Nobody really knew the full story until now. Arch Manning put together a solid season in 2025, even though it wasn’t up to the standards of his preseason hype. But Manning not performing up to the ‘Manning’ standards wasn’t because he lacked talent. What his dad, Cooper Manning, just told 247Sports tells another story entirely.

“The injury was something that had been bothering him all year,” Cooper told 247Sports. “He’d been doing therapy for it, and I think he kind of aggravated it in the Texas A&M game the year before on that 15-yard touchdown run he had in 2024. So, he’d been doing therapy on it all year, and finally just said, ‘Look, I want to go ahead and just get this thing fixed and not have to worry about it anymore.”

That’s a quarterback carrying his team through a gauntlet SEC schedule while grinding through constant physical therapy on a foot that eventually needed surgery.

Go back, and it all starts to make sense. That fourth-down 15-yard touchdown run in the 2024 Texas A&M game was apparently when the foot first got really tweaked. Arch kept playing through the 2024 season, did therapy over the winter, and showed up to 2025 spring practices. He then played a full 13-game season before finally deciding enough was enough. 

When Texas stumbled to a 3-2 start and got dropped from the AP Poll entirely, a lot of fans and analysts were scratching their heads, wondering why the offense felt flat. It was most probably the early jitters and mainly the foot. In that 14-7 loss to Ohio State, where Arch completed just 56% of his passes and looked uncomfortable in the pocket, the foot was a real factor. He wasn’t tucking and running the way anyone expected, which stripped away a full dimension of what makes him dangerous. And then, in late October against Mississippi State, while still managing the foot, he took a hit that sent him into concussion protocol after his head hit the turf during overtime.

But the back half of the season was a completely different player. Over the final six games, he completed 62.3% of his passes for 1,714 yards, 14 touchdowns, and just two interceptions. The Citrus Bowl capped it all with a 60-yard touchdown run on a foot that needed surgery a few weeks later, four total touchdowns, and a 41-27 demolition of Michigan. 

Steve Sarkisian said afterward that “nobody was playing better” than Manning by season’s end.

Texas confirmed in January 2026 that Arch Manning had the foot surgically cleaned up. It was a procedure the school described as “minor” and “a preventative measure to address a previous injury.” 

Sarkisian was more candid about it, “He had a lingering thing that he’d been dealing with over a couple of years that we just wanted to clean up. It wasn’t a serious issue at all. It takes time. You do a procedure on a foot; we’re going to be cautious to make sure he’s 100% healthy before he goes.” 

As of late February, Manning was out of the walking boot, but Sarkisian confirmed he will still be limited “especially early on.” The spring practice kicks off on March 9th and runs through the Orange-White Spring Game on April 18th. The coaching staff plans to use the ramp-up period to develop younger quarterbacks like KJ Lacey, Dia Bell, and MJ Morris while not rushing the guy they need healthy for September.​

The 2026 Heisman conversation has already started

The same guy who gutted through an entire season on a bad foot is now being penciled in as one of the favorites to win college football’s most prestigious individual award. 

Oddsmakers haven’t forgotten what Manning looked like in the second half of 2025 when he was actually getting into a rhythm. And they certainly didn’t miss that 60-yard bowl game touchdown run. As of now, BetMGM lists Manning at +800 to win the Heisman, just behind Notre Dame’s CJ Carr at +700. FanDuel has him at +900, firmly in the top three across every major book. 

The race has gotten interesting after Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss received a court-granted sixth year of eligibility. It instantly placed him into the top tier of the odds boards at +800 on FanDuel, creating a three-way scrum at the top between him, Carr, and Manning.

The Heisman tends to reward production on winning teams in big moments. Manning already proved he can deliver the latter. The only question left is whether a clean bill of health finally lets everyone see the full picture.