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Dave Wilson
THIBODEAUX, La. — In the middle of a sweltering June day in south Louisiana, Archibald «Arch» Manning, son of Cooper, grandson of Archie, nephew of Peyton and Eli, roams the fields of his ancestral homeland, the Manning Passing Academy, where quarterbacks are grown.
This is Year 29 of the MPA, and Arch’s dad and uncles have been present for every one, beginning when Cooper had just graduated from Ole Miss, Peyton was a freshman at Tennessee and Eli was a camper as a sophomore in high school.
Archie, the patriarch of football’s first family, surveys 48 of the best college quarterbacks in America — this year’s counselors. There’s one who stands out: A moppy-haired 6-4, 200-pound Texas Longhorns quarterback, who just happens to be his grandson.
«Arch has come full circle,» he said.
Quinn Ewers to represent Texas at the camp.
Trevor Lawrence. That was pretty cool. And now he’s a full counselor. Unbelievable.»
It’s the first step in a big year for perhaps the most famous quarterback in college football history.
«Just climbing the ladder,» Arch said.
Now, summer camp is over, Arch is on the top rung and the hot-take economy awaits his first start. He’ll lead No. 1 Texas into Columbus, Ohio, to take on No. 3 Ohio State on Saturday (noon ET, Fox), opening the season as ESPN BET’s leading Heisman candidate.
For two years, Arch has laid low, but that hasn’t stopped the hype. At Sugar Bowl media day in 2023, a throng of reporters surrounded him while the starter, Ewers, waited at a nearly empty podium. Whenever Arch entered games, Texas fans took to their feet. When he lost his student ID the first week on campus, it made the local news. When his picture went missing from the wall of a local burger joint, a citywide search ensued.
All of this happened despite the family’s best efforts, not because of it.
«He ain’t even pissed a drop yet,» Archie protested when I contacted him about this story.
There are inherent advantages to being a Manning. They seem to be imbued with a mix of self-effacing humor and a relentless pursuit of excellence. But Arch is the first Manning to emerge into the world that social media created. We didn’t even know which schools Peyton visited. We didn’t have pictures of Eli popping up on our phones every day.
While Arch’s road to becoming his own Manning started off in much the same way as his uncles, his experience since has been unlike anyone else’s.
I. The Manning whisperer
Alabama playing No. 20 Ole Miss in the first night game ever televised in color. Though Cutcliffe was there as an invited guest of the Crimson Tide, and would go on to graduate from Alabama, he instead came away with a new hero.
No player had ever thrown for 300 yards and rushed for 100 in a major college football game. But that night, in a duel with Alabama’s Scott Hunter, Archie completed 33 of 52 passes for 436 yards and two touchdowns and ran 15 times for 104 yards and three scores. Bear Bryant and the Tide prevailed 33-32, but Cutcliffe was smitten.
«He was the only thing I could watch as a young high school guy,» Cutcliffe said. «Man, I’m watching Archie Manning. I didn’t want to see anybody else after that game.»
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He had no idea that he would end up in Archie’s living room in New Orleans nearly 25 years later, trying to sell him on sending his son to Tennessee, where Cutcliffe was the offensive coordinator for Philip Fulmer. Both men laugh remembering when Cutcliffe visited and regaled Peyton with some film, while Archie, who was sitting in, drifted off for a nap.
«I’m probably the only coach in history that’s ever bored Archie Manning enough to put him asleep,» Cutcliffe said. «He has never bored me. He’s one of my favorite human beings on the face of the Earth.»
Between 1994 and 1997, with Cutcliffe as his mentor, Peyton became Tennessee’s leading career passer, throwing for 11,201 yards and 89 touchdowns. Then, as the head coach at Ole Miss, he coached Eli from 2000 to 2003, as the quarterback also set school records with 10,119 passing yards and 81 TDs. So naturally, Cutcliffe always planned on making a pitch for Arch, and he didn’t wait long. He had a courier bring an Ole Miss scholarship offer to Cooper in the hospital the day Arch was born in 2004.
Cutcliffe was out of coaching when Arch actually committed to Texas, but he got to coach him after all. He started working with Arch at 10 years old.
«He was a talented youngster, a middle schooler,» Cutcliffe said. «He’s always been strong. You could see the physical abilities. But what I liked about Arch is Arch liked working. He does not have to be forced into work.»
