Texas football spring practice observations: Notes on Arch Manning, Christian Clark and more

Texas football began its spring drills on Tuesday at Denius Fields with the first of 15 practices permitted by the NCAA.

The Longhorns opened their doors to the media for a viewing period of about 20 minutes.

Here are four observations from the open period.

Texas football running back Christian Clark out and about amid injury recovery

The Longhorns weren't in pads for their first day of spring ball, and the drills during the open portion of practice were mostly executed against air.

Still, it was noteworthy that running back Christian Clark was present and accounted for, taking part in the drills with the rest of the Longhorns' running backs.

Clark lost his freshman season to an Achilles tear in 2024. He was ranked as the No. 23 running back in the 2024 recruiting class and tabbed as a four-star prospect by the 247Sports Composite.

Ryan Wingo among Texas football group catching punts

Texas finds itself in need of a new punt returner following the graduation of Silas Bolden, who handled all 30 punt returns for the Longhorns last year, including one he took back for a touchdown.

A group of four players were receiving instruction from the coaching staff on proper punt-catching technique during the open period. One of them was Ryan Wingo, who caught 29 passes for 472 yards last season and figures to be one of the most important members of the Texas offense in 2025.

Ryan Niblett, Daylan McCutcheon and Aaron Butler were also part of the group.

Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) takes a break during practice on the University of Texas campus in Austin, Dec. 27, 2024 ahead of the second round playoff game against Arizona State in the Peach Bowl on the New Years Day.

Arch Manning mania underway for the Longhorns

Surely this will be the only video of Arch Manning throwing a football posted by a Texas beat reporter today: pic.twitter.com/Rd8eOUGRQk
— David Eckert (@davideckert98) March 25, 2025

Most of the cameras present spent the majority of their time trained on No. 16 in black as the Arch Manning era began.

Manning, notably, took three pounds off his frame after playing at 225 pounds in 2024, according to an updated roster provided to the media. He wasn't perfect with his throws on Tuesday, but showed every bit of the arm talent that has him rated among the top candidates to win the Heisman Trophy in 2025.

The best throw he made during the open period was a deep post to sophomore wideout Parker Livingstone, which was weighted perfectly and hit Livingstone in stride.

A note on Texas DB Jaylon Guilbeau

The Longhorns lost standout corner Jahdae Barron to the NFL Draft, and it appears their plan to help replace his production might include asking for Jaylon Guilbeau to do something a bit different.

Guilbeau played 532 of his 691 defensive snaps last season as a slot corner, according to Pro Football Focus data. But he was lined up on the outside as a wide corner during a drill that took place during the open period.

Reach Texas Insider David Eckert via email at deckert@gannett.com. Follow the American-Statesman on Facebook and X for more. Your subscription makes work like this possible. Get access to all of our best content with this tremendous offer.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Four things we learned from the first Texas football spring practice

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