For a family synonymous with quarterbacking greatness, a debut loss is more than just a statistic; it’s a public trial. The Texas loss turned into a gut punch for Arch Manning. And for the first time, his father, Cooper Manning, is pulling back the curtain on the emotional toll it took on his son.

Cooper Manning knows better than most what it feels like to watch your child carry the weight of the world on their shoulders. The pressure increases especially when it’s the grandson of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning. Plus, becoming the nephew of Super Bowl‑winning quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning, that pressure meter goes up a notch.

“I think being a parent of someone who’s being critiqued on every little move is definitely a challenging spot,” Cooper shared a heartbreaking insight into the matter. “There’s a lot of people in this sports world that have opinions, and there’s only a small portion of them that are qualified to have them or that I would respect listening to, so you gotta pick your spots carefully. That goes both ways when they’re saying nice things, you know that can flip on a day or a dime.”

With the No. 1 preseason ranking, Heisman rumors, and speculation that he might be the first pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, there was an insane amount of pressure on Arch. He completed 17 of 30 passes for 170 yards, a touchdown, and an interception in the first game against Ohio State, which ended in a heartbreaking loss. The media went absolutely livid with the backlash.

When the games against UTEP and Florida didn’t turn out as hoped, the football world was quick to react, and the pressure kept mounting. Cooper understands this well. Considering he’s a first-year starter and the offensive line went on a rebuild, his numbers weren’t too bad at all.

“If they were the 20th-ranked team, which they probably should’ve been, and they got beat by seven at Ohio State, it wouldn’t be the end of the world,” Cooper said. “But all the fluff and the nonsense that comes with it, and it adds to the useless banter that goes on. I’ve learned to limit what I read and listen to. It’s actually quite liberating.”

Still, through the chaos, Cooper was struck by the way Arch carried himself even when the game wasn’t going right.

“You kind of expect everything, and we got a little bit of everything,” he said. “But I think just the way Arch handled the tough times. He didn’t like it, certainly, but he was kind of grittier and tougher. When it wasn’t going great early, he was still confident. He was almost kinda confused about why it wasn’t working, like, ‘What’s going on here? I know I’m better than that.’”

Even amid the media backlash, Arch Manning’s mental fortitude complemented his physical skill set. For a guy thrown straight into the brightest college football stage, it was a weird, messy mix of knowing he could do better and getting frustrated that things weren’t clicking right away.

“As parents, you just try to say, ‘Hey, keep working hard. Keep your head down. It’s all gonna work out.’ That’s really all you can say because you’re not at practice, you’re not calling the plays. You’re not really in the weeds. You’re just a parent trying to be supportive. I was proud of the way he handled adversity, and he ended up getting better every week, which I really thought was something fun to see.”

Although he had a tough opening, he ended the season well, picking up 14 touchdowns and 1714 yards in his last six games. The Longhorns ended up 10-3, and the headlines didn’t stop while Manning was still figuring things out on the field. And naturally, not everyone has been convinced.

The rocky path ahead for Arch Manning

One NFL scout didn’t hold back, saying Arch’s processing “is too slow right now,” and while his athleticism can bail him out, he tends to lean on it too much. “His athleticism is apparent and saved him quite a bit this year,” the scout said. Then came the blow with him admitting, “If his last name wasn’t Manning, you wouldn’t have asked me about him.”

Cooper Manning has seen this play out before, and he knows the cycle is never-ending.

“People would try to downgrade the whole thing in one little week or two, it’s kinda silly,” he said. “It’ll start all over again, and then he’ll be hyped up again this offseason.”

Still, the guy keeps grinding after undergoing minor foot surgery as a preventive measure, which has limited his offseason practice. But he’ll be back for spring football. Now that Coach Sarkisian has made some key additions, Arch has the pieces around him to chase that CFP run next season.