Cooper was an all-state, 6-4 wide receiver before spinal stenosis ended his career, and Arch’s mom, Ellen, is in the athletics Hall of Fame at Sacred Heart in New Orleans, where she ran track. Arch certainly had the right parents to be a world-class athlete, but the Manning family knows well that speed can’t be handed over in a will.
«Peyton, he was really determined,» Archie said, laughing. «One day he just asked me, ‘Dad, why am I not fast?’ I didn’t have an answer for that. Eli followed in that same mold. But I can remember when Arch first started playing flag football, the other boys couldn’t pull his flag. They couldn’t get him.»
Cutcliffe, who now works as a special assistant to SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, visits Arch in Austin and sometimes sits in on quarterback meetings and watches practice, which the Texas coaches encourage. Now, he can’t wait to watch Arch scramble around, the same way he couldn’t wait to watch Archie play that night at Legion Field.
«I think it’s a thing of beauty,» Cutcliffe said. «The fact that his name is Arch — short for Archie — it’s only appropriate.»
II. The lightness of being a Manning
Joe Burrow and Josh Allen, Arch says his original inspiration was watching Archie play in the «Book of Manning.» He would go out into the yard and try to emulate Red’s moves. But he also noticed that Archie got hit hard a lot. And that’s the one piece of advice that Archie, who walks with a cane, wants Arch to really take to heart.
«He reminds me pretty much every time I talk to him,» Arch said, «to get down or get out of bounds.»
Every member of the family plays a different role. They humble each other frequently, as any «ManningCast» viewer can attest. Eli loves to remind everybody that Peyton set the NFL record for most interceptions by a rookie. But the family members also are each other’s biggest supporters. Cooper notes how ridiculous it was early in Peyton’s career that he was written off as someone who couldn’t win a championship.
Football is a team sport, and the Mannings are a pretty good team. Archie does the big-picture stuff. Eli and Cooper lived inside the pressure cooker after following their legendary father to Ole Miss; they know how to handle fame. Peyton is the football obsessive who drills down on the details. No matter the problem, Arch has somebody he can ask for guidance.
«I threw a pick in a two-minute drill in the summer, and I texted Peyton, ‘Hey, any advice on how to get better in two-minute?» Arch said. «And it was like a 30-minute voice memo.»
Eli said he keeps it much shorter.
«You can’t try to be someone else. I think Arch is very comfortable in his own skin,» Eli said. «The best piece of advice I’ve ever given Arch is just try to throw it to the guys wearing the same color jersey you’re wearing. If you do that, you’ve got a chance.»
Cooper is the comedian of the family, and Arch’s brother, Heid, got that gift as well. Every member of the family agrees that nobody is having more fun than Heid.
«We go to dinner during the week, kind of a break from football life, and he’s a funny guy, so it’s comedic relief,» Arch said. «I’m blessed to have him at the University of Texas.»
Arch, Cooper and Archie all starred in a recent Waymo commercial for self-driving Ubers. Archie had no idea what they were shooting, just that they were getting together to film something. Arch and Cooper, who was given creative control of the ad, got a kick out of surprising him with the newfangled robot car.
«Really? This is really what we’re doing over here in Austin today?» Archie asked. «I couldn’t believe when it stopped at a stop sign. Blew me away.»
Levity is a key component in the Mannings’ shared DNA. Last year, after Arch’s second start, against Mississippi State, he lamented that he had been tight in his first game against UL Monroe, saying he forgot to have fun.
He said that again Monday, speaking to reporters before he makes his first road start against the defending national champions.
«I’m excited,» Arch said. «I mean this is what I’ve been waiting for. I spent two years not playing, so I might as well go have some fun.»
III. The winding road to Texas
Georgia team four times. He did the same with an 11-2 Alabama team. Texas, meanwhile, went 5-7. But Arch liked Steve Sarkisian’s work with quarterbacks and wanted to be part of a resurgence at Texas, a place that had been mired in mediocrity for most of a decade.
«I think he takes a lot of pride in going to Texas, coming off a losing record and being a part of something that’s only getting better,» Cooper said. «That’s when I learned a lot about Arch, not just going and chasing who’s the No. 1 or No. 2 or No. 5 team in the country.»
The Mannings knew Texas. All three of Archie’s sons visited, but they didn’t all have fond memories. The Longhorns had been among Cooper’s first major offers. Then, in December 1991, coach David McWilliams was fired and replaced by John Mackovic, who pulled Cooper’s offer.
