Recruiting is an expensive business, but the Texas Longhorns are not afraid to invest in their future. According to public records obtained by The Athletic, Texas spent a small fortune during the weekend of Arch Manning's official visit.
The class of 2023 quarterback from Isidore Newman School in New Orleans is the nephew of Super Bowl winners Eli and Peyton Manning, but he is expected to make a name for himself. Manning is a five-star recurrent and the top player in the nation in the 2023 recruiting class according to 247Sports.
Per the report, Texas spent nearly $630,000 through two recruiting weekends in June. One of those weekends was June 17-19, when nine recruits, including Manning, were in Austin. That visit gave them a true taste of a lavish life style with the Longhorns spending nearly $280,000 for those three days.
The program spent more than $21,000 on airfare and transportation alone. They stayed at the Four Seasons hotel, which cost $46,696 for 34 rooms for the athletes, their families and some of the Texas staff. The athletes were greeted like the future stars Texas hopes they will be, as each got custom cakes as a welcome gift, along with personalized refreshments. That first night, the recruits and their families got treated to a meal that came out to a $29,129.40 bill.
Meals were a big part of the check. The breakfast during day two cost $10,226, which makes the $2,357.50 spent on an hour-long cruise that night seem quite affordable in comparison.
One of the main activities during the visit was meeting head coach Steve Sarkisian and his assistants at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, in which the recruits did a professional photoshoot. The Longhorns did not spare any expense to make them feel comfortable, as they had set up a player's lounge and even a barbershop setup. The ambiance had to be just right, so the program also rented speakers that cost Texas $3,359.12.
With such a large bill, it's easy to wonder if it was worth it. The answer is yes, as four of the nine recruits have committed to Texas, including Manning who announced his decision later in June.
To the average person, the bill for a three-day weekend might look intimidating, but Texas is used to spending large sums of money. According to NCAA financial reports published by Athletic Director U, the Longhorns spent $1,275,368 on recruiting for the 2019 fiscal year. A large amount of money, but it doesn't even crack the top 10. Texas was 13th in spending that year, as the Georgia Bulldogs led everybody at $3,676,858.
