Arch Manning’s on-field development starts with his mental game.
The calendar has ticked over into October which means Texas football is ready to kick off SEC play. Everything that has happened before is really irrelevant because if Texas wins the conference then they WILL be in the College Football Playoffs.
But as any true baseball nut will tell you, October also means fall ball.
The UT baseball team has one scrimmage in the books (a 9-3 win over Texas Tech in 12 innings) and they have another scrimmage coming up against Lamar at 6:30 on Friday.
The team held a media availability this week and I heard something that really stuck out to me … enough that I’m leading off this column about football with a little baseball talk (and I promise you this is about football.)
Assistant coach Max Weiner, UT’s pitching coach, was asked about how he connects with young pitchers. Weiner said it all boils down to one foundational piece.
“Which is the understanding that the body follows the brain,” Weiner explained before offering an example of what he was talking about. “If you’re watching a pitcher and he’s pulling out right, or he’s absolutely ripping open, that’s largely not a physical change that’s occurring, it’s his desire to strike the hitter out, competing too hard, leaving what what he needs to focus on in that moment. That’s not different than anything,” Weiner continued. “If that’s an argument with your wife or whatever it is, it’s how do you focus on what’s important right now and how do you problem solve from there?”
Weiner’s advice really is universal, the body follows the mind.
As anyone who has been in a fight with their significant other knows, refocusing on the issue at hand and not letting emotions carry you too far is easier said than done. Of course, I don’t have the luxury of calling a timeout and talking things over with a coach when I’m in the middle of a fight with my wife.
Fortunately for Arch Manning, he does have someone he can lean on to help him refocus.
“That’s why they call us coach,” Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian said Monday when asked about guiding Manning.
Manning struggled early this season as the monumental pressure on him led to really poor performances and we’ve all become armchair psychologists watching those struggles.
But we don’t really know Arch. Thankfully for the Horns, Sarkisian does.
