The Texas Longhorns and senior quarterback Arch Manning are entering the season with legitimate championship aspirations after their strong finish to the 2025-26 campaign. Manning struggled at the start of last season, his first as the Longhorns’ full-time starter, but showed enough improvement over the season to have Austin, TX, buzzing about what the team can accomplish this go-around.
The expectation is for this to be Manning’s last season at the collegiate level before declaring for the NFL draft. However, Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian is teasing the possibility of his star quarterback coming back for a fifth season of college football, whilst acknowledging no decision has been made just yet.
“You know, we haven’t had the discussion, but I will tell you, I would not be surprised,” Sarkisian said on Up and Adams with Kay Adams on Monday. “I think Arch really loves college football; I really do. I think he loves the University of Texas, you know, he does pretty good through NIL, you know, he’s got some pretty good endorsements going right now, which is a credit to him.”
“You know, we haven’t had the discussion, but I will tell you, I would not be surprised,” Sarkisian said. “I think Arch really loves college football, I really do. I think he loves the University of Texas, you know, he does pretty good through NIL, you know, he’s got some pretty good endorsements going right now, which is a credit to him.”
“But I think some of that is dependent upon, you know, how we play as a team this fall, how he plays individually, knock on wood, injury-free football, things like that,” Sarkisian added. “But again, that’s not our focus. Our focus is on getting ready for the season, getting ready for Texas State in Week 1, and then Ohio State, then UTSA, then Tennessee, so on and so forth.”
“So we haven’t really had any dialog about it, but to your point, I wouldn’t be surprised,” the coach concluded. “He loves college, and again, he’s got some pretty good NIL stuff going for himself right now.”
As good as Manning’s NIL deals may be, the irony for Sarkisian is that if Manning has the sort of season the Longhorns are hoping for, there’s almost zero chance he returns to campus for another year.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.