Being a generational player is always tough. And when the Texas Longhorns signed Arch Manning, they knew they were looking at their future. That future did not come until 2025, nor did it come the way they wanted. From his debut against Ohio State, the first few weeks were anything but a good run for the team. But while Manning did not swim into one of the names to look forward to, he definitely floated towards the crossing line. And as he heads into Year 2 as a starter, his father, Cooper Manning, also agrees.

“Arch is good. He’s excited for his fourth year in Austin, and he’s home for the month of May,” Arch’s father, Cooper Manning, said on the Mark Romig Show when asked how his son is doing. “They give him a little time, so it’s fun to see him evolve and grow up. He’s already been through a lot of stuff for a college kid.

“He’s been hyped up and then torn down a little bit, and then people have believed him again, and so, I think those are all great things that happened in college, and I’m proud that he chose a school and stuck with it. [He] enjoyed the highs and lows and made a lot of great friends, and you know, people like him in Austin.”

Before becoming the QB1, he had already become one of the most talked-about players in college football. During the 2024 season, fans were asking Steve Sarkisian to start Arch Manning whenever they saw Quinn Ewers having a bad game. But the SEC was never going to be a cakewalk for anyone, much less a first-year starter. And when he completed just 17 of his 30 passes against Ohio State, no one waited to get his footing set.

“It was underwhelming,” prominent SEC Network analyst Paul Finebaum said about that game. “He was uncomfortable. Just fill in the blank here. Mostly, he was terrible. The biggest problem he had was that the other side completely outmatched him. Not only offensively and physically, but scheme-wise.”

However, the offensive woes weren’t entirely on the QB1.

The offensive line struggled through stretches of the season. Protection broke down at key moments. Yet like most quarterbacks, Arch absorbed much of the criticism publicly. Not just that, he was also dealing with a lingering injury throughout the season. Cooper Manning later revealed that his son had been managing a foot issue stemming from an earlier injury.

“The injury was something that had been bothering him all year,” Arch’s father said in March to Chip Brown of Horns247. “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 touchdown run he had. 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.'”

Not many players have faced the kind of media scrutiny young Arch has faced in his short collegiate career. From analysts talking about him being a generational prospect to busting him in just one day, it’s a roller coaster ride no one would want to endure. ESPN’s Desmond Howard, for instance, went as far as to say that “analysts were scared to criticize Arch Manning.” But amid all that, Arch started to find his rhythm when Texas’ O-line and overall offense improved.

Arch Manning finally found his ‘comfort zone’ at Texas

By mid-season, Arch stopped forcing throws and let plays develop, a shift that transformed Texas’ offense. It reflected in the Longhorns’ wins over Oklahoma and Texas A&M. Later came a huge bowl game against Michigan, where Arch finished with more than 370 total yards and four touchdowns. In fact, over Texas’ final stretch, the quarterback played some of his best football.

The Longhorns won six of their final seven games. Arch produced 15 total touchdowns while recording only one interception in the final five games. That turnaround had an effect on all the media coverage, public scrutiny, and analyst takes Arch had to endure over the last three years. Even his father acknowledged that.

“You kind of have to earn your stripes, and so he has, I think, a lot of respect from his teammates, and they love and care about him, and vice versa. I mean, he has guys that he says, ‘Dad, I’d do anything for that guy.’ That’s the kind of relationship you want. I’m glad that he’s cultivated a great rapport,” Cooper Manning said.

Heading into 2026, the conversation around Arch feels different. The hype is still there. The Heisman talk remains as Steve Sarkisian added offensive weapons from the portal.