Arch Manning's dad offers eye-opening message about criticism from college football world

The 2025 college football season saw the Texas Longhorns finish with a 10-3 record behind the quarterback play of first-year starting quarterback, Arch Manning.

As the grandson of New Orleans Saints legend Archie Manning and nephew of two-time Super Bowl champion quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning, there was not a shortage of expectations for the former No. 1 overall recruit in the 2023 class.

He came into the season as the Heisman favorite, while Texas ranked as the No. 1 team in the country. To take it to a whole other level, ESPN's Paul Finebaum went as far as to say he was "the best player we have seen from every aspect since Tim Tebow." Keep in mind, this all came with the youngest Manning having just two career starts to his name.

So when Manning got off to a slow start in the season, with Texas losing its first game of the year, 14-7 to Ohio State, fans and analysts alike were not kind to Manning. In fact, many began calling him a bust, while others mocked Texas for not bringing back Quinn Ewers.

This was presumably a tough time for Manning who went from America's sweetheart to its punching bag. However, the Texas quarterback wasn't the only one dealing with it. His father, Cooper, also revealed in an interview with The Athletic's Bruce Feldman that it was tough from a parent's perspective.

“I think being a parent of someone who’s being critiqued on every little move is definitely a challenging spot,” Cooper Manning said. “There’s a lot of people in this sports world that have opinions, and there’s only a small portion of them that are qualified to have them or that I would respect listening to, so you gotta pick your spots carefully. And that goes both ways when they’re saying nice things, you know that can flip on a day or a dime.”

Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning. — Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning warms up. | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

The older Manning also revealed that he thinks a lot of the criticisms came from Texas being ranked too high to start the year.

“If they were the 20th-ranked team, which they probably should’ve been, and they got beat by seven at Ohio State, it wouldn’t be the end of the world,” Manning said. “But all the fluff and the nonsense that comes with it, and it adds to the useless banter that goes on. I’ve learned to limit what I read and listen to. It’s actually quite liberating.”

While the Longhorns were viewed as a juggernaut by the national media, they had four new offensive linemen and also lost their top-three pass catchers from the year prior.

Despite the early adversity, Manning finished the year with 3,163 yards with 26 touchdowns through the air and 10 on the ground. With a year of experience under his belt and the Longhorns being major players in the portal, the Longhorns could live up to the otherworldly expectations that those around the sport have set for them.