Cooper Manning Had Funny Response to Coaches Who Recruited Arch in Sixth Grade

College football coaches were calling the Mannings about Arch before he even had braces.

Manning (right) was already the apple of college football coaches' eyes before he even had braces. / Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Football is in Arch Manning's blood. His father was a star high school football player destined for the NFL before a serious injury halted his playing career. Both his uncles, Eli and Peyton, are former Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks in the NFL.

So naturally, the expectations for Arch Manning's potential were through the roof. So much so, that, as Cooper recalled for a recent story in The Athletic, the family was receiving phone calls from college coaches about scholarships when Arch was in the sixth grade.

Talk about getting ahead of the game.

But Manning, entering protective dad mode, came up with a humorous response that instantly shut down any notions that the Mannings were going to entertain such conversations about Arch at such a young age.

"I was like, ‘We’re not having any of this scholarship stuff,’" The elder Manning told The Athletic. "‘This is ridiculous. He doesn’t even have braces yet.’"

Kudos to the elder Manning for fending off the coaches as long as he could. And, in a way, the coaches who were taking the early-bird-gets-the-worm approach in terms of Arch's recruiting had the right idea. He's a talented QB. During a decorated career at Isidore Newman School, Arch went on break both Eli's record for career passing yards and Peyton's record for career passing touchdowns at the high school.

He went on to become a five-star recruit, landed in Austin and, after showing flashes of his potential while sitting behind Quinn Ewers for a pair of seasons, will be the starting QB for the Texas Longhorns in the 2025 campaign.

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