TAMPA, Fla. — It’s always precarious for an outsider like a reporter to read too much into body language of an athlete, especially after a loss or a poor performance.
But Arch Manning felt like an open book following an ugly 16-13 overtime win at Kentucky on Oct. 18, 2025. The Texas football quarterback sat slumped in a chair inside a cramped interview room inside the bowels of Kroger Field with eyes down while friend and teammate Michael Taaffe lectured the media about the difficulty of winning, even against a Wildcats team that went just 2-8 in SEC play.
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Manning had endured a rough week prior to that game. He took a beating the week before in a 29-21 loss at Florida, where he suffered six sacks and countless other hits. The Athletic, the sports division of the New York Times, followed that with an article calling him college football’s “first flop” of 2025.
Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) celebrates the team’s 34-31 win over the Vanderbilt Commodores at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Nov. 1, 2025.
Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman
A game against lowly Kentucky offered an immediate chance at redemption. Instead, Manning threw for just 132 yards on 12-of-27 passing and didn’t have a single rushing yard. He arrived in 2023 as the nation’s top recruit and a program savior. Six games into his first season as a starter, fans whispered, maybe The Athletic is right. Maybe Manning won’t ever match the hype.
But nine months later, Manning’s future now seems as fresh as his fit at this past week’s SEC media days. Wearing a crisp blue suit with a burnt-orange tie, a Hook ’em pin on his left lapel and a purple pin on the right recognizing the efforts at curing Alzheimer’s Disease, the 22-year-old, fourth-year junior addressed reporters with candor, confidence and a clarity about this upcoming season.
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“I tried to stay away from the media (in 2025), but, you know, I wasn’t playing very well,” Manning said before a massive throng of phones, cameras and all other kinds of devices meant to record every word from college football’s hottest name. “People have opinions, they share them, and that’s totally fine. But I think I learned a lot about myself.”
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Quarterback Arch Manning of the Texas Longhorns speaks at the SEC media days at Tampa Marriott Water Street on July 23, 2026, in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Parker S. Freedman/Getty Images)
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Steve Sarksian: Arch Manning kept ‘working hard’
So did Texas coach Steve Sarkisian, who said the midseason discourse on his quarterback slipped into “disrespectful criticism” a year ago.
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“I think what he got put through probably would have melted or destroyed 99% of people in his shoes,” Sarkisian said. “All he did was stay consistent and true to who he was, which was to continue to work hard, continue to be a great teammate, try to get better, and he did. He came out and played the second half of the season at a really high level.
“He’s a fantastic player at the end of the year, but he didn’t go back on social media and say, ‘I told you so.’ And all he’s done this year is continue to work hard again.”
The numbers don’t lie when it comes to Manning’s improvement over the course of his first season as the starter. Through the first seven games of 2025, Texas averaged just 26.7 points against a slate of opponents that included three non-power conference teams. Manning averaged 207 passing yards a game in that stretch with 12 touchdown passes and five interceptions, and Texas went 5-2.
Over the final six games, Texas put up 34.8 points a game, Manning averaged 285 yards and he totaled 19 touchdowns with two picks while leading the Longhorns to five wins. The Longhorns ended the season on a 7-1 run.
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Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) sends a pass in the first quarter of the Citrus Bowl against the Wolverines at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida, Dec. 31, 2025.
Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman
According to Manning, as he settled into the rhythm of regular snaps for the first time since his senior year at Isidore Newman School in New Orleans in 2022, things began to slow down between the sidelines.
“The games in the beginning of the season, it seemed like they went by so quick,” Manning said. “College football games are long games, four hours, and so I think I learned to enjoy the moment and take it for what it’s worth and have a little bit more fun.”
Of course, winning makes everything more fun. And as Texas left tackle Trevor Goosby pointed out in Tampa, Manning seemed to shoulder the blame for issues that affected the entire offense in the first half of 2025.
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“I think he handled it really well,” Goosby said about all the noise surrounding his quarterback. “Obviously, his O-line, me being on that O-line, we were not great last year. I think that we have a lot to be blamed for for that. Not once did he bat an eye at us, and not once did he talk down upon us. That, for me, just screamed how much of a leader he is for us, and that makes people want to play even harder for him.”
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Quarterback Arch Manning of the Texas Longhorns speaks at the SEC media days at Tampa Marriott Water Street on July 23, 2026, in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Parker S. Freedman/Getty Images)
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Texas Longhorns: No excuses for Manning, team in 2026
There are no excuses this season for Manning, who’s one of the betting favorites to win the Heisman Trophy. Texas, which projects as a top-five team in almost every preseason poll, spent an untold amount — college programs don’t have to release salaries for its players — to upgrade its roster.
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Goosby, an All-American candidate, welcomed several, well-paid newcomers like tackle Melvin Siani and guard Laurence Seymour to the offensive line. Receiver Cam Coleman arrived from Auburn as arguably the most coveted player in the portal. Raleek Brown and Hollywood Smothers transferred in as upgrades at running back.
And Manning? He’s a year older and a year wiser after weathering the storm of criticism in 2025. He says he won’t discuss his plans for the 2027 NFL Draft until after this season, but he projects as the No. 1 overall pick in ESPN’s latest mock draft.
But for now, he wants to stay focused on this season.
“My goal this offseason was just to stay present, to take it one day at a time,” he said. “I’m not really worried about the outside world. And that’s what I’ll continue to try to do. I’ve obviously matured. I think going through those rough times, I learned a lot about myself. And I’ve become a better man because of it and hopefully a better player.”
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Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) talks to receiver Cam Coleman (8) during practice on fan day at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Aril 18, 2026 in Austin.
Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman
Sarkisian, himself a former quarterback during his All-American playing days at BYU a generation ago, said Manning “found out a lot about himself” in 2025 during his early-season struggles.
“Anytime we’re faced with adversity and we get on the other side of it, you gain confidence,” he said. “I think that you see a different leader in him in the way that he interacts with his teammates. The work ethic hasn’t changed, but I think the ability to lead vocally is much different than before. And I think he’s very comfortable with who he is, and he’s not trying to be something that he’s not. He knows who he is.”
And who is Manning, now that he’s a seasoned veteran instead of a program savior?
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“Arch Manning’s a real guy,” Sarkisian said. “You know, before (last) season, Arch wasn’t going around posting on social media, ‘I’m going to be the first pick of the draft.’ He wasn’t posting on social media, ‘I’m going to be the Heisman Trophy winner.’ He, quite frankly, went under the radar and just worked really hard and tried to be the best player and the best teammate he could be.
“Then he doesn’t play great, and we don’t play great,” Sarkisian continued. “heiAnd he takes, in my opinion, some real tough criticism, but he didn’t go complain about it. He didn’t go on some rant on social media. What did he do? He kept working really hard. What did his teammates do? They supported him, and the byproduct of hard work and being on a team that supports you and loves you, you get on the other side of that adversity. Now he can do the same for the next guys, and so I just think that that’s what a real guy does.”