SEC Media Days: Now the starter, Arch Manning opens up about how tough not playing was

AUSTIN (KXAN) — How did Arch Manning deal with his celebrity-like status around campus, even before he was the starting quarterback for the Texas Longhorns?

He’d act busy.

“I’d pretend like I was on the phone going to class,” he said during SEC Media Days on Tuesday. “It was kind of frustrating because I hadn’t done anything, and I was taking pictures with people. That was the first time I was like, ‘Wow, this is different,’ after being at a 2A school where no one cares about me.”

Now that he’s running the offense for a national championship contender, he may have to rethink some of his tactics, or perhaps have an entourage.

Manning talked about how tough his freshman year was, from playing every minute of every game for Isidore Newman High School in New Orleans to being on the sidelines at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium. He said an assistant coach was a sounding board for him during film sessions, and it helped him get through the tough times.

“Freshman year was tough. I knew I didn’t deserve to play, but I wasn’t used to not playing,” he said. “Paul Chryst was on our staff, and I’d go into his office to watch film. It was about an hour of watching film, and an hour of me venting. He’s such a good, patient guy. I still keep in touch with him.”

To scratch his competitive itch in those days, Manning said he’d go play pick-up basketball with roommates. He wasn’t exactly supposed to do that, but he said it helped him “get back the competitive feel.”

He knows his last name carries a lot of weight in the national media and landscape, and he’s spent his entire time at Texas dealing with it the best he can. He said he’s gotten “undeserved attention” because of it, and after being named the starting quarterback after Quinn Ewers departed for the NFL, more is on the way.

He’s already the early favorite to win the Heisman Trophy, according to FanDuel and most other sportsbooks. He’s only played 12 games in his college career, which pales in comparison to the two quarterbacks behind him in the betting odds, Louisiana State’s Garret Nussmeier and Clemson’s Cade Klubnik. National media outlets and draft analysts also love to project him as a top pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Part of that is clearly the Manning effect, but don’t be mistaken, he has plenty of skills.

“I’m not sure how they get these opinions,” he said. “That’s nice of them to say, but that doesn’t mean anything. Talk is cheap; I gotta go prove it.”

Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian said Manning just has to be himself, and things will work out just fine.

“He’s such an easy-going, mellow-mannered guy that he doesn’t have to try too hard,” Sarkisian said. “I think him being himself, at his core, is what’s going to be good enough for people to get a sense of who he is, and ultimately, with his teammates.”

KXAN’s Noah Gross contributed to this report from SEC Media Days in Atlanta