Texas Longhorns football head coach Steve Sarkisian landed a No. 1 wideout target for starting quarterback Arch Manning. On Jan. 11, former Auburn Tigers wide receiver Cam Coleman announced that he is transferring to Texas.
After weighing several options, Coleman decided on Texas, coming off visits to Alabama, Texas Tech, and Texas A&M. Moreover, the Longhorns landed the No. 2-ranked player in ESPN’s transfer portal rankings, who will be a prized NFL draft prospect next year.
With Coleman now part of the mix at Texas, the focus shifts to how this could shape Manning’s growth. On Jan. 11, On3’s J.D. PicKell explained the role Coleman is expected to play for Manning, one that was missing from the offense last season.
“For Arch Manning, he had a good year last year, especially as the year progressed,” PicKell said. “He finished very quietly top five in passing touchdowns in the SEC. He really came on strong toward the end of the year. But the thing with Arch Manning is, as good a year as he had, I don’t think there was ever like one true alpha wide receiver for him.
“Like Ryan Wingo had a good year. Parker Livingstone had a good year. But there was nobody who was like, ‘Hey, on fourth and goal now they’re probably going to get the ball to this guy.’ Even if there was a guy like that, you weren’t overly worried about him to the sense of like, ‘Hey, let’s double cover him. Hey, let’s give him safety help.’ Cam Coleman now is effectively that. If you’re excited about the Arch Manning progress and you want to see him do more in 2026, you just now got a piece for the offense to do that.”
Cam Coleman to Impact Texas’ Running Game
Moreover, PicKell believes that Coleman will elevate other aspects of the Longhorns’ offense that were lacking last season.
“Last year, Texas’s leading rusher had right around the neighborhood of 600 yards,” PicKell added. “Now, some of that is just that he didn’t really have the offensive line play to go with that. The running back room, in general, just kind of struggled to find rhythm. But I think a lot of that, too, is the pass game being what it was and not having a true ‘Pop the top on a defense’ kind of guy. Cam Coleman is effectively that.
“So Cam Coleman is going to raise his game, but it’s going to raise Arch Manning’s game absolutely and raise the overall Texas offensive game, with having some more for those safeties to worry about in the deep passing game and ideally some lighter boxes.”
Texas Will Have Plenty of Weapons for Arch Manning
Wingo, the team’s leading receiver last season after posting 834 yards and seven touchdowns as a sophomore, will now have a teammate who will garner more attention than he can potentially take advantage of the matchups that the opposition gives him.
Furthermore, ESPN reported on Jan. 11, citing sources, that the Longhorns added North Carolina State Wolfpack transfer Hollywood Smothers, bolstering the weapons for Manning in Season 2 as the starter.
At Auburn, Coleman emerged as a key target, finishing his second season with 708 receiving yards and five touchdowns on 56 receptions. One of the highlights came against Vanderbilt, where he hauled in 10 catches for a career-best 143 yards.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us .
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Texas QB Arch Manning Hit With Striking Cam Coleman Message appeared first on Heavy Sports .