Did a cutthroat remark on the recruiting trail about a rival coach cost the Alabama Crimson Tide a chance to land Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning
A new book from author Seth Wickersham, “American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback,” details an incident from Manning’s highly publicized recruitment as the nation’s No. 1 overall player that involved former Crimson Tide defensive coordinator Pete Golding.
In an excerpt shared to ESPN.com on Friday, Wickersham relayed an unsettling moment that occurred during a Zoom call between Golding, Manning and Nelson Stewart, Manning’s high school football coach at Isidore Newman in New Orleans.
The problem for Alabama was that Nick Saban — whom the Crimson Tide assistants affectionally called “Daddy” — was getting up there in years, and nobody knew how long he’d be there. Texas kept lingering. Competition was so fierce that everything was fair game.
For Golding anyway, that “everything was fair game” tactic apparently included a recruiting grenade launched at Texas coach Steve Sarkisian over his past battles with alcoholism; battles that became national news in October 2015 when he was fired by USC.
Manning, who made four official visits to Alabama, heard Golding say:
“I love Sark,” Golding said. “He’s my best friend.” He paused. “I hope he can stay sober.”
After the Zoom meeting ended, Wickersham writes, Stewart called to chide Golding. “Pete, that’s f—-d up!” he said.
Golding reportedly responded: “Daddy’s on me,” in reference to pressure from Saban to land Manning.
In the cutthroat world of recruiting, few things are really all that shocking. There’s still a bit to unpack here (assistants referred to Saban as “daddy?”). One of those is that Golding was arrested on a DUI charge in early February 2022. He was still serving as Alabama’s defensive coordinator while, seemingly, still recruiting Manning at the same time.
It’s far from a guarantee that Manning would have signed with Alabama, even without Golding’s regrettable faux pas. As Wickersham pointed out, Saban’s age was a concern for some in Manning’s camp, and the legendary coach would retire only two seasons after Manning officially committed to the Longhorns in June 2022.
Nevertheless, it’s Texas that will open the 2025 season with Arch Manning as its starting quarterback. Alabama will open the season with Ty Simpson as its quarterback.
