On the first day of offseason conditioning, the Longhorns sent a strong message to their supporters with a picture of Arch Manning.
Texas just finished the longest season in history, and the Cotton Bowl was just a few weeks ago. But that is the past. The Longhorns are moving onto the 2025 season.
Offseason conditioning began Monday for those players who are remaining with the team.
And while it’s no secret who will be the starting quarterback next season, the Horns made it crystal clear by posting a photo of Arch Manning on their social media accounts.
“Day one,” the post read with a Hook ’em hand emoji.
The Manning era is now fully underway with offseason workouts.
Steve Sarkisian and the coaches have limited roles during offseason workouts. Most of the conditioning is overseen by strength coach Torre Becton and his staff.
Becton, highly respected by his peers, joined the Horns when Sarkisian was hired in January 2021. Prior to UT, he was the strength coach at California.
But make no mistake, all the information flows back to Sarkisian and his staff. They will know who’s performing well, who needs to pick it up and who excels at leadership.
“Football’s a hard sport, man. It’s a tough sport played at a high level by tough people,” Becton said last year on the 3rd& Longhorn podcast. “And if we don’t take the opportunities to harden and callous our players, it doesn’t matter what those analytics say, it doesn’t matter what those speeds say. It doesn’t matter what anything says.
“If they ain’t got some element of toughness to them — and you know, I’m not trying to beat my chest or talk about how tough Texas is, but I know there’s a process and there’s a way that you can make young men tougher. And I’m a believer in it, and that’s something that I try to practice daily.”
Teams follow natural leaders, and Manning is certainly that. He won over the locker room with natural charisma and his performance in 2 1/2 games while Quinn Ewers was hurt in September.
Manning actually had a fun weekend. He was one of four Longhorns to attend the men’s basketball game against Texas A&M. Manning and his teammates were brought onto the floor to throw out T-shirts, and his face was shown on the video board to goose the crowd.
