It was well known that the Texas Longhorns would head into this College Football season with Arch Manning leading the way, and many may have expected a standout performance from the very first snap. That hasn’t quite been the case, drawing some early criticism. However, Steve Sarkisian and the rest of the coaching staff remain confident in their ability to maximize his potential.
The recent win over the UTEP Miners showed flashes of what the quarterback is capable of, but there were also moments where he appeared hesitant and even inaccurate with his throws — something many have pointed to as a major weakness in his game.
Far from shying away from the criticism, and showing strong support for Manning, Steve Sarkisian made it clear to the media that this is a long-term process — but he trusts his plan to help his signal-caller reach his full potential.
“I feel like we’ve done enough with him to have a pretty good understanding of who he is as a player and what he’s capable of,” Coach Sark said. “And I know there’s a lot of football in there that’s high level, quality football. So, is my expectation of him as a player high? Yes. Do I expect him to play the best football of his career the first three games of this season? Probably not.
“That probably wouldn’t be fair, but our job as coaches is to work him towards that and so that he continually improves throughout the season, like all of our players on our team.”
Trusting the process with Arch
Although the Longhorns currently hold a positive record at 2–1, the team’s overall performance — particularly from Arch Manning — hasn’t been as solid as many expected. Some believed Steve Sarkisian might consider making a change at quarterback, but the head coach remains confident in what his signal-caller can offer moving forward.
“I think it was too early to say, ‘Oh, give him a series off.’ You know, he provides enough offense for us where I can go a different way, using his legs and provide offense that way,” Sarkisian said.
“And, obviously, he scored two touchdowns with his legs today to take advantage of, and had a nice two-minute drive right there at the end the first half to score. So, there was a lot of good in there. I just know, and I think we all would agree, that there’s better in there that’s to come. Again, it’s a race to get there as fast as we can.”