ Texas is not ‘back’ right now. I think their real fans would tell you that. But this is definitely a step in the right direction and a recruiting coup not only to get the quarterback, but eventually, watch the other dominos fall behind him because of getting such a big-time recruit and a quarterback who’s a distributor in that offense that Mac Jones and Tua [Tagovailoa] and others have played in over the years.”