{"id":256005,"date":"2026-04-18T18:58:44","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T18:58:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/256005\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T18:58:44","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T18:58:44","slug":"sarkisian-jokes-longhorns-got-quarterback-for-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/256005\/","title":{"rendered":"Sarkisian jokes Longhorns got quarterback for ‘free’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Texas football<\/a> coach Steve Sarkisian<\/a> reeled in a few big-name transfers this offseason and who does he credit for that? Quarterback Arch Manning<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Cam Coleman<\/a>, one of the best wide receivers in the transfer portal, decided to come to Texas.\u00a0Rasheem Biles<\/a>, a former Pitt linebacker, was also highly sought after and chose the Longhorns. Sarkisian, now in his fifth season as head coach, said Manning played an understated role in those moves.<\/p>\n

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\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian and Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) celebrate after winning the Red River Rivalry against the Oklahoma Sooners at the Cotton Bowl on Saturday Oct. 11, 2025 in Dallas, Texas.<\/p>\n

Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) give Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian the game ball after beating Texas A&M Aggies 27-17 during the NCAA college football game in the Lone Star Showdown in Austin, Texas, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025.<\/p>\n

Ricardo B. Brazziell\/Austin American-Statesman\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian is crowned by Prince Chedward as the Longhorns celebrate after winning the Citrus Bowl 41-27 against the Michigan Wolverines at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida, Dec. 31, 2025.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n

Football programs in light of the\u00a0House v. NCAA settlement<\/a> can now pay their players, but have a limit on the cost of their total roster. In a recent interview with\u00a0On3<\/a>,\u00a0Sarkisian joked that the Longhorns got Manning “for free,” making it easier to pay other talented players. Here’s what\u00a0Sarkisian had to say as Texas’ spring practice draws to a close:<\/p>\n

Arch Manning playing ‘for free’ (relatively-speaking) for Texas<\/p>\n

\u00a0Manning stayed at Texas<\/a> despite chances to transfer and make more money. On3 projects Manning’s NIL valuation<\/a> to be $5.4 million; Manning’s payment from the school, after the House settlement,<\/a>\u00a0is rumored to be about $2 million. Texas does not disclose each player’s compensation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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“Arch could have dragged us over the coals for 6 six million (dollars), 7 million, whatever he wanted. That\u2019s an extra 5 million that I can go get a Cam Coleman, go get a (running back like) Hollywood Smothers and go get a Rasheem Biles,\u201d Sarkisian said.<\/p>\n

Sarkisian said that’s nothing new for Texas though. He praised former quarterback Quinn Ewers for not negotiating for higher pay as well.<\/p>\n

MORE: What Arch Manning had to say about Texas ex Parker Livingstone’s transfer to Oklahoma<\/a><\/p>\n

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FROM CEDRIC GOLDEN: Texas football DC Muschamp on why coming back was an easy decision<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had two in a row like that with Quinn (Ewers),\u201d Sarkisian said. \u201cThat\u2019s the key. QB1 at Texas is going to get the national deals, like Quinn had Dr Pepper and Arch has Red Bull. They\u2019re going to get those. It\u2019s getting the right type of parent to understand that they don\u2019t need to break the bank with Texas, that they\u2019re going to get theirs. Instead, go surround them with really good players. Both those two kids figured that out.”<\/p>\n

Ewers now plays in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins. Manning sat for a season behind Ewers who led Texas to back-to-back College Football Playoff semifinals.<\/p>\n

Sarkisian said that he saved a text from Manning’s dad after he committed to play for Texas. It read:\u00a0Tell every recruit that comes in there that Arch loves the University of Texas, and he\u2019s not taking any money to come there.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI don\u2019t text him very often. I try to make it count,” Cooper Manning said of the text.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Steve Sarkisian lauds Arch Manning’s mental toughness, growth<\/p>\n

The Longhorns also head coach spoke about Manning’s growth from last season and how outside noise impacted the young\u00a0QB \u2014\u00a0especially after the Florida loss to open<\/a> SEC play. Manning threw<\/a> two interceptions in the fourth quarter and was sacked six times in The Swamp on the Longhorns’ way to a 29-21 loss.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In light of the poor performance from the pedigreed quarterback, an article from The Athletic<\/a> called Manning a “flop.”<\/p>\n

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But true to the lyrics of Tom Petty’s song “I Won’t Back Down,” which is traditionally played\u00a0at Florida home games, neither did Manning.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas quarterback Arch Manning watches his former teammates during Texas Longhorns pro day on campus at the University of Texas, March 24, 2026.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom that point on, we were a different team, and Arch was a different quarterback,\u201d Sarkisian said.<\/p>\n

After the Florida loss, Manning threw for 15 touchdowns and 1,912 yards<\/a> over eight games.<\/p>\n

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\u201cYes, it was tough,” Sarkisian said. Every show you turned on and all the articles were questioning him, and I always look for a silver lining when stuff like that happens. But Arch didn\u2019t get weaker. He looked at all that pressure and scrutiny right in the face.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNinety-nine percent of kids would have melted last year if they had to endure what he endured, and all Arch did was get stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian reeled in a few big-name transfers this offseason and who does he credit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":69800,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[3230,132,134,133,42356,96465,3231,536],"class_list":["post-256005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-arch-manning","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-cooper-manning","tag-florida-gators-football","tag-steve-sarkisian","tag-texas-longhorns-football"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256005\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}