Arch Manning’s 2025 season has been put under a microscope more than any other player in college football. From failed expectations, regression in the initial season, and unmet pre-season hype, young Arch was destined to be a victim of media hype, regardless of his performance. But behind those on-field performance analyses, the 21-year-old shaped himself as an unrelenting leader in the locker room, something his teammate, Michael Taaffe, explained in detail.

Texas DB Michael Taaffe appeared on On3’s January 31 podcast episode and talked about how Arch Manning handled the intense pressure and acted as a glue in the locker room. “I will be the number one guy to defend Arch Manning because of who he is in the locker room. What he did to get the guys’ trust in the offseason,” Taaffe explained. “The type of leader he was in the offseason.

“Nobody understands when you’re throwing picks and when you’re throwing balls in the dirt to still get in that huddle and say, ‘All right, guys, trust me, I know I just threw a bad pass, but trust me, we’re going to go march down 35 yards and win this game.’ That’s really, really tough to do,” Michael Taaffe added. Before the 2025 season started, Arch’s unrelenting dedication to his team was prominent.

During Texas’s winter workouts in January 2025, a photo went viral that showed the Texas QB1 intensely rallying his team and hyping up his teammates during drills. That initially set Arch Manning’s image as taking the leadership role, despite being a first-year starter. Thereafter, multiple reports emerged that showed Manning to have gone “old school” to foster a bond with his teammates.

When other players in the NIL era chose to rent apartments and homes for themselves to live in, Arch Manning chose to follow the tradition his uncles Eli and Peyton Manning followed. He ditched the rental home and lived in the campus dorm with his teammates, despite being a QB with a $6.5 million NIL valuation.

“He was the same leader from game one, where everybody was bashing him, to game 13 in Michigan, when everybody’s saying he’s going to be a future Heisman next year,” Michael Taaffe said. “So, credit to him. He never got too high, never got too low. Obviously, he showed his emotions throughout it, but that’s what a competitor does, and he wanted more than what he was playing at.”

In June 2025, Arch also posted a photo with his teammates and friends at a cookout, wearing a shirt that read “Dopamine Dealer.” Naturally, the team rallied behind him, and he paid it back even when he was struggling and not playing a clean game himself.

Arch orchestrated a third-down 25-yard scramble in the fourth quarter and waved goodbye to Sooners’ fans, oozing confidence and rallying his teammates together. Texas won emphatically 23-6, and Arch elevated his game from then on. Now coming back for one more season in 2026, he has turned off the background noise and is focusing solely on leading Texas to a national championship.

Arch Manning’s father Cooper shuts out Heisman “noise” for his son

In 2025, Arch Manning passed for 3,163 yards and rushed for another 399 yards. Never mind his 155-yard rushing performance against Michigan for two touchdowns. Despite that, questions remain about his early-season struggle when his efficiency dropped even below 50% in games like UTEP and Kentucky. Though the 21-year old never shied away from accountability and even took the blame in post-game pressers. It’s just that in 2026, he is upping it a notch.

“Those sorts of things are not even discussed,” Arch’s father, Cooper Manning, said about Arch’s Heisman hype. “Any sort of individual awards and all that stuff is just noise. He could give a hoot about any of that stuff. It’s all about being with your teammates, trying to get better individually, but also as an offense, and executing. If you do that, you know good things will happen.”

Arch Manning was the Heisman favorite in the 2025 season, per FanDuel. Returning in 2026, he is the favorite again with +600 odds. However, this time the Texas QB1 is keeping his head down, preparing for the battle, and his goal is to finally lead Texas to its national championship title. Awards like the Heisman will come along in the process, but that’s not at all a priority for the young QB.