Column: With famous names and familiar pressure, Texas is making the Arch Manning story different than Chris Simms'

Texas brought in a highly-touted five-star quarterback whose last name was from one of the most recognizable families in football. With high expectations and national attention, the 6-foot-4, 225-pound-or-so pocket passer with underrated athleticism became a national focus ahead of and during his time on the 40 Acres.

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You know I’m talking about Chris Simms, right?

The Texas football program has been here before when it comes to elite quarterbacks with famous last names, well before Steve Sarkisian earned a commitment from Arch Manning in the summer of 2022. From Simms’ joining Mack Brown‘s program out of Franklin Lakes (N.J.) Ramapo, a detail I’ll never forget reading on the old north end zone score board, to Manning joining Sarkisian’s program from New Orleans (La.) Isidore Newman, there’s a precedent for this type of situation at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

Sarkisian can succeed where Brown didn’t fail, but rather fell short when it came to handling quarterbacks early in his Texas tenure.

Simms, who never received the level of respect he deserved for his time at Texas, remains a steadfast Longhorns fan as evidenced by his support of UT draft prospects and the joy he had speaking with Sarkisian on “Chris Simms Unbuttoned.” It’s clear that his heart remains burnt orange, but maybe not all of his spleen.

Like everyone else, Simms is captivated by Manning and the potential he offers the Texas Longhorns, especially in his current role as a prominent NFL analyst for NBC.

“Arch Manning, that’s all I get,” Simms said. “Manning, famous last name. My last name. Anywhere I go, a gym, a restaurant, wherever I see somebody that’s a Texas alum, and we’ve got them up here in the northeast, too, or just a football fan, it’s always Arch Manning. What’s up with Arch Manning?”

Sarkisian has been on an interview tour of sorts this offseason and his answer to questions about Manning are almost said by rote.

Credit to Manning and Quinn Ewers.

Take away the last name and he’s a great teammate.

Gives the offense a new dimension.

So on and so forth.

Though there are numerous similarities to the Manning situation and to Simms’ career at Texas, Sarkisian has a chance to abruptly end the through line that connects the two legacy quarterbacks.

There was no shortage of Texas fans and observers from around the country who wanted or expected to see Manning take over for Ewers ahead of 2023, but Ewers and Maalik Murphy relegated Manning to third on the depth chart. Ahead of 2024, similar applied. Yet Ewers remained the starter.

The clamoring grew louder at difficult points of the season. Manning’s starts. Georgia. Vanderbilt.

Though Manning carved a role out for himself as the season progressed, the job remained Ewers’ until his declaration for the NFL draft.

Aside from the program’s rise from his initial 5-7 season, managing his quarterback room I believe stands as one of Sarkisian’s best accomplishments at Texas. So many of his peers in the head coaching ranks are unable to keep quality options (note the plural) in their quarterback rooms.

Yet Sarkisian not only kept Ewers in the fold and squeezed every bit he could from him, he also retained Manning for two seasons ahead of his rise to the QB1 role in 2025.

That’s in contrast to one of the first coaches to bungle a situation similar to this in the recruiting rankings era.

Simms would likely admit he did himself no favors with his limousine arrival at Texas, especially when incumbent starter and fan favorite Major Applewhite had already been around. Simms had his opportunities to play as a freshman, appearances greater in number than Manning’s during his freshman year, but the ensuing years were messy and cost Texas opportunities at greater achievements than 10-win seasons and Holiday Bowls.

Brown simply went back and forth far too often. 1999 belonged to Applewhite, and the Longhorns finished 9-5 with losses to Nebraska and Arkansas to close out the year. 2000 saw switches, switches, and more switches. 2001, Applewhite’s final year on campus, saw Texas make a run to the Big 12 Championship game to face a Colorado team the Longhorns already defeated 41-7.

By that point, Simms was the No. 1 quarterback. The job had become his.

But there’s a point to be made that the lack of proper development partly attributable to swapping Simms and Applewhite caught up to the Longhorns in that Big 12 Championship. Simms threw three interceptions versus the Buffaloes, I was there in Texas Stadium to witness all three of them, and the favors done by Tennessee and LSU in the days leading up were not capitalized on despite Applewhite’s best comeback efforts.

Two decades of time have passed and some murky memories of details may leave behind some of the elements that made that situation what it was. But even to this day, when discussing quarterback battles, anyone in the UT sphere knows the Simms versus Applewhite debate was the fiercest of them all. There’s little doubt in my mind that affected those involved in it.

Simms, unencumbered in his senior season, had a phenomenal 2002 without a fan-favorite looking over his shoulder. Vince Young was redshirting, after all. Simms passed for over 3000 yards, had 26 touchdowns, and helped Texas defeat Nick Saban‘s LSU in the 2003 Cotton Bowl before becoming a third-round selection in the NFL draft.

So many parts of that story could have been different and could have led to greater successes for the Longhorns, including a trip to Pasadena to play for the national championship against the 2001 Miami Hurricanes.

Who knows what would have ha– never mind, I can’t go that far.

But for every wrong decision made by all involved in the early 2000s, Sarkisian has made the right one at every step when handling the latest and greatest member of a prominent football family.

Simms questioned Sarkisian about Manning for his pro football audience because he knows the first round of the draft will likely feature Arch in a few years.

But as there often is with Simms, you could see the excitement he had in talking about his fellow Longhorns.

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And maybe it’s because he sees how Sarkisian handled a delicate quarterback situation differently than Brown did a quarter century ago, and knows the changes Sark made to the process have Manning and the Longhorns set up for the successes Simms fell short of during his time in Austin.