He’s baaaaack.
In an unsurprising but important revelation that, equally unsurprisingly, did not come from redshirt sophomore quarterback Arch Manning, his father Cooper told ESPN on Monday that Manning will return to the Texas Longhorns in 2026 instead of declaring for the NFL Draft.
“Arch is playing football at Texas next year,” Cooper texted ESPN’s Dave Wilson.
At a press conference for Early Signing Day earlier this month, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian hadn’t asked his talented quarterback about
his plans for the 2026 season, but with exit meetings happening across the program since then, Manning’s plans are now set.
“He’s a young man who’s gotten better as the season’s gone on, and not only physically, but mentally, maturity-wise. I would think he’s going to want another year of that growth to put himself in position for hopefully a long career in the NFL. And he’s got some unfinished business of what he came here to do and what he came here to accomplish,” Sarkisian said at a media event in Orlando.
“We had a really good football season. We left some meat on the bone with an opportunity to be SEC champs, national champs, and so ultimately for him, I think the competitor in him is going to say, ‘Man, I sure would like another crack at trying to do those things.'”
It was certainly a season that fell short of expectations for Manning and the Longhorns. After opening against Ohio State in Columbus as the preseason No. 1 team in both polls, Manning struggled and Texas fell flat in a 14-7 loss. Mechanical issues continued to plague the first-year starter throughout non-conference play and improvement in the loss to Florida in Gainesville was hard earned as offensive line issues resulted in Manning taking a beating.
Sarkisian slowed down the offense the protect the defense in an impressive win over then-No. 6 Oklahoma in Dallas and an unimpressive win over Kentucky in Lexington that required overtime before Manning broke out, leading a comeback from down 17 points against Mississippi State in Lexington, another overtime victory.
In upsetting then-No. 9 Vanderbilt in Austin, Manning threw for 328 yards and three touchdowns, a performance he exceed with a 389-yard, four-touchdown passing effort in a blowout win over Arkansas.
The regular-season finale, a home win over the then-No. 3 Aggies was a microcosm of Manning’s season — he struggled to complete passes in the first half as Sarkisian tried to win one-on-one battles down the field at the receiver position before finding his groove in a 24-point second half that included Manning sealing the game with a 35-yard touchdown run.
Heading into the Citrus Bowl against No. 19 Michigan, Manning has completed 227-of-330 passes (61.4 percent) for 2,942 yards, 24 touchdowns, and seven interceptions while adding 244 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground.
While Manning’s own growing pains were reflected across the young Longhorns team during the 9-3 regular season, the three top-10 wins put the upside of the Texas quarterback and Sarkisian’s program on display heading into a bowl game that the head coach hopes will serve as a launching point into a 2026 season that will once again feature massive expectations that the Horns will be better prepared to fulfill.
