Texas landing Dia Bell a few cycles removed from Arch Manning is “Sandwich QB” recruiting at its finest

The problem with signing a player of the caliber of Trevor Lawrence or Caleb Williams is finding the quarterback who comes next — and even managing the loss of the player who came before him.

Quarterback management is an art, not a science. It’s great to have Lawrence in the cast, but how do you manage the room behind him? We saw this at Clemson, where Lawrence’s arrival in 2018 quickly sent Hunter Johnson (a former five-star himself) and Kelly Bryant into the portal.

To combat the Lawrence issue on the recruiting trail, Clemson simply didn’t sign a QB recruit in the 2019 class. It wasn’t until 2020, with DJ Uiagalelei – ranked second in the country – that Clemson would once again add to the room, giving some of breathing room between the two five-star passers. The Tigers continued with an average participation in 2021.

This is what I would consider “sandwich recruiting” at quarterback. It doesn’t always involve skipping a QB cycle. But often that means signing a lesser recruit — whether a subpar four-star prospect or a developing three-star — to fill the gap between elite and upper-class quarterback picks.

We saw another classic example of that Monday when Texas has landed Class of 2026 247Sports Composite five-star Dia Bell outside American Heritage High School in Florida.

The Texas QB room is loaded. Quinn Ewers occupies the top spot and Arch Manning is the future. It’s good to have a succession plan in place, but this kind of certainty also creates a problem in recruitment.

With Manning on the roster, how could a 2024 or 2025 QB recruit realistically expect to play quickly? There is no way. Ewers will start this season. Manning will be the starter in 2025 and, if his family history is any indication, perhaps 2026.

So Texas wasn’t really on the heavyweight recruit list in the 2024 and 2025 cycles after signing Manning in 2023.

Longhorns follow Manning into 2024 class with all-state QB Trey Owens, who has a 90 rating on 247Sports. The 6-foot-2, 238-pound Owens comes to Austin with a huge advantage, but he was by no means a national recruit when he chose Texas over in-state programs like Baylor and Houston.

Texas followed the same playbook in the 2025 cycle with the Alabama native KJ Lacey, who is the 179th overall player in the country. Lacey could have a good future in Austin (Texas beat Auburn in the state for his services). But Lacey, as the nation’s 13th-ranked QB, isn’t a war father of the 2025 cycle like Ewers or Manning were in the past.

This brings us to Bell.

Recent Texas QB Recruitment

When Bell arrives on campus in 2026, Manning will be a senior or senior. NFL. That means Bell’s path to the field is, at most, obstructed for a year.

In other words, Texas has placed some potential bridges between its undoubted star of the future (Manning) and a high-profile recruit (Bell) who the Longhorns and many others believe could be a difference-making QB1 in college.

It’s old-fashioned recruiting in an era where the transfer portal is more prevalent than ever.

And yes, if questioned publicly, Steve Sarkisian would deny this theory. Sarkisian will strongly defend Owens and Lacey’s ability to become Texas’ QB of the future. And who’s to say they won’t emerge? Remember, three-star Mac Jones, the No. 2 quarterback in a class with Tua Tagovailoa, was a Heisman finalist under Sarkisian in 2020 at Alabama — holding off a top-class freshman quarterback, Bryce Young.

Bell would also likely deny that Texas’ QB room was a factor. But players and coaches are smart. They look at the depth chart and can detect obstructions. For 2024 and even 2025 products, Manning was like a big red traffic light for the start of a player’s career. And as Texas coaches know, a high-level 2024 QB who doesn’t want to sit has every opportunity to transfer.

That’s where the QB sandwich method comes in.

If Bell maintains his five-star status and signs with Texas in 2026, the Longhorns will have signed a five-star passer in three (2022, 2023, 2026) of the previous five cycles. At some point, you’re going to have to fill the rest of the room with quality depth, or at least with players on a different developmental timeline than your preordained quarterback of the future.

Texas did this during the 2024 and 2025 cycles. Now, with a little cap space after signing Manning, the Longhorns have once again landed a big fish in the quarterback market. In 2027, don’t be surprised if Texas creates some breathing room behind Bell. Sandwich making never stops.

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