Before his senior year, Peyton asked Archie to drive him to schools he wanted to see on unofficial visits. They gave Texas another look and set it up with Mackovic. When the pair got to Austin, Archie said, Mackovic was nowhere to be found. Instead, they met with offensive coordinator Gene Dahlquist, who didn’t even know they were coming.
Peyton asked Dahlquist who else the Longhorns were recruiting and asked if they could watch some film. So the Texas OC, Archie and Peyton watched high school film of other quarterbacks.
«Peyton said, ‘Coach, how do I stack up?'» Archie recalled. «He said, ‘You’re definitely in our top 12.'»
The Mannings know so many people in football that they don’t take sides in rivalries or — generally — hold any slights from the past against schools. They were tight with Mack Brown and his offensive coordinator, Greg Davis, who both had coached at Tulane and knew them well, so Eli gave the Longhorns serious consideration before opting for Ole Miss.
But Archie still says that, for Texas’ sake, it was probably fortunate that Arch was Cooper’s son and not Peyton’s. «Cooper never held it against them,» he said. «Peyton never forgot that. Anybody that knows Peyton knows that he doesn’t forget.»
Texas fit a specific vision that Arch had for his career. He didn’t want to live life as the most famous man in a small college town. Staying in the state capital and still getting to play SEC football held a greater appeal to him. He wanted to be just one of the guys.
«It’s not like Ty Simpson or Gunner Stockton at Alabama and Georgia, where the whole town rallies around it,» Arch said. «I can go to parts of Austin where no one really cares about [football], which is nice.»
Will Zurik, one of Arch’s best friends and his former running back at Isidore Newman in New Orleans, understands why. He recalled seeing people post pictures and videos of a seventh grade Arch playing catch with Heid on Instagram. Just a few years later, Zurik said, it wasn’t just social media obsessing over Arch. Things were spilling over into real life. Before their sophomore year, several Newman teammates went to Thibodeaux to the Manning Passing Academy, and Arch came to hang out in their dorm room. Word got out, and all of a sudden, there was a crowd in the hallway.
«A hundred kids were outside, banging on the door trying to get in,» Zurik said. Arch’s teammates shooed them away.
Zurik and another of Arch’s friends, Saint Villere IV, are students in fraternities at Alabama. The budding Texas-Alabama rivalry makes their friendship a source of fascination in Tuscaloosa. They constantly get peppered with questions about growing up with the most famous amateur athlete in America.
«If he didn’t play football, he’d be here drinking beer with us right now,» Zurik told them. «He’s just another kid — that just happens to be really talented and have that last name. He’s the most selfless kid I know.»
But even the Arch defenders are very serious about keeping their superstar friend from getting too cocky. When they talk to him these days, they try to keep the focus off football. They instead keep their sights on what’s most important, like when Arch arrived at SEC media days in a standard-issue Southern fraternity fit.
Arch has nailed the «Kappa Sig president begging university leadership not to kick his frat off campus» look. https://t.co/kItB96Wh7F
– Zach Barnett (@zach_barnett) July 15, 2025
«It looked like a big day, almost game-day pledge attire,» Villere said. «I’d give him a 7, 8 out of 10.»
«Definitely going to use some work,» Zurik said. «But looks good. Could use a beer in his hands.»
They can’t scroll Instagram without seeing Arch in an ad for Vuori or Uber or Panini or Red Bull or any of the other brands he represents. Manning even admitted Monday that he has a private Instagram account he uses to browse, and when he sees something in the media about him, he clicks «not interested.»
«I don’t know how many commercials I’ve done, but probably too many,» Arch said. «Probably tired of seeing my face.»
Villere has taken notice as well and offered a suggestion.
«It seems like he’s got a little room for an acting coach, maybe, but it’s all right,» he said.
For Arch, having friends who keep him humble is the antidote to the puzzling amount of attention he gets. He lives with five other Texas players. He has his brother around, plays golf and hangs out at the lake. He wants his friends to keep him in check.
«If I ever start talking about any of this stuff,» Arch said, «they’re like, ‘Oh, you’re being a total weirdo.'»
IV. The Arch experience in Austin
Luka Doncic card that went for $100,000 and making it the most expensive item sold on the company’s platform. There’s nothing that Arch Manning can do to be just another guy.
