Is Texas Longhorns Head Coach Steve Sarkisian Failing Arch Manning?

The Texas Longhorns have their playoff lives on the line this week against the Ole Miss Rebels in a primetime game on Saturday night. Over the past two weeks, the Longhorns offence has come up short as they lost to Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry and blew a 17-3 lead to the Florida Gators last week.

At the heart of the offensive issues are head coach Steve Sarkisian and quarterback Arch Manning. Something isn’t clicking between the two. Manning has regressed, and the offence looks too vanilla. Opposing teams have figured things out real quickly on how to stop the Longhorns and make them one-dimensional.

As mentioned on Around Campus, the College Football Podcast, Texas spends money on skill positions rather than the offensive line, and their running backs haven’t been able to get going. Arch Manning is struggling for a reason. Texas can’t run the ball, and it might be time for Sarkisian to get some help.

Full Press Coverage Transcriptions

Jim Biringer: “we got to go to Texas. I mentioned in my video from over the weekend that Texas offense just does not look good. Does not look cohesive with Arch Manning. Everybody wanted to get rid of Quinn Ewers. Quinn never looked great there either, but Texas at least had a running game. They don’t have a running game right now, Justin.”

Justin Ryan Gonzalez: “They don’t, and it’s great that you bring that up because, like, I was talking about a little in the pre-show. Sark is on my list right now, and Arch is on my list right now because you look at a team like Texas, and we knew headed into the season that their offensive line was going to be their issue, and yet with all the NIL resources that Texas has, which is plenty, way more than a lot of schools, they decide to invest it all in skill players. They decide to give Cam Coleman an undisclosed amount.

They decide to spend that, so he doesn’t invest anything in the line. Meanwhile, you’re in the most recruiting-rich state for skill position players out of all of high school recruiting. Sark could easily be able to find a running back, a receiver, somebody to complement Arch, but instead he spends all his money on skill players, and then he doesn’t call plays that suit the skill players that he’s paying all his money to, and at some point, Sark’s bill has kind of got to run out.”

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Biringer: “Everybody was so infatuated with Arch being the backup to Quinn Ewers. When Quinn Ewers went down, he came in. He actually started. We haven’t seen Arch use his legs as he did last year when he came in with some games, right? Even the year before, like last year, he started, but he was using his legs a little bit more. You, I agree with you. Steve Sarkisian’s play calling hasn’t been great. I don’t know if he’s lost his fastball. I don’t know what it is. Maybe he needs to go back to be an offensive coordinator or get an offensive coordinator in there that can call plays.” 

This is Arch Manning’s fourth year in the program, and he is getting progressively worse. As Sarkisian told the media this week, Arch is edgy. But so is the coach, answering questions week after week about why the team is underperforming. He has to look at himself. It is hard to do both at Texas.

That is why Mac Brown was so successful: he was a CEO. Steve Sarkisian has to be the head coach or offensive coordinator, not both. The Texas Longhorns schedule does not get any easier after the Ole Miss game, with LSU, Missouri, Texas A&M, Arkansas, and Mississippi State left to play.

You can see a world where Texas misses the College Football Playoff again this season. If they do, the Longhorns will have to reevaluate everything, including Steve Sarkisian and Arch Manning. A lot is riding on the outcome of the game against Ole Miss. This program’s direction could look very different after this week.

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