Texas Longhorns' Dia Bell Has 'No Problem' Spending a Year Behind Arch Manning

Five-star quarterback Dia Bell inches closer to a career with the Texas Longhorns with each passing day.

Having committed a little over a year ago now, his arrival on the Forty Acres has been and continues to be a highly anticipated one.

Bell is 247Sports’ No. 5 ranked 2026 quarterback in the nation and No. 3 ranked player in the state of Florida. He earned the Gatorade Player of the Year Award in Florida for his efforts on the field last season, recording 161 of 228 passes completed (70.6%) for 2,597 yards. He accumulated 29 touchdowns and just six interceptions.

Dia Bell on potentially being Manning's Backup

With accolades and stats of this level to his name, some worry that the Sunshine State native won’t want to wait for his turn to start in the event that current starting quarterback Arch Manning foregos the 2026 NFL Draft and returns for another season.

However, in a conversation on the Cover 3 Podcast, Bell made it clear that playing behind Manning would be more of a learning opportunity than a reason to jump ship.

“I feel like Arch is the main person you can look to to learn how to navigate all that noise,” Bell said. “He doesn’t really get fazed by it; he’s not worried about it at all. He’s waited his time; it’s his time now, and hopefully, he’s going to take full advantage of it. I’m going to be here waiting to watch it and excited to watch. And when I get there, if I do get the opportunity to learn from him in a year, I’m going to take full advantage of it.”

Manning knows a thing or two about waiting his turn, having spent two seasons at Texas in which starting quarterback Quinn Ewers took most of the offensive snaps for the Longhorns. Manning logged two starts last season due an injury on Ewers’ end, along with occasional looks throughout the past few seasons. 

Bell seems like he will embrace a similar process, taking the opportunity to develop as much as possible during his first year.

“If he does decide to stay the second year, I will have no problem learning,” Bell said. “That just gives me more time to learn everything and make sure that when it becomes my time, I’m as prepared as possible. I have no problem sitting behind him at all because that means there’s another person I can pick their brain and learn how they go about learning the offense or studying for the next week.”

Bell’s willingness to remain loyal to Texas will obviously be tested if Manning stays, as his in-game exposure could be very limited during his freshman year. However, as of now, he seems ready to embrace the learning process and do so in burnt orange. 

He has established himself as the poster child of Texas’ 2026 class, a role that he has both embraced and tried to use to help the Longhorns lock down other top prospects.