LSU Football: Tigers have strong competition for Arch Manning from a non-SEC program

One of LSU football‘s top 2023 recruiting targets is four-star quarterback Arch Manning.

Manning, who is the No. 5 overall player in the 2023 recruiting class (he’ll soon be a five-star recruit), is the son of Cooper Manning, nephew of Eli and Peyton Manning, and the grandson of Archie Manning.

It’s safe to say that football is in his blood.

Manning, who appears be to the next great college football quarterback prospect, has been garnering heavy attention from major college football programs over the last several years.

The general thought is that Ole Miss, the alma mater of Cooper, Eli, and Arch’s paternal grandparents, is one of the favorites for Manning. Tennessee, the alma mater of Peyton, also has a nice family connection to Arch.

But according to the young quarterback, those family connections won’t be a factor in his eventual decision.

“Manning said family ties to Oxford and Knoxville will not factor into his decision as he starts to think about the path he’ll take on his own journey,” wrote 247Sports’ Steve Wiltfong this week.

This bodes well for LSU and their chances with the dynamic quarterback. Arch grew up in New Orleans, so the Tigers have the geographical advantage.

But LSU obviously has a lot of competition for Arch. And there’s some strong competition from outside the SEC, too.

Could Arch Manning eschew the SEC for the Big 12?

It seems like it’s been a foregone conclusion that Manning would play for an SEC program.

But that may not be the case.

According to Wiltfong, Manning is a big fan of Texas and new Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian.

“He (Manning) really likes Steve Sarkisianat Texas,” said Wiltfong. “Their relationship began when Sarkisian was in Tuscaloosa.”

The Manning family is big on “finding your own way”. That’s the reason Peyton ended up at Tennessee and not Ole Miss.

Again, this is good news for LSU. But it’s clear that programs like Texas and Clemson are going to be big factors in this battle, too.

Arch isn’t going to rush into a decision. And he has some pretty good advisers. This is a battle that’s going to take some time.

As of now, I think LSU is in the thick of it.

And they could really improve their chances this fall if the offense takes off under new offensive coordinator Jake Peetz.