Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning didn’t want his entire college campus to recognize him when he went out on the town, leading him to forego commitments to the Georgia Bulldogs or Alabama Crimson Tide.
Manning once said, “That’s the good thing about Austin. I’m not like Ty Simpson at Alabama or Gunner Stockton at Georgia. I can go to parts of Austin where nobody really cares about me.”
It’s clear why he didn’t want those two SEC powers. But how was the University of Virginia ever even on the table?
Manning didn’t want to the play for the Virginia Cavaliers, his mother’s alma mater and a school he only visited to placate her, because he wanted to play “national championship football.”
“Ellen played devil’s advocate during the college decision process. She wanted Arch to have a normal college experience. It’s why she suggested he consider Virginia for college and even convinced him to visit. She went to school at UVA and May was there as an undergrad. They knew he could walk around Charlottesville inconspicuously,” CBS Sports’ Chris Hummer wrote.
“But the draw of high-level football never made that a realistic possibility: Arch said, ‘I want to play national championship football,’ Cooper remembers.”
Ouch.
Texas finished with the 2023 cycle’s No. 3 recruiting class, behind Alabama and Georgia. Virginia finished at No. 65 behind the UTSA Roadrunners and Memphis Tigers.
It’s clear why Manning chose the University of Texas at Austin over UVA. A chance at a championship will always trump family legacy for the most ardent of competitors.
Even for a Manning.
Texas opens up the season on the road this Saturday against the Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus.
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