Well, Arch Manning has already passed his head coach Steve Sarkisian’s quality test. The Texas Longhorns head coach once shared, “They like him for who he is, not for the name on the back of his jersey. And I think that’s something that he provides. He’s a fiery guy.” ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum also got up on the Manning hype train: “I think he’s [Manning] going to be the best quarterback at Texas since Colt McCoy.”

With limited action in the 2024 season, all this hype is a tough task to achieve. Manning enters the 2025 season having appeared in nine games with two starts, leading the Longhorns to victories against Louisiana-Monroe and Mississippi State last fall. The opportunity came after Quinn Ewers got injured. But maybe the little action made Steve Spurrier doubtful of the Manning hype. That’s when Cam Newton came to the quarterback’s rescue.

Spurrier did not think twice before raining on Manning’s parade. “People picking Texas to win the SEC in football. They’ve got Arch Manning already winning the Heisman, too. And my question is, if he was this good, how come they let Quinn Ewers play all the time last year?” That’s when ex-Carolina Panthers quarterback Newton jumped in to save Manning, disagreeing with the evaluation from the former coach of the Florida Gators.

Like Manning, Newton was another popular quarterback in college who didn’t have a typical path to his starting position and sat behind Tim Tebow at Florida. From his experience, he came up with a message for Manning. “I’ve always felt like I was more talented than Tim Tebow. But I needed Tim Tebow to be a part of my resume to show me what I lacked. Tebow is an unbelievable leader, verbally and by actions.”

So, this comes off as advice for Manning, who might be feeling insecure, seeing that critics are still not over the Ewers era. Newton suggested, “Arch would be a fool if he has not learned anything from Quinn Ewers, how he prepared, how he led his team and, and just how he handled and managed the expectations for being a quarterback at a university like Texas.”

To make his Manning stance stronger in the Manning vs. Ewers debate, as started by Spurrier, Newton had stepped into Sarkisian’s shoes for a better understanding. Manning was the No. 1 player in the country in the 2023 class, and so was Ewers, of the 2021 class.

“Ever since Arch Manning committed to the University of Texas, there’s always been this unsung kind of expectation, like how is Coach [Steve] Sarkisian going to treat Quinn Ewers? And I think with this particular point, it says a lot [about] how Steve Sarkisian handled this situation, and he handled it beautifully. Even when Quinn Ewers got hurt, when he got back healthy, what did [Sarkisian] do? He didn’t give [the starting job] to Arch Manning,” said Newton.

Even though the 21-year-old did not get the limelight instantly, Newton believes that Manning chose the right path by staying at Texas for two seasons as Ewers’ backup. He has made two starts in 12 appearances for the Longhorns and racked up 939 yards, nine touchdowns, and two interceptions. While Finebaum has no issue with the Texas star, he stirred the pot by calling Newton ‘selfish’.

Paul Finebaum praises Arch Manning by pulling Cam Newton down

The ESPN analyst did not follow Spurrier’s footsteps to heap doubts on Manning. Instead, ahead of the Texas star’s first full season as the starter, he said he felt that Manning was better than every single other college quarterback since Tebow in 2006. “The absolute roof. I think there’s a reasonably good chance that Arch Manning will be sitting on the front row in New York at the Heisman ceremony.” So, apparently, for the Manning debate, Finebaum and Newton must be on the same team. Well, that’s when another narrative comes up…

Newton is part of the elite quarterback club that features Baker Mayfield, Lamar Jackson, and Patrick Mahomes, among others. The former Panthers star delivered one of the greatest quarterback seasons of all time at Auburn in 2010. But turns out that Finebaum is not quite bothered about his stats. “I actually covered Cam Newton at Auburn, and I was actually quite aware of why he left the University of Florida. You might call Urban Meyer, he’ll be happy to tell you — because he told me. Cam Newton is the worst guy he has ever dealt with in his college career.” But what’s the hoopla all about? He gave a recap of Newton’s stint with the Gators. 

“But the point being that Cam Newton got kicked off the team, as you know. He went to Blinn Junior College… He only played one meaningful year, and on the final play of Cam Newton’s career, Gene Chizik told me this, by the way, the former Auburn coach. He told Cam Newton to take a knee in the national championship game. Cam Newton decided to be Superman and tried to dive over the pile against Oregon, and he failed, nearly fumbling the ball, and they had to kick a field goal to win the national championship. I bring up all this ancient history [because] Cam Newton was selfish. Tim Tebow was the consummate team player.” 

Long story short, drawing this reference, Paul Finebaum wanted to prove a point about Arch Manning. The Longhorns’ star could have pressurized Steve Sarkisian to start him, replacing Quinn Ewers or airing grievances to the media in some way, but he waited for his turn. With a Tebow-esque team-first mindset, Arch quietly puts the Manning vs. Ewers saga to rest.