Eli Manning 'excited' for Arch Manning recruiting process

Ole Miss legend Eli Manning is in Oxford, Mississippi this weekend for Eli Manning Day, as the Rebels face off against the LSU Tigers. While he was at the M-Club Hall of Fame on Thursday, Manning took a few questions from reporters.

One of them asked if he was excited about his nephew, Arch Manning and the college football recruiting process he’s currently going through. Arch Manning is ranked as the nation’s No. 1 overall prospect in the 2023 recruiting class, according to On3.

“I’m excited for Arch and everything he’s going through. I have not seen him play in person just with everything going on. So I’ve been able to stream some games and talk to him and keep up with him. So I’m excited for him to just go through it,” Manning said.

One of Eli’s biggest pieces of advice to his nephew is to just enjoy the moments of being in high school and playing with some of the best friends in his life.

“I told him just, ‘Hey, just enjoy being a junior in high school,”Eli said. “This is a great time in your life. Playing football with your best friends and guys that you’ve grown up with, and you’ve played little league baseball with, and you’ve played football at recess with, in your whole life. Try to win a state championship.

“You kind of keep the focus on that and you’ll figure out the right spot to go to college and everything after that.'”

It could be easy for Arch Manning to lose sight of just staying in the present moment, but there’s no questioning he has handled the whole recruiting process incredibly well.

He’s one of the most hyped recruits in college football recruiting history, yet he doesn’t seem fazed by all the attention, hype, or hoopla. He’s been trained incredibly well by his grandfather (Archie), his two uncles (Peyton and Eli), and his father (Cooper).

All of them have plenty of experience in dealing with media and all of the attention that comes with being a top football prospect in America. Their experiences in the process have undoubtedly served Arch Manning well, but his personality has seemed unflappable regardless throughout the entire recruiting process.

Eli Manning’s Ole Miss bio

He played at Ole Miss from 2000-2004, starting his final three seasons. During his time with the Rebels, the Louisiana native threw for 10,119 yards and 81 touchdowns, completing over 60 percent of his passes. He earned the Maxwell Award, was named first-team All-SEC, and won SEC Offensive Player of the Year in 2003 after throwing for 3,600 yards and 29 touchdowns.

He holds the Rebels all-time records for passing yards and passing touchdowns. In addition, he is tied for first in the Rebels’ single season passing touchdown record and the single game record for passing touchdowns.

Arch Manning and Isidore Newman (4-1) (New Orleans) suit up against Berkley Prep (7-0) on Friday night. Kickoff is set for 8:00 p.m. EST. The game will be nationally televised on ESPNU.

On3’s Tim Verghese also contributed to this report.