Last time we saw Arch Manning he was carving up the Texas defense during the Orange-White spring game in April.

The Longhorns backup threw for more than 300 yards and three touchdowns.

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian “chuckled” recently when responding to the fan approval of the way Manning is handling his position on the depth chart.

“I get a chuckle out of this,” Sarkisian said. “Everyone’s praising Arch for staying at Texas. He’s going into Year 2! …

“That’s the mentality. ‘Good for Arch, he’s sticking it out with Texas in Year 2.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, that’s part of the process.’

“We’re developing him to be a great football player and a great leader, and he’s going to be.”

Sarkisian discussed how far Manning has come during an appearance on the “On Second Thought” podcast.

“I think Arch has come a long way,” he said. “That was part of the reason I wanted to play him so much in the spring game because he didn’t have a lot of experience. He had limited reps in the spring game a year ago, then he got a few scrimmage (reps) in fall camp, pretty limited stuff there in the fall in-game reps. So, when this came around knowing, hey I had Arch and had Trey Owens, I needed those guys to go play. I needed them to get reps. I needed them to fail a little bit and have to rebound. … I tried to make it as game-like as possible because those guys are a play or two away from leading for us on the team.”

The former Alabama offensive coordinator acknowledges Manning’s ability to run, but he wants his quarterback to sharpen his abilities to get the ball to his playmakers.

“For a guy like Arch, even going back to the Tech game a year ago when he was in, he utilized his legs and you could feel the impact that it had,” Sarkisian said. “(But) I think it’s a fine line. … We would much rather have the fast guys catch the ball and run than the quarterbacks.”