Tennessee missed out on a Manning. The Vols never skipped a beat.
It seems odd to be writing that. However, that is the case. Thursday was just a ho-hum day for the Vols when Arch Manning, the No. 1 prospect in the country, announced his college decision via social media. Hardly a peep was heard from Tennessee fans, who moved on long ago. After all, the Vols are preparing for a monstrous official visit weekend. Who is that Manning guy again?
Manning’s decision to commit to the Longhorns was not really a surprise. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound prospect from Isidore Newman School in New Orleans, La., was thought to be leaning towards either Texas or Georgia. Tennessee was never really in the hunt and – again this sounds odd – the Vols didn’t need to be. There was no need to call in a favor just because Arch’s uncle, Peyton Manning, had a stellar career at Tennessee and beyond.
Tennessee wasn’t going after Arch Manning and weren’t going to land him. The Vols were fine with that all along. After all, Tennessee already has Nico Iamaleava on board. The 6-5, 195-pound quarterback from Long Beach Poly (Calif.) High School has been committed to Tennessee since March and is taking his official visit to Knoxville this weekend.
Comparing the two quarterbacks to each other at this moment is somewhat pointless.They both have the necessary talent and they’ll be defined by how hard they work. Still, let’s take a look.
Manning and Iamaleava are both five-star prospects. Manning is the No. 1 rated quarterback prospect in the country while Iamaleava is No. 4. From a talent standpoint, choosing one over the other is splitting hairs. Both are athletic with great arms, have the gravitas to lead a team and draw rave reviews from those that are familiar with their character. When it comes to recruiting, Tennessee has certainly not lost. That’s a first.
Yet the (non) response from Tennessee fans is very different than the enraged response from Ole Miss fans when Peyton Manning committed to Tennessee before the 1994 season. Ole Miss fans expected Peyton to show up in Oxford ready to play with an Ole Miss tattoo on his arm. After all, his father, Archie Manning, was a folk hero at Ole Miss.
Peyton would have probably ended up as a Rebel had his older brother, Cooper Manning, not been diagnosed with a career-ending neck injury while at Ole Miss. In case you’re getting Manning confusion, Arch is Cooper’s son. Glad we got that taken care of.
The Rebels rose up with anger when Peyton didn’t commit to Ole Miss, which was on NCAA probation at the time. Ole Miss didn’t think Peyton would ever dream of playing college football anywhere else. However, Peyton made a business decision. It was the right one and it has obviously paid off. Arch just did the same thing by joining coach Steve Sarkisian at Texas. Sarkisian is considered one of the best quarterback coaches and offensive minds in college football. It’s just business.
Arch’s uncle, Eli Manning, made a similar decision to attend Ole Miss because David Cutcliffe was the Rebels’ head coach. That meant Eli would get the same tutoring that his brother, Peyton, received while at Tennessee. Again, just business.
Tennessee made a business decision to target Iamaleava. Perhaps the Vols’ braintrust simply liked Iamaleava more. Perhaps they thought that Arch was unattainable since the Vols are in the midst of a rebuild. No matter. The Vols have an exciting, highly rated quarterback who is already recruiting prospects for Tennessee, according to a recent appearance on Off The Hook Sports by Greg Biggins of 247.
Ole Miss wanted to lay claim to Arch as well, even though the Rebels really never had a shot. Much has changed since Archie ran defenses ragged from 1968-70.
Ole Miss has long been an underdog to its SEC brethren. However, the gap between Ole Miss and the elite programs, like Alabama and Georgia, has grown wider. Moreover, schools like Tennessee have better facilities and resources than Ole Miss, which is relegated to the second tier of the SEC. They’re not Vanderbilt, but they’re not ever going to be in the top half of the SEC once Texas and Oklahoma enter the conference.
Tennessee is in the top half of the SEC in terms of resources, history and facilities. That’s not going to change. The wins haven’t come over the past decade, but there is no comparing the two programs. When it comes to any metric, Tennessee is a better football program than Ole Miss. That’s not debatable.
Tennessee’s fan base would have been irate had the Vols missed out on Arch if Iamaleava wasn’t already on board. That’s natural. However, being a fan isn’t always rational and being a legacy doesn’t mean that one’s destiny is predetermined.
UT fans had better keep that in mind when the 2025 class begins to come together. Madden Iamaleava, Nico’s younger brother, figures to be a highly rated prospect in that class. The Mannings have proven that being a legacy can only get you so far.
