Stephen A. Smith Is Acting Like He Knows Texas Longhorns Football

Regardless of their record, the Texas Longhorns are usually one of the most-watched teams in college football year after year.

But it's clear that Stephen A. Smith hasn't had the time to properly tune in, even if he'd like to act like he does.

The star-studded ESPN analyst and TV personality is no stranger to the spotlight, and he stepped into it once again Thursday while publicly bashing Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian for comments made about the education standards at Ole Miss. However, while doing so, Smith clearly showed a lack of knowledge about the state of the Texas football program, in particular when it comes to star quarterback Arch Manning.

Stephen A. Smith Gets It All Wrong When Talking Texas, Arch Manning

While talking about Sarkisian, Smith said he felt the Texas head coach "didn't do a great job" during the 2025 season.

"He's a damn good coach, I didn't think he did a great job last year," Smith said. "The reason I didn't think he did a great job last year is because I thought he was too preoccupied with protecting Arch Manning that basically he didn't do the job that he's shown he's capable of doing from years past by coaching that damn football team. He's too busy coaching Arch Manning, and he's got some making up to do, but I think he's a hell of a coach."

Sure, it's true the Longhorns failed to meet preseason No. 1 expectations and missed the College Football Playoff entirely, but it actually proved to be a solid coaching job from Sarkisian in some aspects. He nearly had Texas in the CFP, secured three Top 10 wins in the process and a third straight 10-win season. A few plays go differently in the regular season, and the Longhorns could have had a chance to compete for a championship.

But none of that would have been possible without Manning, who Smith has his doubts about. When comparing Texas and Ole Miss, he said the Rebels have a "big-time quarterback" in Trinidad Chambliss while saying Manning has yet to get there.

"Steve Sarkisian, that was low. There's no reason for that."@stephenasmith reacts to Texas football head coach Steve Sarkisian's comments on Ole Miss pic.twitter.com/NZ1UDUH9ad
— First Take (@FirstTake) May 14, 2026

"They were in the College Football Playoff, not Texas. They got a big time quarterback in Chambliss, not Texas. Arch Manning, we hope that he's gonna be that way. But at this moment in time, they have the better quarterback," Smith said.

Another foolish take. It is of course not wild to say that Chambliss is better than Manning, but to add that Manning has yet to prove himself as an elite college quarteback is just silly.

Perhaps Smith only watched Manning's struggle-filled season opener against Ohio State. After some early-season jitters, Manning grew into his own during SEC play and was one of the best quarterbacks in Power 4 to end the year.

Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning warms up before a game against the Texas A&M Aggies at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Fortunately for Smith, being knowledgeble and getting the facts right isn't exactly part of his job. He's supposed to get in front of the camera and scream opinions as loud as possible in order to get a reaction, positive or negative. There simply won't be any major consequences if the info is wrong.

In Smith's defense, it's not all his fault. The Disney and ESPN monopoly needs him to often be the face of its sports media entertainment section, and in that position, it's simply impossible to know the key details about every from each major college and professional team.

That said, maybe next time it would be best if he chose to not speak about Manning and Texas before having all of his facts together. But Longhorn fans are better off not getting their hopes up.

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