Cam Coleman will have to rely on past experience when building chemistry with Arch Manning

Cam Coleman is going through a process this spring that’ll look somewhat familiar.

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In 2024, as one of the top wide receivers in his recruiting class, Coleman enrolled at Auburn with high hopes for the Tigers’ offense resting on his shoulders. Auburn went 6-7 the year before Coleman’s arrival on the Plains with an unimpressive offense manned by Payton Thorne.

Hugh Freeze brought in Coleman along with Penn State transfer Keandre Lambert-Smith, thinking their talent would make things a little easier on Thorne. Coleman, not burdened with WR1 duties but with WR1 talent, spent the spring and preseason crafting a chemistry with Thorne and getting ready for the college game.

During his freshman season, Coleman logged 37 catches for 598 yards and eight touchdowns. With Coleman’s talent coming back in 2025, Freeze determined that he needed to make a change at the quarterback position. He brought in Jackson Arnold from the transfer portal, thinking the former Oklahoma five-star would be able to better deliver the football to Coleman.

That meant Coleman, along with another high-end transfer receiver in Eric Singleton, would need to learn how to connect with Arnold. No longer a newcomer to college football, Coleman simply needed to create a bond with his quarterback. It worked to some extent. Arnold flamed out of Auburn, but Coleman logged 56 catches for 708 yards and five touchdowns.

He elected to transfer, and now will have to use lessons learned from his first two college offseasons as he learns how Arch Manning plays the game.

Coleman will be the primary focus of the Longhorn passing offense this spring. With Ryan Wingo and Emmett Mosley V undergoing offseason surgery, and with their timetable for a return to action for spring practices not clear, Coleman and Manning will have as many opportunities to understand what each likes in a quarterback-to-receiver connection.

This process will be familiar to Coleman, but there are some obvious differences. Coleman is now in Austin instead of at Auburn, donning the burnt orange and white. Rather than seeing someone join his room, he’s the one joining the room and learning what exactly life is like as a Longhorn.

Another obvious difference? The quality of quarterback in Austin. Coleman had a quarterback in Arnold who logged a Pro Football Focus passing grade of 57.2. When Arnold’s time finally ran out at Auburn, Ashton Daniels replaced him. His PFF passing grade? 63.9.

Compare that to Manning, whose season-long PFF passing grade was 81.0. Manning was listed as throwing 19 “Big Time Throws” according to PFF. In Coleman’s two years at Auburn, Freeze’s quarterbacks combined for 22.

Coleman is coming to Texas to play with a better quarterback in what’s likely his final season in college. He’s also in Austin to win. Auburn was 3-13 in SEC play during his first two years, while Texas was 13-3.

He’ll have to learn the intricacies of playing with Manning, and Manning will have to learn the intricacies of Coleman. Both will also learn the benefits available to each other by being teammates. Coleman is proficient at winning at the catch point. He’s listed as having 22 contested targets in 2025 and recording 13 contested catches. No Longhorn receiver had more than four contested catches in 2025. Manning has a jump ball receiver, but Coleman may not have to record as many contested jump ball receptions.

That’s a detail both will have to work through during winter conditioning, spring practices, summer workouts, and preseason drills, along with several other details. It’s a process Coleman has some familiarity with. For the parts that are new to him, he’ll have the benefit of learning with a quarterback like Manning.