The wait is over for Texas and Arch Manning, though quarterback admits it wasn’t easy being backup

ATLANTA (AP) – Arch Manning admits now that going from highly sought-after high school recruit to the Texas backup quarterback wasn’t an easy transition.

“This is not really a big deal, but I played every year in high school,” Manning said on Tuesday at SEC Media Days. “It was a 2-A high school. That doesn’t mean anything, but from sitting out and not playing, that was pretty tough.”

The son of Cooper Manning, the grandson of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning and the nephew of Super Bowl-winning QBs Peyton and Eli Manning passed for 939 yards and nine touchdowns and ran for four touchdowns last season but saw only limited playing time after September behind Quinn Ewers.

Manning could have seen the field earlier had he gone elsewhere. But in an era where college athletes have newfound maneuverability thanks to the transfer portal – and the ability strike lucrative deals at interested schools – the quarterback chose to ride it out.

“(Transferring) never really crossed my mind,” Manning said. “I knew Texas was the place I wanted to be. It was the city I wanted to be in, a great education. I had friends there. I was still developing and growing as a football player and a person. So I never really wanted to leave. If there was somewhere else I wanted to be, I would have gone.”

Two years since first arriving in Austin, his days of watching offensive possessions from the sideline is likely behind him. Ewers moved on and up, drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the seventh round in April, passing the torch to the newest playmaker in one of football’s most famous families.

Manning’s confidence masks the simple fact that the most talked-about player in college football has played in just 12 career games going into the Aug. 30 season-opener at Ohio State, the defending national champion and the team that beat the Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl last January. Now that the wait is over, coach Steve Sarkisian thinks he is ready.

“He’s got an unbelievable work ethic. And I think, if he stays true to himself, that’s going to help him navigate these waters as they present themselves,” Sarkisian said. “I think he’s prepared for the moment, but now it’s just time for him to go do it and enjoy doing it quite frankly.”