Where is 2023 five-star quarterback Arch Manning going to land?

That's the biggest question surrounding the 2023 recruiting class as we prepare to enter the summer months.

Manning is football royalty. His uncles are Peyton and Eli, who have won a combined four Super Bowls. And his grandfather is Archie, an Ole Miss legend who had a lengthy NFL career. Arch's dad is Cooper, who was set to play at Ole Miss before spinal stenosis ended his playing career.

Over the last few months, it's appeared that it's a four-team battle for Manning between Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss, and Texas.

But there might be another SEC program that's a more legitimate threat to land the talented quarterback than we realized.

LSU, Arch's "hometown" school (he's from New Orleans), is reportedly making a strong impression on the coveted recruit.

New head coach Brian Kelly, specifically, has been impressive according to Manning's high school coach, Nelson Stewart.

From ESPN:

"No coach has come through and made as strong of an impression as Brian Kelly," Stewart said, comparing him to prior LSU coaches. "He has a humility and authenticity when you meet him. You feel like you've known him forever."

Building these types of genuine relationships with high school coaches will ultimately determine whether Kelly can construct the type of roster that allows him to rebuild LSU into a national contender.

Stewart and other coaches around the state made it clear Kelly is putting in the work. He was quick to mention recruiting coordinator Brian Polian visited so soon after getting hired that he didn't have any LSU gear yet. He stayed two hours to get to know Stewart. Quarterbacks coach Joe Sloan calls multiple times a week, mostly just to check in on Stewart.

Arch doesn't speak to the media often, so the best way to find out legitimate information about his recruitment is to listen to what his head coach is saying.

And it certainly sounds like Arch's head coach has been impressed with Kelly.

Early on in Arch's recruitment, I thought LSU might be the team to beat. But that was when the Tigers were coming off their incredible 2019 run which saw the program go 15-0 and win its third national championship this century.

The program suffered a setback in 2020 and 2021 under previous head coach Ed Orgeron, but the hope is that Kelly will right the ship in Baton Rouge.

So far, it appears he has — at least in the eyes of high school coaches in Louisiana.

I still think LSU is a longshot to land Arch, but it appears they're more of a factor than we realized.

Featured image via Rivals.com