Steve Sarkisian on dynamic between Quinn Ewers, Arch Manning: 'Relationship is very healthy'

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian knows he’s spoiled with Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning in the quarterback room.

As Manning develops in Year 2, Ewers will take the starting quarterback mantle once again in 2024. Despite the hype around Manning, a former five-star prospect and No. 1 recruit, the relationship with incumbent starter Ewers is “healthy.”

God forbid something happens to Ewers, Sarkisian has full confidence in Manning and it’s in part to the quarterback’s relationship in the room.

“I don’t take that for granted,” Sarkisian said on College Sports Radio on Sirius XM. “You know, there’s a lot of other schools out there with one guy and what happens if something happens to him? So again, we’re in a good spot and those guys are working hard, doing a great job and I think their rapport together, you know, the way they work together and push each other and make each other better. The relationship they have is very healthy.”

As far as the scrimmage for both quarterbacks, Ewers was awesome according to Sarkisian. If he didn’t have all of that experience under his belt, Ewers and Manning might’ve been in the hottest quarterback battle.

“Last Saturday we had a pretty extensive scrimmage, about 130 plays and I thought Quinn really played lights out,” Sarkisian said. “And it’s, you know, we’ve got a ton of new faces in that receiver room and in the tight end room. So it’s been a little bit of a work in progress of getting that rapport. Guys are working hard and we’re trying to get all that done. But I thought Quinn played at a really high level.”

As alluded to before, Sarkisian knows if Ewers goes down with an injury, or something else out of the ordinary, Manning is ready to go.

“And then as you know, like we’re extremely fortunate to have to have Arch with us too,” Sarkisian said. “You know, very rarely in this day and age you just stroll through a season with one quarterback. And the fact that we’ve got a guy there in Arch that we’ve got a lot of faith in and can go in and play the game at a high level, but also continue to work at his craft. And, you know, I think him being here for a couple of years with Quinn. You know, hopefully when his time comes, he’s ready to play at any level as well.”