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- As Arch Manning’s recruitment begins to pick up, there is a lot that will go into the decision.
- His father, Cooper Manning, recently shared how he, his son, and their family are approaching the process.
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Arch Manning is the most highly-scrutinized recruit in recent history, if not ever. Every single team in the country would welcome him with open arms based on his talent alone, but his last name has taken his recruitment to a new level in terms of publicity, speculation and interest.
Manning, the No. 1 prospect in the Class of 2023, will have to decide on where to play his college football no later than February 1, 2023. He could also choose to sign in the Early Signing Period that will begin on December 21, 2022.
Initially, the thought was that Manning would want to verbally commit prior to his senior season. However, the new understanding is that there is no timetable and that he is going to take his time with a decision.
Right now, Manning is finishing up his high school basketball season. From there, he and his family will sit back, reevaluate all of his options, and set up a schedule for visits this spring.
In the age of social media, recruiting has become an entirely different beast than it was even 10 years ago. Not for Manning, who keeps his limited social media presence very vetted and private.
The 6-foot-4, 215-pound quarterback is handling his recruitment in a very “old school” way, and with a lot of patience. That notion also extends into the new world of Name, Image and Likeness.
Manning, being who he is, is extremely valuable in terms of NIL.
According to On3 Sports’ NIL valuation, Manning is worth an estimated $1.6 million as only a junior in high school. That’s insane.
While schools around the country try and get recruits to their program, financial opportunity is playing an increasing role in those decisions— despite what Jimbo Fisher might say. However, that is not necessarily the case for Manning.
Cooper Manning, Arch’s father, recently joined Chris Fowler’s podcast and spoke about the way that recruiting has changed and how NIL is factoring into his son’s recruitment. He also gave some new insight into the process as a whole and explained how he, Arch and the support team around them are doing things their own way.
“The whole game of college football seems to have changed in the past three to four months,” Cooper Manning said. “With the coaches moving around a lot more freely, the element of these big signing bonuses for classes and everything. No one sits around and says, ‘I’m going to be a backup and work for it for two to three years.’ It’s onto the next thing.’”
” …. (With Arch) we’re trying to do things like they used to be done, back 15 years ago. Just go pick a school you like, coaches you like, a place you think you’d be happy if you weren’t playing football. Get a good education, make friends and try your best. I know it sounds kind of simple and howdy doody. But I think sometimes people get a little ahead of themselves. These are 18-year-old boys you’re trying to turn into men. And I think whoever can do that the best is probably going to get the guy.”
As of right now, Manning is considered to be down to four schools that make for an incredible acronym. In addition, LSU and Florida are trying to force their way into the conversation.
Wherever he ends up, as Cooper shared, it will be the school that can best turn an 18-year-old boy — in this case the first grandson of football — into a man.