Arch Manning’s Secret Weapon Has Already Transformed a Texas QB Legend

In 2008, Colt McCoy learned schemes and strategy from new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, who is back on the Forty Acres and could help Manning, too.

Texas has surrounded Arch Manning with a variety of new weapons through the transfer portal, but a coaching hire on the other side of the ball could also help unlock his potential, Longhorns great Colt McCoy says. | Tim Warner/Getty Images

The year was 2008. Texas football was riding high, in the midst of a six-season run that the program has not replicated since. After replacing the legendary Vince Young, Colt McCoy was the third-year starting quarterback for the Longhorns. 

McCoy was completely in command of offensive coordinator Greg Davis’s playbook. But there was a new defensive coordinator in town who was going after McCoy with gusto in practice. Intense, profane Will Muschamp turned every scrimmage situation into vicious competition, and he challenged the established star to raise his game.

An unusual relationship was born, with the quarterback as eager to talk schemes and strategy with the defensive coordinator as with the offensive coaches.

“I’d not seen a lot of those pressures and coverages that he put together,” McCoy says. “I would go straight to Muschamp after practice and say, ‘Explain this one to me, this coverage where you got me.’ I asked him about line stunts, why he’d walk a linebacker out, what a linebacker’s landmark was dropping in three-deep coverage. 

“I wanted him to throw everything at me that he was throwing at [opposing quarterbacks]. He helped me understand defenses.”

McCoy and Muschamp matched wits on the practice field for two seasons as the Longhorns went 25–2, appearing in the 2009 BCS championship game. McCoy set an FBS single-season completion percentage record in ’08 that stood for 12 years and finished in the top three in Heisman Trophy voting both seasons. He went on to a 13-year career in the NFL, aided greatly by his understanding of the game—which was honed in part by Muschamp.

After two stints as a head coach at Florida and South Carolina and time on Kirby Smart’s staff at Georgia, Muschamp is back in his old job on the Forty Acres. McCoy is hoping history can repeat itself, with Arch Manning in the role he once occupied.

“I mentioned it [to Manning] in one of our conversations this summer,” McCoy says. “I said, ‘Man, you’ve got a real opportunity here. He’s the best defensive coordinator in the country. He’s going to throw everything he can at you. Learn everything you can from him.’ ”

Colt McCoy won a slew of national quarterback awards during his impressive run at Texas, including the 2009 Manning Award, named for current Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning’s grandfather Archie. | John Biever/Sports Illustrated

Manning’s learning curve will be on display Saturday when the No. 4 Longhorns host No. 1 Ohio State in the first cataclysm game of the 2026 season. This is the same opponent that punctured the Arch hype balloon in the opener last year, as Manning’s first college start turned into a dud performance. Arguably the most celebrated quarterback recruit in history, Manning went 17-of-30 passing for 170 yards, with one touchdown and one interception in a 14–7 loss. 

Manning continued to struggle through the first two months of Texas’s 10–3 season before figuring some things out over the final six games. His season pass efficiency rating of 144.92 was just seventh in the Southeastern Conference and 42nd nationally, dragged down by a low completion percentage (61.4%). While that was a buzzkill for those expecting the scion of America’s greatest quarterback family to be brilliant from his first start, it also could set him up to make a Fernando Mendoza–like year-over-year leap. 

The opener was a low-stress, light-pass-rush blowout of Texas State, 59–7, in which Manning produced gaudy numbers commensurate with other prominent QBs (305 yards, four touchdowns, one interception, an efficiency rating of 210.44). Now it’s time to really find out how much better Manning has gotten since last year. Time to stick his head back in Buckeyes defensive coordinator Matt Patricia’s wood chipper.

“It will be real important to be in rhythm, get the ball out quick,” McCoy says. “I’ve seen growth over the spring and summer in confidence in the players around him and in the system. His overall command and presence, I think there’s just a lot more confidence there.”

McCoy and Manning arrived in Austin with completely different circumstances. McCoy was a three-star prospect from Jim Ned High School in Tuscola, Texas, a low-wattage recruit who redshirted while superstar Young was leading the Horns to the 2005 national title. Manning, nephew of Peyton and Eli and grandson of Archie, was nationally famous long before he ever set foot on campus.

Even for someone accustomed to a high level of acclaim and recognition, there is an adjustment to be made.

“Most quarterbacks coming into Texas, you’re the five-star, you’re the savior,” McCoy says. “There’s a lot that needs to be understood when you step into that role. The pride, the tradition, the expectations, it’s big. It’s hard. It’s something you have to deal with. I think Arch struggled with that for a while, but it seems like he has a much better grasp on it now. He’s in a good place.”

Will Muschamp served as Texas defensive coordinator under Mack Brown from 2008 to ’10 and was named head coach-in-waiting before leaving to become the head coach at Florida. | Bob Rosato/Sports Illustrated

Part of being in a good place is being surrounded by great talent. Texas spent aggressively and smartly in the transfer market this offseason to enhance its skill-position cast. After anticipating that Manning would elevate the offense to championship level in 2025, the Longhorns have flipped the equation this year—acquiring superior offensive personnel to elevate Manning.

In came Auburn’s Cam Coleman, the top wide receiver in the transfer portal. He had three catches for 70 yards and two touchdowns in the opener. Wake Forest transfer Sterling Berkhalter had a couple of catches as well.

In came North Carolina State’s Hollywood Smothers, one of the top running backs. He produced 98 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown in Week 1. Fellow running back transfer Raleek Brown, from Arizona State, scored two TDs. 

In came Week 1 starting offensive linemen Melvin Siani (from Wake Forest) and Dylan Sikorski (from Oregon State). 

“It’s incredible how talented they are,” McCoy says. “It’s really not fair. They’re more talented than last year and maybe more talented than any team in the country. I told Arch, ‘You don’t have to be perfect with everything around you.’ ”

The Texas upgrades also include the defense. Linebacker Rasheem Biles, Pittsburgh transfer, is a takeaway machine, registering an interception and a forced fumble that was returned for a touchdown against Texas State. He’ll be a centerpiece of Muschamp’s unit.

At Texas, 10–3 and missing the College Football Playoff isn’t good enough, which meant defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski had to go. In SEC play last year, Kwiatkowski’s defense was ninth in the 16-team league in points allowed and 11th in yards allowed per game. Muschamp is tasked with improving those numbers, while bringing his characteristic manic intensity to the proceedings.

“He brings the juice every day,” McCoy says. “There’s so many highs and lows in a season, but Muschamp was always full of energy. He’s one of my favorite coaches of all time. He can help Arch as much as anybody.”

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