Want to attack every day with the latest Georgia football recruiting info? That’s the Intel. This entry is about Arch Manning’s most recent visit to the University of Georgia.
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Nelson Stewart is the head coach at Isidore Newman in New Orleans. There’s a unique symmetry to all of that.
Back in 1991, he was a defensive lineman at Newman He played with both Cooper and Peyton Manning. That was Cooper’s senior year. Stewart was younger than both. He graduated the year after Peyton did.
He’s now the head coach of Arch Manning at Newman.
That’s the young man who just visited Georgia this weekend. He even showed up dressed in what one peer elite prospect described as “church clothes” and looked as professional as well, a Manning when the recruits all went out to eat together.
For those that have been living in a space station over the last nine months .... Arch Manning is the nation’s No. 1 QB and the No. 1 overall prospect for the 2023 cycle.
Besides coaching the football team at Newman, Stewart serves as the official spokesman for all things Arch.
Stewart has been a force field of sorts trying to maintain a bubble of normalcy around a 5-star talent who could be the most interviewed teenager in America right if that was the goal.
But that is clearly not the case.
Arch Manning can be likened to a time capsule recruit. No public social media. No Instagram. No Twitter.
“I’m so thankful that even though he never does it he’s not on Twitter,” Stewart said. “He’s never blessed and humbled to receive or announce anything. It is just a handshake and a conversation. That’s been the model.”
It is all by design.
“When it all started, one thing his father resonated to me was ‘I’d like to make this as close to a old school recruitment as possible’ and he said ‘Almost like a 1970s recruit’ with this,” Stewart said. “Where he can get a chance to meet coaches and not get caught up in all the other stuff. That’s really the model I’ve tried to follow to formulate relationships. Not get caught up in offers.”
NIL is never discussed here. At all.
“It is really truly about the relationships around and within the program and the football,” Stewart said. “You know the university itself. What he’s told me is he wants to go to college. He wants to have fun and be a kid, too. I think that’s why he is taking his time. That’s what has been so great about it for him and his family. They know how fluid college football is.”
“It is amazing how many coaches that have been recruiting him are now on their second and even their third windbreaker since this thing started.”
Stewart did get a report from Manning’s father, Cooper, on how that trip to Athens went this time.
It did go very well. Multiple sources have confirmed that to DawgNation. Stewart was able to share a few specifics.
How did this recent trip go for Arch Manning?
Cooper Manning told Stewat that “they loved it” yet again.
“They loved Athens,” Stewart said. “They were certainly beyond and in every way impressed with their organization, their practices, their meetings and the efficiency in how they did things. They loved it.”
Cooper and Arch made the trip. It was a father-son trek to UGA.
“I’d expect that with the way Coach Smart runs his practices and how energetic he is,” Stewart said. “There is no standing around. There is always a sense of urgency. They loved it. They came away nothing but impressed after their visit.”
How has Georgia been able to establish itself as a true contender here?
“I think that he loves Athens,” Stewart said. “He loves the town itself. That was the first thing he said about Athens to me. It was such a cool town and a great college town. They had known Matt Luke at Georgia, too. I think he loves Coach Smart and his energy and how he is involved in everything. You can see it. Special teams. Offense. Defense.”
“I think the family has known coach Smart for years going back and then coach [Todd] Monken and his NFL pedigree and what not. Just everything about it. It is program year-jn and year-out that is successful. I think Coach Smart has solidified them as a national power and it just checks all the boxes. It is all about relationships and feel. He’s built a foundation to win year-in and year-out and Georgia has done it the right way. They didn’t force anything and certainly have just allowed things to play out. They’ve gotten to know Arch and stayed in contact with him.”
It does seem like a recruitment ripped out of 1985, if not from the desired time stamp around America’s bicentennial celebration.
“He is really a meat-and-potatoes kid,” Stewart said. “There’s really no secret to it to me. It is really about what feels right and where he sees himself. He has said that when he knows, he’ll know. That’s why he is going to go on a few more visits and see where it all lands. I have nothing but praise for the way that Coach Smart has approached things and how they have done it. It’s been great.”
Arch will make the decision “100 pecent” on his own. This old school commitment will be just that.
“This is not just a commitment,” Stewart said. “When he makes a commitment it is over. When it is over, it is over. It is a marriage. I think he wants to make sure that he’s seen what he needs to see. Now he’s looking at practices and meetings and whatnot.”
There will be no rush to this decision.
“Certainly he will let me know when he is ready,” Stewart said. “I usually ask him ‘Did you have fun?’ and ‘Was it a good trip?’ and we kind of just go on from there.”
SENTELL’S INTEL
(check on the recent reads on DawgNation.com)
- GET READY: 4-star Florida CB Antione Jackson becomes the first 2024 UGA commitment
- Georgia legacy commit Pearce Spurlin III shares an insider’s view of the big recruiting weekend
- Arch Madness: 5-star QB Arch Manning headlines a big list of unofficial visitors in town
- 5-star gunslinger Dylan Raiola is in town today, shares what he loves the most about the ‘Dawgs
- Jalen Hale: 5-star junior WR has “great” first unofficial visit, says UGA is now in line for an OV
- Dylan Raiola: The 5-star QB who plays with Jesus Christ on his goalpost
- The next Georgia basketball coach needs to do recruit a lot better in this one area
- Georgia sends out an impressive early offer to 8th-grade LB Tyler Atkinson
- Aliou Bah: How UGA was able to sign the stout 2022 OL
- The number of Bulldog legacies in the 2023 class is astounding
- The injury rehab for All-American DT signee Christen Miller sounds very encouraging
- Georgia’s highest-rated OL commit shares a strong endorsement for new line coach Stacy Searels
- Georgia OL commit Ryqueze McElderry wins Under Armour Camp MVP, notes commitment is solid
- 5-star EDGE signee Marvin Jones Jr. got Kirby Smart to sign karaoke on his official visit
- Daylen Everette: How UGA was able to add the 5-star CB as an 11th-hour signee
- Andrew Paul: The knock-your-scarf-off story about Georgia’s new RB signee
- 5-star junior RB Rueben Owens II sees a “family” in place at UGA, dishes on his recent visit
- Darris Smith: The 3 must-read stories about Georgia’s next great pass rush prospect
- WATCH: All-American DT Christen Miller goes 1-on-1 with DawgNation about his decision
- Why was UGA unable to sign an elite 5-star receiver in this class?
- Caleb Downs: Nation’s No. 1 junior safety says it feels good to be wanted by UGA
- Oscar Delp: His mom rewrote a 1995 party song for Karaoke night on his official visit
- Big Bear Alexander: A torn labrum didn’t stop the UGA signee in 2021