Arch Manning had a tough start to the 2025 season, but he finished his debut season as the starter strongly. Manning now enters the 2026 season as the favorite to go first overall in the 2027 NFL Draft, and former Texas quarterback Vince Young is one of many to have high trust in his potential.
Vince Young Shares Advice to Arch Manning for Offseason
On the latest edition of “The Stampede” podcast this week, Young talked about a conversation he had with Manning, focusing on how important offseason bonding is for building chemistry before the 2026 season.
“I had an opportunity to talk to him after practice, and he was just trying to figure out the chemistry part,” Young said (20:10). “Like coach has been saying, that was the tough part about, you know, bringing in these new guys. You’ve got to figure out who these guys are and what I do, what I definitely do, what he’s doing, bringing the guys down, throwing the ball around, and building the chemistry. But I also told him, ‘Don’t forget what you can do. Go to Disney World.’
“I mean, something cuz everybody got money now. So, you know, either you can ask the coach, ‘Hey, coach, can you help me orchestrate this for us like before we go back into camp? Can we do something big together? So, they can just, you know, make it go into the season with good chemistry. You know, they’re going to talk about it. That type of chemistry makes it even a better team.”
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Manning is expected to take a break in May, as Texas has a lighter schedule during that period. He mentioned he plans to spend time vacationing with his family. It is needed as it will help him reset before returning to football.
Manning and his Texas teammates will reconvene in June for summer workouts, leading into fall camp in August. Even during his time off, the Longhorns’ QB1 is already planning to work on chemistry with his receivers.
“I want to have a big month of May with my receivers,” Manning said, via Austin American-Statesman. “I’m going to try to get together with my receivers, have them down in New Orleans, eat some good food, maybe go fishing. … I will get away a little bit, but I want to get with these guys because I didn’t do much this spring.”
Manning ended last season with an 83.1 rating in the PFSN College Football QB Impact Metric. Expectations are high for him going into 2026, especially with Texas adding several new receiving weapons like Cam Coleman, Kohen Brown, Sterling Berkhalter, Jermaine Bishop Jr., and Chris Stewart. USA TODAY Sports has already ranked Manning as the No. 1 quarterback in the SEC heading into the 2026 season.
