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Dia Bell Sends Strong Message on Arch Manning's Mental Toughness

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Grant Bricker | Last updated Jun 26, 2025 9:50 PM ET

Texas Longhorns quarterback Dia Bell has some solid players to look up to once he gets to Austin.

Bell spoke recently with CBS Sports about Arch Manning's ability to block out the noise. Bell is a five-star quarterback and the No. 2 player at his position in the 2026 class via the On3 Industry Rankings.

The prospect has been committed to Texas since June of last year and is one of two five-star commits for the Longhorns in the 2026 class. Bell was joined recently by five-star edge rusher Richard Wesley.

Texas earned a pledge from the No. 4 edge rusher on Sunday.

"Arch is like the main person you can look to and kind of learn how to navigate all that noise and stuff like that," Bell said. "I mean, Quinn had to definitely for sure, but having the name as well as the hype around him going into this season being a first-year starter. I feel like that's something that you could definitely look at. He's not worried about it at all. He's waited his time. It's his time now."

Manning is in a position to win the starting job now that Quinn Ewers is in the NFL. Ewers was taken in the seventh round of the 2025 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins.

Manning's name has been mentioned plenty this offseason, especially by Joel Klatt. Klatt explained why the Texas star's ability to run will help the offense tremendously in Austin.

Rarely, his name is not included in offseason talks, but that was the case for an SEC Heisman sleeper list. College football analyst Michael Bratton made a list of SEC players who were not quarterbacks that he picked as sleepers to win the award.

For Texas, it was running back Tre Wisner after a massive breakout campaign in 2024.

Manning's mental toughness will be on display early in 2025, with the Longhorns facing the Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus in their season opener on August 30.

Kickoff is at Noon ET on Fox.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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