Urban Meyer credits Manning family for downplaying Quinn Ewers, Arch Manning debate
Texas quarterback Arch Manning took center stage when Longhorns’ starter Quinn Ewers left Saturday’s game against UTSA with an injury early in the second quarter. Allowing the former five-star freshman with one of the most famous last names in football to play in the most significant snaps of his college career.
Manning’s impressive performance naturally came with outside noise on if there’s a quarterback controversy now in Austin. Which has been proceeded by some dialogue about the talented signal caller transferring out of the Texas program after sitting behind Ewers last season.
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But through it all Manning has stayed the course and trusted the process at Texas. Which former head coach Urban Meyer credited to the mentors he has in his corner in a recent conversation with Mark Ingram and Rob Stone on The Triple Option.
“I’ve talked to other coaches about it, it drives you absolutely insane when you see people leave a great situation and you’re like why the hell did you just do that?” Meyer asked. “Cooper Manning was on our show a couple weeks ago and I grabbed him, and I know you did too Mark, and I imagine Rob you talked to him. And I just said the decisions you guys have made so far for this guy have been phenomenal.”
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The transfer portal has risen in prominence with college football teams leaving programs more frequently than ever before. But according to Meyer, players receiving poor advice from those in their circle is a story as old as time, and one Arch Manning surely doesn’t have to worry about given the pedigree of those closest to him.
“I call them the third uncle, and the third uncle would be that guy that comes in Mark and all of a sudden he’s sitting in the meeting with the coach and you’re like who is this guy? Why is he here? He has an interest and it’s usually him,” Meyer explained.
“I was pretty crude about it too … Where’s your father? Where’s family?” Meyer would asked. “Because the way God created young people, they’re usually a mess, they have to listen. Every young person in my experience listens to someone. 17, 18-year-olds are not equipped to make life-changing decisions, so who are they listening too?”
Along with dealing with misguided players, Meyer has also dealt with his fair share of quarterback controversies during his head coaching career. Highlighted by players like Tim Tebow, Chris Leak, Cam Newton, Joe Burrow, and the late Dwayne Haskins. Making it clear that despite Manning’s 276 total yards and 5 total touchdowns this weekend, Ewers is still QB1 for Texas in his eyes.
“I think it’s all a credit to the Manning family, I would lean on that. Quinn Ewers is your starter boys until he beats him out and doing well against Texas San Antonio, that’s a warm up show … So Quinn Ewers has beat Alabama at Bama. Quinn Ewers beat the Wolverines badly at Ann Arbor. He’s your starting quarterback,” Meyer said.
Manning will likely receive his first career start this Saturday in place of an injured Ewers against Louisiana-Monroe. An opponent he’ll likely excel against once again in a weekend that’s bound to generate even more buzz for the Texas quarterback position.