When Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleavea enters the transfer portal this spring, he will be the fourth of the five five-star quarterbacks in the heralded 2023 recruiting to transfer within their first two years on campus.
Nos. 3 and 4 QBs Dante Moore and Jackson Arnold left for new opportunities — Moore from UCLA to Oregon after one year, Arnold from Oklahoma to Auburn after two. No. 5 Malachi Nelson was pushed out at USC, it seems, and then left Boise State after one season, too. Now he’s at UTEP.
Quarterbacks Nos. 6 (Jaden Rashada), 7 (Aidan Chiles) and 8 (Austin Mack) have all transferred, too. It’s just a sign of the times.
And then there’s Texas quarterback Arch Manning. Rumors have circled about Manning transferring from the 40 Acres since before he even lost his first UT ID card — and then spiked again after Quinn Ewers returned for his 2024 season, casting Manning as a backup for the second year in a row. In this era, a wandering eye is not only sensible but logical. A few of the top google queries related to Manning the last 12 months involved whether he’d transfer to a nostalgic place like Ole Miss or to North Carolina when it hired Bill Belichick.
The 2023 quarterback class was one of the first to receive the full brunt of the new era in college football. The transfer portal was wide open for anyone to change their mind on a whim, creating perpetual free agency. NIL created a financial Wild West, meaning anyone could financially court the most valuable name to enter college football in years. Perhaps just as significant, the 2023 QB class ended up being legendary with five five-star quarterbacks in the top 13 players.
And besides, what No. 1 quarterback in this era is content being a backup? How can you keep the next generation of the most famous family in football – a Manning – on the bench? Ewers may have been a No. 1 recruit and led Texas to a 25-5 record in his final two seasons, but he’s not Arch Manning.
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Instead, Manning waited his turn and now stands as a model of how heralded quarterbacks should handle their business.
Truly, Manning has been a unicorn in this era for reasons that stretch beyond his famous name. In the Class of 2024, four of the top seven quarterbacks have already departed — after one season! Nine of the top 14 quarterbacks in the Class of 2022 have left. The only other five-star quarterback in the NIL era to wait multiple seasons to start was Alabama’s Ty Simpson, who is also in line to start for the Tide in 2025.
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Despite being the most valuable quarterback recruit of the modern era, Manning never wavered. Even after throwing only 95 passes in two seasons at Texas, there was never a rumbling of discontent coming from his camp.
“It was tough,” Manning said last week. “I mean, it’s tough in this age. But I hope it pays off. Like I said, there’s nowhere else I want to be. I want to be at Texas. I’ve got friends here. Love this place. So I want to be the quarterback at the University of Texas. Sometimes, it’s worth the wait.”
Now, Manning is set to take the reins at Texas with as many as three years of eligibility remaining. The Longhorns have a stacked wide receiver corps headlined by Ryan Wingo and DeAndre Moore, with an offensive line featuring three players with major experience. Texas will be a popular pick for No. 1 in the nation, and Manning is the face of it.
Impatience has cost numerous quarterbacks their chances, and even ruined careers. Rashada left Florida over an NIL dispute and then transferred from Arizona State to Georgia. He just left Georgia, and is floundering in obscurity. Nelson left USC for Boise State, and then transferred from Boise for UTEP after losing the starting job again. Class of 2022 recruit Nick Evers went from Oklahoma to Wisconsin to be a backup at UConn.
Granted, Manning does have the benefit of not worrying too much about money. There’s no need to enter the feeding frenzy with the family wealth. He previously even noted that he would not sign any NIL deals until he became the starting quarterback, though he made one exception for a charity endeavor last season.
Additionally, he has some pretty good models in famous uncles Peyton and Eli. Peyton started his Tennessee career as third-string. Eli redshirted at Ole Miss and split time as a freshman before taking over. Both left school as the No. 1 picks in the NFL Draft and among the most productive players in SEC history. There was no need to rush the process.
No, sitting and waiting doesn’t guarantee success. History is littered with blue-chip recruits who tried to handle their process well, and just didn’t deliver. That said, Manning’s limited act was encouraging. In his first SEC start, Manning diced up Mississippi State to the tune of 325 yards and two touchdowns. He had a critical touchdown run against Texas A&M in a 17-7 victory, the first iteration of the rivalry game since 2011.
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After his ugly breakup with Tennessee, Iamaleava has become the face of the excesses and impatience of college football’s new era. Against all temptations, Manning is the model. And by the way, when Sarkisian signs his next blue-chip quarterback — currently Class of 2026 blue-chip Dia Bell — the argument to sit and wait becomes that much easier.
If a Manning can do it, why can’t you?
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