Inside the ruthless recruitment of Arch Manning

[Blake Munroe]

 This story is an excerpt from the book "American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback," which will be available on Sept. 9 from Disney Publishing's Hyperion Avenue.

 

SENIOR NIGHT AT Isidore Newman School in Uptown New Orleans. Class of '23. A warm October sunset. A tunnel of cheerleaders under the lights, with a line of football players waiting to have their names announced and to meet their parents at midfield, and little surprise over who will be called first.

He's in full uniform, wearing a kelly green jersey, with a white number 16. He stands, slightly tilting back and forth, waiting. The field is bright and clean. He turns to his coach beside him.

"Do I run?" Arch Manning asks.

He is the top-rated high school quarterback in America. His talent and production and work ethic merit the status, but it's his name that makes the future feel inevitable. He's a Manning. His grandfather is Archie, a Southern icon. His Uncle Peyton is a two-time Super Bowl champion, a national icon. His Uncle Eli is a two-time Super Bowl champion, which in New York gets you pretty close to icon status. Arch knows no other kind of life. There's no hiding.

The crowd buzzes. A fervor awaits. The structures framing the stadium at Newman seem to mirror stages of his life. He'd started playing, almost as soon as he could walk, on the playgrounds behind the north end zone. Parallel to the sidelines are classrooms and buildings where he went to elementary school and then high school. As he approaches the south end zone, seventeen years old and at the beginning of something, he stands in the shadows of Manning Fieldhouse, named in honor of his father and uncles, all Newman alums. Tonight, as a senior, he commands the stage with little left to prove. In three months, he will be a freshman at the University of Texas. Anything other than a college career that ends with him being the first overall draft pick will seem like potential unfulfilled, an expectation both comically unfair and a reality of the life he has chosen.

This is a really long article, so to read the rest of it, go here:

https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/46022536/ruthless-recruitment-arch-manning

[Texas84]

Fun read. Thanks!

[Migas & Fajitas]

58 minutes ago, Blake Munroe said:

 This story is an excerpt from the book "American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback," which will be available on Sept. 9 from Disney Publishing's Hyperion Avenue.

 

SENIOR NIGHT AT Isidore Newman School in Uptown New Orleans. Class of '23. A warm October sunset. A tunnel of cheerleaders under the lights, with a line of football players waiting to have their names announced and to meet their parents at midfield, and little surprise over who will be called first.

He's in full uniform, wearing a kelly green jersey, with a white number 16. He stands, slightly tilting back and forth, waiting. The field is bright and clean. He turns to his coach beside him.

"Do I run?" Arch Manning asks.

He is the top-rated high school quarterback in America. His talent and production and work ethic merit the status, but it's his name that makes the future feel inevitable. He's a Manning. His grandfather is Archie, a Southern icon. His Uncle Peyton is a two-time Super Bowl champion, a national icon. His Uncle Eli is a two-time Super Bowl champion, which in New York gets you pretty close to icon status. Arch knows no other kind of life. There's no hiding.

The crowd buzzes. A fervor awaits. The structures framing the stadium at Newman seem to mirror stages of his life. He'd started playing, almost as soon as he could walk, on the playgrounds behind the north end zone. Parallel to the sidelines are classrooms and buildings where he went to elementary school and then high school. As he approaches the south end zone, seventeen years old and at the beginning of something, he stands in the shadows of Manning Fieldhouse, named in honor of his father and uncles, all Newman alums. Tonight, as a senior, he commands the stage with little left to prove. In three months, he will be a freshman at the University of Texas. Anything other than a college career that ends with him being the first overall draft pick will seem like potential unfulfilled, an expectation both comically unfair and a reality of the life he has chosen.

This is a really long article, so to read the rest of it, go here:

https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/46022536/ruthless-recruitment-arch-manning

Fantastic read. Thanks for posting!

[Rivalrygameblock]

The Golding/Saban shot at Sark couldn’t be more on brand. 

[FootLaw]

38 minutes ago, Rivalrygameblock said:

The Golding/Saban shot at Sark couldn’t be more on brand. 

Out of the entire article, this part stood out to me the most (in a bad way). It doesn't say that Saban told Golding to specifically highlight that issue but now I wonder. Recruiting is brutal.

Edited yesterday at 02:22 PM by FootLaw

[Migas & Fajitas]

1 hour ago, FootLaw said:

Out of the entire article, this part stood out to me the most (in a bad way). It doesn't say that Saban told Golding to specifically highlight that issue but now I wonder. Recruiting is brutal.

Possible future Longhorn, Marshall Manning is what stood out to me the most…

 

 

 

[Assistant Regional Manager]

2 hours ago, Rivalrygameblock said:

The Golding/Saban shot at Sark couldn’t be more on brand. 

Especially when he had this happen a few months earlier 

https://www.si.com/college/alabama/bamacentral/alabama-defensive-coordinator-pete-golding-arrested-for-dui

[Migas & Fajitas]

3 hours ago, Assistant Regional Manager said:

Especially when he had this happen a few months earlier 

https://www.si.com/college/alabama/bamacentral/alabama-defensive-coordinator-pete-golding-arrested-for-dui

It’s cosmic karma being dealt. However, as a person who had a family member’s life lost to a drunk driver, it’s in no way satisfying. 

[genevalonghorn]

If only adults could show as much grace as Arch does on a daily basis.  He's all class in terms of how he has managed his situation. 

[CHorn427]

“Daddy’s on me.” -Pete Golding

pause

[TexMexHorn94]

Pete Golding using Sarks alcoholism against him in Arch’s recruitment weeks before him getting a DUI sure is a case of instant karma. Here’s his mugshot. 

[AusMOJO]

20 minutes ago, TexMexHorn94 said:

Pete Golding using Sarks alcoholism against him in Arch’s recruitment weeks before him getting a DUI sure is a case of instant karma. Here’s his mugshot. 

Wasn't this the DC t hat Sark tried to bring with him when he first came to Texas? Maybe it was a good thing he didn't. 

[TexMexHorn94]

1 hour ago, AusMOJO said:

Wasn't this the DC t hat Sark tried to bring with him when he first came to Texas? Maybe it was a good thing he didn't. 

Wow I wasn’t aware of that? Well glad we got PK instead of this joker. 

[AusMOJO]

4 minutes ago, TexMexHorn94 said:

Wow I wasn’t aware of that? Well glad we got PK instead of this joker. 

He tried a few guys, Golding, Odum I think when he was at Arky. I don't think he went after PK at first because no one thought he'd leave that area of the country and go down to Texas. Though I would've been happy to keep Coach Ash, I thought he was pretty good. Same with Giles, he recruited really well. 

[Tommy]

Nation's top CFB minds and staff loitering in LA for the mere chance at seeing Arch. Had no idea the recruitment was this insane. 

[horns96]

The Bama staff referred to Saban as "Daddy"?  🤮

[Burnt Orange Horn]

MAJOR ERROR:  The 1965 Orange Bowl was the first televised night time college game, not the later 1969 game in which Archie appeared.

[Burnt Orange Horn]

I really thought this was a 40,000 foot view.

I think one of the great little known facets of Arch's recruitment was assigning Michael Taaffe as his host.  What other program would choose a walk-on squad player to host its most important recruit in 20 years??  A deeper dive is needed here eventually.

[Califashorn75]

18 hours ago, TexMexHorn94 said:

Pete Golding using Sarks alcoholism against him in Arch’s recruitment weeks before him getting a DUI sure is a case of instant karma. Here’s his mugshot. 

He sorta looks like John Travolta's big, fat, older brother.