Tim Tebow and Johnny Manziel were off-the-field famous — after they were stars. For Arch, the fame came first, then football. That’s something that none of the Mannings particularly relishes.
«The weirdest part of a lot of this is I haven’t done anything, so why am I getting a bunch of cameras in my face?» Arch asked this summer. He seemed perplexed when another reporter asked how careful he has to be not doing shots at a bar.
«I’m 21, so I can do shots at a bar,» he said. Within hours, Athlon Sports posted a story with the headline: «Arch Manning Says He Can Take Shots at the Bar if he Wants.»
Arch got a quick lesson in just how closely he would be watched immediately after arriving at Texas. He lost his student ID, got a FaceTime call from Sarkisian, who was holding up said ID when he answered and asked if he was missing anything. The student who found it had used it to swipe into the football building, walked right into Sarkisian’s office and handed it to him.
«Pretty ballsy,» Arch said.
Then he lost it again shortly thereafter, leading to tweets about his lack of «pocket awareness.» A Reddit post was headlined «Archibald Manning loses his student ID (Again).» When football season came around, fans held up a giant banner of his ID in the crowd.
Arch says he’s good now because Texas has moved to a fingerprint-based system instead of swiping a card. Still, his dad says he’s not out of the woods yet.
«He can’t lose his fingerprint,» Cooper said. «Well, if someone could lose it, he could lose it.»
And if someone could steal it, they probably would, too. Arch said this summer he didn’t even have an ID anymore to lose, because he thinks someone stole it while he was on vacation in Charleston, South Carolina. And Arch’s name, image and likeness aren’t even safe in Austin institutions.
Bijan Robinson.
«But I’m going to tell you something,» Colvin said. «This Arch Manning, he stands out. He has this aura about him. He’s going to do great things.»
For Young, it’s time to take protective measures. No matter how Arch and the Longhorns perform against Ohio State, the game tape will be analyzed more than the Zapruder film. A strong performance will send the burnt orange faithful into a frenzy.
«I really need to get that photo bolted to the wall,» Young said.
V. Finally on the field
Garrett Nussmeier; two of the most famous people in Louisiana walked around a Thibodeaux Walmart buying snacks. He laughed at the social media frenzy around his trip with star wide receiver Ryan Wingo to his hometown of St. Louis.
«He’s a legend down there,» Manning said.» All those kids want to be like Wingo. They know his dance moves, his touchdown celebration.»
It was the ideal scenario for Arch. He was showing up for his teammates, and someone else was the star. Cutcliffe has watched Arch hype up players on the sideline, celebrate with his teammates and self-deprecatingly deflect questions in interviews like when legendary Texas reporter Kirk Bohls, who has covered the Longhorns for more than 50 years, asked Manning whether he gets nervous when he plays. «Nah,» he said, smiling at Bohls. «You get nervous?»
«That’s an Archie Manning trait,» Cutcliffe said. «It’s a Cooper, Peyton and Eli trait. They walk into a room and say, ‘There you are,’ rather than ‘Here I am.’ That’s a rare commodity.»
A.J. Milwee, Texas’ co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach who forged a strong bond with Arch and his family while recruiting him and talking nearly every day, said that being raised by football royalty allows Arch to balance all of the excitement surrounding this game.
«He has real competitive fire,» Milwee said. «He can get juiced up, he can get jacked up, but he’s grown up in a world of quarterbacks. As quarterbacks, we’re taught to be flatliners.»
As a kid, Cooper thought Arch might be a wide receiver like him. But when he coached him in flag football, Arch seemed to have more fun throwing the ball to his buddies so they could all catch a lot of passes.
That’s the plan for Saturday.
«Arch has been a quarterback since he was little, running around,» Cooper said. «I think he made the right call. Don’t listen to your parents. Do what comes natural.»
The world awaits Arch’s arrival on the biggest stage. Sarkisian said the one thing that’s most amazing about Arch’s evolution over the past two years is how much he hasn’t changed.
«He’s normal, and that’s what I love about him. It’s not some guy who feels like he’s untouchable, he’s better than everybody else,» Sarkisian said. «You can’t go a day without seeing somebody talking about Arch Manning. He’s a direct representation of our football program and this university and … we respect him for the way that he does it.»
But it’s time to see him do it in uniform. And Cooper believes he’s ready.
«What’s the pressure?» Cooper said. «He gets to play. Pressure is when you don’t know what you’re doing. I think he knows what he’s doing.»
