Two days before Texas appeared in the College Football Playoff in December, dozens of reporters surrounded the Longhorns quarterback on the Superdome sideline.
For almost 40 minutes straight, the throng circled him, peppering him with questions and hanging on his every word. Such is life at the most visible position at a blue-blood program.
Except the quarterback who drew the crowd wasn’t the starter, it was backup Arch Manning. Starter Quinn Ewers sat at a table feet away with nowhere near the frenzy. A photo of that media day scene went viral.
It helps to understand the circumstances that led to that moment. Ewers, as the starter, was available to the media nearly every week that season. Manning, the son of Cooper, nephew of Peyton and Eli and grandson of Archie Manning — whose jersey is retired in the New Orleans stadium Arch sat in that day — was making his first appearance before reporters since joining the Longhorns earlier in 2023.
Everyone wanted to hear from the latest member of football’s first family.
Still, it underscored the potential of Texas’ quarterback depth chart to devolve into a mess. Ewers was the No. 1 recruit in the 2021 class. Manning was the No. 1 recruit in the 2023 class. As soon as he committed, casual observers wondered how Texas coach Steve Sarkisian would make it all work and how soon it would be before one of them transferred.
That’s how it goes in the start-or-depart era, right? Statistics say that top quarterback recruits who don’t start early typically transfer.
But on the eve of Manning’s first start, Sarkisian and the Longhorns have navigated this situation masterfully. Manning will start Saturday’s game against ULM (Louisiana Monroe) in place of Ewers, who is dealing with an oblique injury. And as this season full of potential for top-ranked Texas unfolds, there’s a chance that everyone involved will emerge pleased with the final result.
That’s a tough tightrope to walk, but there are a few key elements that helped Texas achieve this rare quarterback harmony.
Manning’s thorough recruiting process
When Manning chose Texas, it wasn’t on a whim. He didn’t commit because of an emotional high from one magical visit — although Texas spared no expense to make that official visit memorable. It was the culmination of a carefully planned, years-long process. Cooper Manning wanted to avoid the commotion that comes with modern-day recruiting, which can overwhelm a teenager, and aimed to make the courting of Arch “like a 1970s recruitment.”
The Mannings kept the inner circle small, designating Arch’s high school coach, Nelson Stewart, as the point person for the crush of media requests and distributing Arch’s phone number to just a handful of coaches. The high regard the Manning family is held in football circles afforded them the luxury of an approach not available to an average recruit, and they took full advantage.
“I was playing football and basketball and just kind of focused on being a regular high school guy,” Arch said in December. “I didn’t want to overwhelm myself.”
Over time, Manning and his support system did their due diligence on all six schools he considered. Manning took multiple visits to his three finalists — Texas, Alabama and Georgia — and established a strong relationship with coaches on each staff. The fit wasn’t solely about football, but the school, the location and the culture.
“Austin, for me, was a good spot,” Manning said in December. “Just because I can kind of blend in a little bit more in a big city rather than Oxford, Athens or Tuscaloosa where football is so centered. And Texas, that’s a place I would want to go to college if I wasn’t playing football.”
Near the top of factors in Manning’s choice was the chance to work with Sarkisian. He has previously coached former USC quarterbacks Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart and Mark Sanchez, former Washington quarterback Jake Locker and former Alabama quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones.
“Sark’s track record with quarterbacks, what he did at Alabama, I just saw trust in him, and I thought it was the right fit for me,” Manning said in December.
Manning added that, “Sark keeps it real with you,” and that he thought he fit well into Sarkisian’s offense and liked how the coach ran the team. And Texas appeared on an upward trajectory, he said.
Sarkisian, quarterbacks coach AJ Milwee and defensive backs coach Terry Joseph established a strong relationship with Arch and those in his inner circle. “They’re great people,” Sarkisian said of the Mannings on early signing day in December 2022. “They’re just like any other family that wants what’s best for him.”
The time and effort the Mannings put into the process meant Arch’s commitment was a long-term decision. And there wasn’t pressure for him to play right away.
Ewers was established as the starter when Manning committed, and Maalik Murphy, a four-star recruit who was Sarkisian’s first high school quarterback signee at Texas, was also on the depth chart. Manning didn’t want to immediately be at the forefront.
“He likes to be behind the scenes and go to work,” Sarkisian said on signing day.
Patience and managed expectations
Manning made his spring football debut amid plenty of intrigue. His last name and lofty recruiting status made him subject to curiosity despite the presence of Ewers, who was coming off an up-and-down redshirt freshman season.
After the Orange-and-White spring game last April, Sarkisian cut off any speculation by saying:
“It’s pretty clear to say Quinn’s our starting quarterback.”
Some coaches won’t make such a declarative statement in the spring in fear of potential transfers. And Sarkisian said he didn’t want to “take the stinger” out of his other quarterbacks because he wanted them to compete. But it was clear that Ewers had a significant head start in game experience and knowledge of the offense over Manning and Murphy.
