After a Roller-Coaster First Season, Arch Manning Is Ready for More

TAMPA — It started brutally. Arch Manning’s arrival as the starting quarterback at Texas in 2025 was an ugly, flailing affair at Ohio State. He was unsettled, harassed, inaccurate and defeated, with the No. 1 Longhorns scoring just seven points against the Buckeyes.

It ended well. Sweetly, even. Manning was a different player in the Citrus Bowl, passing and running for 376 yards and four touchdowns against Michigan, leading the Longhorns to a 41–27 victory.

“My dad [Cooper] and brother [Heid] came into the locker room and I hugged it out with them,” Arch recalled. “That was a special moment for me.”

The game was small consolation for missing out on the College Football Playoff, but it provided positive closure to a star-crossed Season of Arch. Contrary to the preseason hype, Manning was not the best quarterback in the nation, not the Heisman Trophy winner, not the No. 1 pick in the 2026 draft, not an improvement upon the other members of the most famous and successful quarterback family in football history.

But he was getting better when last we saw him. He was letting it rip and playing football, seeming to break free from months of accumulated pressure.

Now comes the opportunity to see a second Season of Arch for Texas. Hopefully we’ve all learned something from the last one.

The preseason canonizing of a guy who hadn’t played much college football was bad. The tear-him-down backlash that followed was worse. He was in national commercials before he’d done much to earn it. He was declared “college football’s first flop” in an absurd midseason column. Proclamations were made on small samples, overreactions came weekly, every bad play or good play was magnified to a hysterical degree.

Even from the outside, it was an exhausting season to watch. Imagine how it felt on the inside.

“What he got put through probably would have melted or destroyed 99% of people in his shoes,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “All he did was stay consistent and true to who he was, which was to continue to work hard, continue to be a great teammate, try to get better, and he did.”

Manning did not melt. He withstood. But he sounded a bit more wary at his second SEC media days—answers slightly shorter, personality slightly suppressed. You wonder if he accumulated some scar tissue last year as the season wore on. Even a guy universally lauded for his maturity and knowledge of what it takes to be a famous quarterback bad to learn some hard lessons when it didn’t all come easily.

“Arch Manning a year ago wasn’t on social media or on television saying, ‘I’m going to be the first pick of the draft,’ ” Sarkisian said. “He wasn’t on television saying, ‘I’m going to win the Heisman Trophy.’ All he did was work really hard. All he did was try to be the best teammate he can be.

“Then we had some failures as a team. He didn’t play to the way of what he was capable of playing. Then those same people that were saying that about him wanted to criticize and demean him almost for letting them down because he didn’t live up to what they thought he was going to be. Very interesting concept right there.”

The polarizing views are probably coming again. Texas is again expected to start the season in the top five, but not No. 1. Manning is again being touted by some as the best QB in the nation and the top NFL prospect at his position, but there is far less consensus.

His numbers last year don’t support making Manning the preseason Heisman favorite. At his position alone, Dante Moore of Oregon, CJ Carr of Notre Dame, Trinidad Chambliss of Mississippi and Julian Sayin of Ohio State should rank ahead of him. Arguments can be made for several other QBs.

Manning’s pass efficiency rating of 144.92 ranked 42nd nationally and seventh in the SEC. His total offense of 274 yards per game ranked 29th nationally and seventh in the SEC. He did improve pretty much across the board in the latter half of the season, with 14 touchdown passes and two interceptions over the final six games, but he wasn’t great in losses to Ohio State, Florida and Georgia, or in wins over Kentucky and Texas A&M.

Manning wasn’t as game-ready as everyone expected. Which came as a surprise after two years sitting behind Quinn Ewers and all that accrued family QB knowledge. This year, it stands to reason that he and the rest of the Longhorns will perform more like veterans.

“I feel like I’ve matured as a person,” he said. “Then just continue to get better, get more accurate, make better decisions, put my team in the best position possible to win games.”

Perhaps tellingly, Manning used the word “fun” several times Thursday. You get the feeling the fun of football was at least temporarily misplaced in 2025.

“I’m just trying to be the best teammate I can be right now and help us win games on Saturdays and have fun while I’m doing it,” Manning said. “I think the more fun we have, the better I play, and I think the better we play as a team.”

What a concept. To whom much is given, much is expected. Life is not all Warby Parker and Vuori ads.

Being a high-level quarterback has become a constant quest for improvement, a workaholic position that comes with an endless to-do list. Watch more film. Spend more time with the offensive linemen. Set up offseason throwing sessions with the receivers. Welcome the new freshmen and transfers. Be the face of the program. Be the conduit to the coaching staff.

Ironically, Arch’s uncle, Peyton, might have done as much as anyone to propagate the all-consuming nature of the job. An obsession with excellence is considered standard operating procedure, and that mentality has trickled down from the NFL to college and even to the high school ranks. The best QBs must grow up quickly—perhaps too quickly.

For Arch Manning, it’s time to reenter the pressure cooker of the season. Hopefully, he can have fun at the same time. And hopefully everyone who watches him can let him breathe before overreacting this season.

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