Since the day he left New Orleans for his first visit with recruiter hopefuls across the nation, Arch Manning has been dealt the sensation treatment—wunderkind.
It was no different ahead of Manning taking over for Quinn Ewers after he declared for the NFL Draft after the 2024 college football season.
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Nor was it in the months ahead of the 2025 season, when the calls for Manning to one day hoist the Heisman Trophy over his head, just shy a plane trip back to Austin, where college football’s most valuable trophy would reunite with a player from Texas’ program for the first time since Ricky Williams’ Heisman Trophy win in 1998.
But let’s not get lose sight of what matters in the end: championships.
And with Manning heading into his redshirt junior season—his fourth under head coach Steve Sarkisian’s tutelage—expectations remain raised for the Longhorns to again compete for the sport’s top annual prize. It’s these high hopes that have slowly since Manning announced he would return for the 2026 college season after a 10-3 record last season, including losses to Ohio State, Florida, and Georgia that cost them a third consecutive College Football Playoff appearance. These losses came despite, in 2025, Manning threw for more than 3,100 yards, 26 touchdown passes, and earned respect toting the rock on his own throughout the season.
SEC Championship or bust. CFP title or bust. Whether it’s fair or not, these are the expectations Manning’s faces as he prepares for what might be his final run at a college championship. (After all, Manning might return in 2027 and we’ll be right here again.)
That’s just life as a Manning these days.
