Longhorns Coach Steve Sarkisian Pokes Fun At Constant Arch Manning Transfer Rumors

There seems to be no end to the speculation about Arch Manning.

Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning warms up before the game against the BYU Cougars at / Jay Janner/American-Statesman / USA

Like clockwork, nearly every time Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning's name is brought up it has to do with one of two erroneous things.

The first is if there is a QB controversy in Austin, and whether he should start over Quinn Ewers in 2024 - a stance that is largely based on one performance from Manning in a spring scrimmage.

The other, and far more prevalent 'rumor' surrounding the redshirt freshman, is the narrative that - since he is not the starter - he should should enter the transfer portal and find a new home where he can start immediately.

Of course, neither of those things happened. Ewers remains the starter, as he should, and Manning remained in place as his backup until he is off to the NFL.

And when asked about the constant narratives surrounding Manning, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian decided to poke a little fun at the idea.

Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning warms up before the game against the BYU Cougars at / Jay Janner/American-Statesman / USA

"I get a chuckle out of this. Everyone's praising Arch for staying at Texas. He's going into year two," Sarkisian said in an interview with Josh Pate. "What do you mean? But that's the mentality. Good for Arch and he's sticking it out with Texas in year two and I'm like, that's part of the process. We're developing him to play and be a great football player and a great leader and he's going to be. But, that's where we're at."

Manning, of course, has never even hinted at a desire to find another place to play, with the plan in place always being that he would succeed Ewers after the 2024 season, and have three years of eligibility to be the starter.

That is also aside from the fact that Manning grew up a Longhorns fan, and picked the school based on his affinity for Sarkisian, his offensive system, and his ability to develop quarterbacks.

Of course, given the day and age of college football, it is natural to assume a player won't stick things out with his current program if they are not earning their desired playing time.

However, according to Sarkisian, part of the Longhorns approach, is to try and make Texas the best place to learn and develop in the country, and make it hard for players like Manning to have that desire to leave Austin in the first place.

"We want to make it as hard as possible for our guys to want to leave here," Sarkisian said. "They're getting developed. They're getting treated well enough. They're getting coached up. They're playing in great schemes. They've got a great locker room culture. They're getting a first-class education. They get to live in the city of Austin. Like, I want to make it so dang hard for them to leave that. If that moment comes where they feel like that's just in their best interest to go, it should almost bring him to tears that this place meant that much to him."

And so far, they have done just that.