Arch Manning’s father explains the ‘big mess’ with NIL after Texas canceled its spring game
The Texas Longhorns were one of the first programs in the country to float the idea of canceling its annual spring game back in December. Head coach Steve Sarkisian eventually confirmed it, citing that changes in the recruiting calendar, the transfer portal, and an extended season were reasons to change priorities.
“I do think spring ball, at some point, is going to become a casualty of this,” Sarkisian said at the time.
The Longhorns were already coming off the longest season in school history. Texas started practice in early August 2024, played the first game on Aug. 30, and went all the way to the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 10. Had the Horns won that game, they would have played in the College Football Playoffs championship game on Jan. 20.
Now, Texas starting quarterback Arch Manning’s father, Cooper, has weighed in on programs deciding to cancel spring games. He completely understands why it’s happening and added that the NIL element is another factor for teams.
“I think it [the transfer portal] makes the job of a college coach, whether it be football, basketball, or anything, the most difficult job in sports. They’re eliminating the idea of a spring game because they don’t want someone to get a sense that a player might be third string instead of second string. If they’re third string, everybody else in the conference is going to come and say, ‘Hey, I heard you’re running third team. If you came over here, you’d be fighting for a spot, and we’ll pay you a hundred grand to come over, and they leave,’” Manning said.
Manning added that the challenge of long-term recruiting has added another wrinkle to programs’ operations. It’s harder to sell a detailed plan now.
“I think it makes it a big mess. I think these coaches are figuring out quickly that, if you can get people who want to be there, as opposed to if this person’s offering me $50,000 more or a hundred thousand or whatever, the numbers are crazy. Is that really what you want?” Manning said.
This is especially interesting coming from Manning, who watched his son mostly sit on the bench for two years before Arch became the starter. Arch wanted to make Texas work despite so many other programs willing to get him on the field as a freshman or second-year player.
Now, Arch is more physically ready for the role, and his patience has paid off.
He even reportedly told some fans that he plans to stay at Kentucky for “as long as he could” 
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The crowd in Plainsman Park history! #WarEagle pic.twitter.com/R2TieaSlAm — Auburn Baseball (@AuburnBaseball) February 15, 2025 Friday night’s game broke the record set less than a calendar year ago. In the game against Tennessee on April 6, 2024, 5,566 people were in attendance. This record attendance comes following new renovations to the ballpark that were completed in time for this 2025 season. “Just absolutely incredible,” Thompson added of the atmosphere. “If you build it, they’ll come type concept, and that looked amazing over the wall. Our fans, I think that’s an environment that you know has taken almost a decade to try to get in motion, and you’ve done all these little pieces along the way, but something came into full circle tonight that was pretty special.” Plainsman Park has been the home of Auburn baseball for 75 years, opening in 1950. Its official seating capacity is 4,403. However, that doesn’t include berm seating. The Tigers beat Holy Cross 4-1 in front of the record crowd. Eric Snow opened scoring with a two-run double to left field in the bottom of the second. After the Crusaders cut the lead in half to make it 2-1 in the top of the fourth, Cade Belyeu hit an emotional solo shot to center in the bottom of the sixth. Deric Fabian hit an RBI triple in the bottom of the eighth to wrap up scoring for the game at 4-1. So, those in the home crowd whose presence led to history were rewarded with a strong first game by the Tigers. It was Auburn’s 15th consecutive home opener win. Auburn returns to action following a strong opening night on Saturday looking to take the weekend series against Holy Cross. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. CST. The series finally will be on Sunday with a 1 p.m. CST first pitch.
