Arch Manning will do his best to be a 21-year-old college kid.
He went to San Diego with three of his best friends this summer. He lives with five teammates. Yet his family left him behind this summer.
“They went to Africa without me,” Manning joked at SEC Media Days on Tuesday.
It was another well-timed example of the patented Manning family humor we hear from his father Cooper and uncles Peyton and Eli. Manning is the betting favorite to win the Heisman Trophy, according to Bet MGM. Sporting News ranked Manning as the No. 1 quarterback in our Top 25 QB rankings, and Texas is No. 1 in our post-spring Top 25.
“Arch Manning is the best college football quarterback we have seen since Tim Tebow entered the scene in 2006,” ESPN’s Paul Finebaum said on July 1.
Finebaum defended that claim at SEC Media Days on Tuesday in a playful back-and-forth with former Vanderbilt quarterback Jordan Rodgers. Manning might not be the best quarterback since Tebow this season – but he might be the biggest celebrity since Tebow – who won a Heisman Trophy and a pair of national titles at Florida from 2006-09.
At minimum, Arch Manning will be a generational content generator this season. How does Manning handle all that hype at QB? He had another well-put answer, according to Outkick’s Trey Wallace.
“I’m not sure how they get these opinions, I’ve only played, what, two games?” Manning said. “It’s nice of them to say, but it doesn’t mean anything. Talk is cheap, I gotta go prove it.”
Is Arch Manning the next Tim Tebow in college football?
Manning was the backup for Quinn Ewers the last two seasons. Manning made two starts last season – and he finished with 939 passing yards, nine TDs and two interceptions in 10 games. He had 108 rushing yards and four TDs.
Yet the appetite is higher than it’s been for any college football player since …
Shedeur Sanders? The Colorado quarterback had a NFL legacy bloodline, and combined with Coach Prime and Heisman Trophy Travis Hunter formed the most-popular storyline in the FBS at Colorado the last two seasons. Yet that was a collective effort for the Buffaloes. Arch Manning is the main attraction at Texas – which is the second-largest revenue-producing program in the FBS behind Ohio State. Those schools meet at Ohio Stadium on Aug. 30.
The last quarterback from a Texas school to create this kind of phenomenon was Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel – who won the Heisman Trophy in 2012 and took the SEC by storm in the Aggies’ first two years in the conference with his dazzling play-making skills. Will Manning create the same effect for the Longhorns – who reached the SEC championship game in their first season?
The Tebow comparison is good. Tebow was a role player as a freshman for Florida’s national championship game in 2006 behind Chris Leak, and he dominated the game on and off the field for the next three seasons. Tebow finished 35-6 as a starter and was a first-round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft. He was voted the No. 1 college football player of all time by a panel of 54 voters at Sporting News in 2019.
Yet Tebow wasn’t named Manning. That’s the other factor here. Arch Manning doesn’t just face expectations at the college level. He will be expected to produce at the NFL level – where Peyton and Eli combined to win four Super Bowls – and is already in the conversation as the No. 1 pick for the 2026 NFL Draft.
In a way, Arch Manning faces more pressure than Sanders, Manziel and Tebow combined.
© Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images
Arch Manning is the SEC’s celebrity QB at the right time
Manning got the crowded podium treatment at SEC Media Days – the kind reserved for quarterbacks at the Super Bowl. This part seems easy.
There are more reporters interviewing Arch Manning’s ghost than any other player at SEC media days.
Arch will take the podium at 4 ET. pic.twitter.com/bOrtqz3YDn
— Sam Hutchens (@Sam_Hutchens_) July 15, 2025
“My grandfather told me to keep it short and sweet and be thoughtful,” Arch Manning said via AL.com. “So, here we are.”
Archie Manning was a star at Ole Miss and the No. 2 pick in the 1971 NFL Draft. Arch Manning honored that legacy by posing with Archie’s Ole Miss jersey at the College Football Hall of Fame on Tuesday. That quarterback bloodline is deeply entrenched in SEC lore, and the conference is looking for that next superstar. Manning will have work to do in order to stand out in a crowd of quarterbacks that includes Heisman candidates such as LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier, South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers and Florida’s DJ Lagway, among others.
Yet Texas coach Steve Sarkisian spoke to what he admires most about Manning.
“He’s such an easy going, mellow mannered guy that he doesn’t have to try too hard,” Sarkisian said via Inside Texas. “I think him being himself at his core is what’s going to be good enough for people to get a sense and a feel for who he is, and ultimately with his teammates.”
Despite the hype, we’re still getting that, too. It’s almost impossible for Manning to live up to the hype on the field this season – and it’s OK if he does not win a Heisman Trophy, SEC championship or national championship in Year 1. In fact, it would be better if he stuck around.
We got Sanders and Manziel for two seasons as starters and Tebow for three. It was great for the game, and Manning could be even better than those three.
The longer he stays a college kid, the better.
