The Longhorns football program reportedly spent almost $630,000 over two recruiting weekends this past summer, including on quarterback Arch Manning’s official visit, according to The Athletic.
Manning, the top recruit and nephew of former NFL stars Peyton and Eli Manning, and eight other recruits visited Austin during the weekend of June 17. According to invoices obtained by The Athletic, Texas spent almost $280,000 on that weekend alone, including rooms at a five-star hotel, open bars for parents, food and entertainment, like a visit to a Top Golf driving range.
The visit apparently paid off, as Manning and his high school teammate, three-star tight end Will Randle, both committed to the school within days of their official visit. Twelve of the 14 recruits that visited the following weekend—when the school, according to The Athletic, spent almost $350,000—committed to Texas.
In all, The Athletic reported that 16 of the 23 combined recruits that visited over the two weekends landed with the Longhorns, accounting for almost two-thirds of their 2023 class and ranking them second behind Alabama, per 247Sports.
The opening of the name, image and likeness floodgates has put even more pressure on schools to spend more to land top talent and keep up with college football’s powerhouses, like Georgia and Alabama.
LSU, Georgia, Alabama, Clemson and Virginia were among the programs Manning was considering before choosing the Longhorns. He will be the only person in his family to not commit to an SEC school—that is until Texas and Oklahoma leave the Big 12 and join the conference in 2025.
His father, Cooper, and grandfather Archie both went to Ole Miss along with Eli. Peyton attended Tennessee.
Manning was one of the most highly touted recruits in recent memory. In his three years at Isidore Newman in New Orleans, he threw for 6,307 yards and 81 touchdowns while rushing for 742 yards and 19 scores.
