- NCAA. Texas' Arch Manning hype surges again, but Cooper Manning calls for patience
- NCAA. Arch Manning's Texas Longhorns no longer the clear-cut top team heading into 2026
Arch Manning's first start at Texas came with a loss, a wave of criticism, and a spotlight few college quarterbacks ever face.
For the first time, his father Cooper Manning has spoken in detail about how that moment affected his son and how the weight of a famous name turned an opening night defeat into something far heavier.
The pressure around Arch was immense before he ever took a snap.
As the grandson of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning, and the nephew of Super Bowl champions Peyton Manning and Eli Manning, Arch arrived with expectations that went far beyond those of a typical first year starter.
"I think being a parent of someone who's being critiqued on every little move is definitely a challenging spot," Cooper 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.
"That goes both ways when they're saying nice things, you know that can flip on a day or a dime."
Managing noise when expectations are unrealistic
Texas entered the season ranked No. 1, with early Heisman chatter swirling around Arch and speculation that he could one day become the top pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Instead, his debut against the Ohio State Buckeyes ended in disappointment.
Losses to UTEP and Florida that followed only added fuel to the conversation.
Every mistake was magnified. Every drive became a referendum on whether Arch was ready. Cooper, watching from the outside, felt much of the criticism ignored context.
"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," Cooper noted.
"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."
A strong response from Arch
What impressed him most was how his son responded internally. Arch did not retreat or lose confidence, even when early games did not unfold as planned.
"You kind of expect everything, and we got a little bit of everything," Cooper added.
"But I think just the way Arch handled the tough times. He didn't like it, certainly, but he was kind of grittier and tougher.
"When it wasn't going great early, he was still confident. He was almost kinda confused about why it wasn't working, like, 'What's going on here? I know I'm better than that.'"
Now in a better place, Arch Manning is heading into 2026 with the full knowledge of what it takes to be a starter for Texas.