Kirk Bohls cracks joke over potential Arch Manning growing pains as Texas starter

Arch Manning‘s official debut as the Texas Longhorns‘ starting quarterback is still more than five months away. Of course, that hasn’t inhibited any of the palpable buzz coming out of Austin as the former No. 1 overall recruit in 2023 hits the practice field this Spring as QB1.

The Longhorns are two weeks into their Spring practice schedule, and while there hasn’t been much verifiable evidence available coming from the closed practices, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian gave an encouraging update on the much-ballyhooed nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning earlier last week.

During a Wednesday appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show, Houston Chronicle beat writer Kirk Bohls made light of the elevated hype coming from Longhorn fans while acknowleding Texas could be in for some initial “growing pains” while Manning adjusts to his new role next season.

“Well it’s funny, we got to meet with Steve a week or so ago for the first time since that notorious finish in the Cotton Bowl against Ohio State, and he did have one troubling statement, Paul, when he said about Arch Manning: ‘He’s not going to throw a touchdown on every pass,'” Bohls deadpanned. “I think that kind of shook everybody. Maybe he’s talking about a touchdown every other pass, which would probably be acceptable to Longhorn Nation. But there’s going to be growing pains, as well all know. You go from Quinn Ewers, who won 27 games and started about 35 games to Arch Manning, who started two. But the other thing he’s got is three offensive starters coming back. They’ve got a massive rebuilding job on the offensive line, … the wide receiver room. … He’s got a lot of rebuilding to do.”

Cover your ears, Longhorn fans…@kbohls has a hard truth to share about Arch Manning: pic.twitter.com/B6M1bVwufZ

— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) March 19, 2025

Steve Sarkisian: Arch Manning ‘doesn’t want to leave any stone unturned’

A key part of Manning’s commitment to his craft has been a complete embrace of his new role as Austin’s new sheriff in town.

“Now that we’ve kind of embarked on the 2025 season, I just continue to see a guy that’s taken it and is really trying to really go for it. He just doesn’t want to leave any stone unturned. He’s working at his craft,”  Sarkisian said during a March 10 pre-Spring press conference. “He’s working so hard in the offseason conditioning runs. He’s now setting up those voluntary throwing sessions with the receivers during the week or on the weekend. He’s breaking the team down. All those natural things that a quarterback has to do to instill belief in his teammates, to instill belief in the staff, he’s doing it.”

While serving as Quinn Ewers’ much-ballyhooed backup QB through his first two seasons in Austin, Manning established himself as a playmaker. He combined for 1,084 total yards and 13 touchdowns — most of that coming last season in a complimentary role.

Now, as THE guy in Texas’ pro-style offense, Manning is all-in on the opportunity ahead of him. And Sarkisian couldn’t be happier with what he’s seen from the NFL and SEC legacy.

“More importantly for him, which I love, he’s having fun doing it. And it doesn’t feel like he’s working this. He’s playing the game of football, he’s being a great teammate,” Sarkisian added. “There’s going to be bumps in the road, that’s part of it. I’d love for him to go out and throw a touchdown every pass that he throws, but that’s not a reality. And he’s going to hear the murmurs from the crowd, and that’s part of it too. That’s part of playing this position. But in the end, I think he’s enjoying the process of it and he loves his teammates. I’m really proud of him up to this point. We’ve got a long way to go still.”