Jermaine Bishop sets stage for big-time Texas career

Arch Manning is just like the rest of us.

Not because the redshirt junior quarterback for the Texas Longhorns tries to live as normally as possible — it’s because when Manning recently watched the high school highlights of his new teammate Jermaine Bishop, an early enrollee wide receiver out of Willis, the star quarterback’s reaction was the same as everyone else who has seen Bishop’s exploits during a legendary high school career that is quickly reaching mythological status.

“I was at my house the other night with my roommates watching his high school highlight tape. I mean, he has like 80 touchdowns from like 70 yards out. It’s incredible,” Manning said in April.

Technically, Bishop *merely* scored 72 total touchdowns on offense during a stellar high school career during which he became Houston area’s all-time leading receiver, but Manning certainly deserves forgiveness for the mild exaggeration, especially considering that Bishop scored another five touchdowns on kick returns, punt returns, and interception returns.

It’s hard to keep track of that many and how long they all were.

Manning had to see more of what his new teammate is about after the Willis product created some real buzz after arriving on the Forty Acres in January.

“He’s a really good player. Smart, wants to be good. That’s kind of the big thing with that freshman class is I look around, all these guys are hard workers. They want to be good, coachable, so it’s been fun,” Manning said.

The 6’0, 165-pounder catches the attention of anyone who sees him in action. On Early Signing Day, general manager Brandon Harris named Bishop as his instant-impact newcomer in the 2026 class and former NFL standout Dez Bryant raved about Bishop this spring, too.

For Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, Bishop’s overall skill set is about much more than purely physical attributes.

“The thing about Jermaine is he loves football. He’s got a high football IQ. He’s a tremendous DB as well. And so I think his understanding of the offense for a true freshman coming out of a spring is very impressive. He’s a guy that can play outside and in the slot. In different scrimmages, he was making big-time plays,” Sarkisian said in an appearance on SEC Now.