It was Murphy who dazzled in the spring game, while Manning looked like a true freshman, going 5-for-13 passing for 30 yards. To the layman, the pecking order was clear: Ewers, Murphy and Manning.
It was evident the game was moving fast for Manning, who was just four months removed from his time at Isidore Newman School in New Orleans.
Manning spent most of 2023 as the third quarterback and didn’t make his career debut until the regular-season finale, a 57-7 win over Texas Tech. He took only 27 snaps as a true freshman. But when Murphy transferred to Duke after the season, it cleared the runway for Manning to step into the backup role.
In December, Manning acknowledged his freshman year was tough. He was away from home for the first time, fighting for the third-string job, getting yelled at by Sarkisian and Milwee.
“I’m not gonna lie, they’re pretty hard on you when you first get there,” Manning said. “And it’s good. You learn a lot. … They push you, and they want what’s best for you.”
Manning said he was glad he had 2023 to develop and grow as a person and a player. This year, he has looked like a different quarterback. In his second spring, it was clear how much more comfortable and confident he was in the offense. The game slowed down.
It’s showing in games, too. He scored his first touchdowns in Week 1 against Colorado State and didn’t throw an incomplete pass until his final attempt of the day. Last week, when Ewers left in the second quarter and Manning was pressed into action, he threw for four touchdowns and ran for another.
When asked after last week’s win if he would have looked as comfortable if faced with the same situation in 2023, Manning smiled and said, “Probably not, no.”
Let’s ride 🤘@ArchManning pic.twitter.com/MzmCBnYi75
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) September 19, 2024
Sarkisian’s trust in Ewers
Though Sarkisian and Milwee coach their quarterbacks hard, they’re also diligent about building their passers’ confidence. Both were successful college quarterbacks: Sarkisian led BYU to a 14-1 record in 1996; Milwee set records at North Alabama when the program was in Division II. They know what it takes and how to manage the position.
“We try to put as much stress and as much pressure on them on a daily basis on the field, so that when they do get in the environment of playing in front of 100,000 people, that they’re comfortable,” Sarkisian said Thursday. “(We) hold them accountable to every single detail that they’re responsible for.
“As we start getting closer to games, we start building them up and making sure they feel really good about what they’re doing.”
When Ewers struggled for a stretch in the second half of the 2022 season, Sarkisian never wavered that Ewers was his starter and has remained steadfast in his support of Ewers since.
After the 2022 season, Ewers trimmed his mullet, lost 20 pounds and focused on elevating his game. Sarkisian commended him for his commitment, and Ewers improved in most statistical categories while leading the Longhorns to the Playoff.
Ewers hoped to declare for the NFL Draft, but he decided against it after getting feedback from the league. His research revealed that generally, the more experience a college quarterback gets, the better the chance he has to thrive in the league, with the line of demarcation around 25 starts. Ewers entered this season with 22.
“I just kinda wanted to give myself a better chance to have a long and successful career in the NFL,” Ewers said in July. “I don’t want to be a guy that just comes and goes. I want to be somebody who is remembered.”
This offseason, Ewers took another step forward, emerging as a team leader. And before his injury, he was playing the best football of his career.
‘He’s just part of the team’
Asked this week how he managed the hype around Manning after his career day, Sarkisian said plainly: “I don’t do anything.”
He doesn’t have to, because he set the tone from the beginning with each of his quarterbacks. And Manning, Sarkisian said, is a “selfless teammate.”
“Arch is just another guy on our team,” Sarkisian said. “That’s who Arch is every day. … He cares about the guys on the team, he cares about Quinn, they’ve got a great relationship. He works his tail off, he wants to play good football for them because he knows how hard everybody’s working.
“So I literally don’t address it with him, and I don’t address it with the team. He’s just part of the team.”
Sarkisian said the quarterbacks have supported each other from the time Manning arrived on campus. Ewers will have an earpiece in on Saturday and hear all the play calls when Manning makes his starting debut. Sarkisian said he expects Ewers will be engaged and supportive of Manning on Saturday night.
After Manning’s five-touchdown performance against UTSA, Sarkisian said Manning is “just a normal guy that plays quarterback at the University of Texas. The name on the back of the jersey is one thing, but who he is as a teammate is another.”
Yes, there are unrealistic expectations that come with Manning’s last name and pedigree. And the curiosity will be tapped into Saturday night. If Manning dominates, a frenzy is sure to follow.
But when Ewers is healthy, he’ll return to his role as QB1. And Manning will stay ready as the backup and the Texas quarterback of the future. And, as far as the Longhorns are concerned, nothing more than that.
(Top photo of Texas quarterbacks Arch Manning, left, and Quinn Ewers: Chris Leduc / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
