How Steve Sarkisian wants Arch Manning to manage the mania around him

Have you heard about all the attention surrounding not just the No. 1 Texas Longhorns, but also their quarterback room? Quinn Ewers, a Heisman hopeful and a first-round pick candidate in the 2025 draft, is out for this weekend’s game against the ULM Warhawks due to an abdominal strain.

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In his place will be Arch Manning, another No. 1 overall prospect who comes from the most famous football family in the country and whose standout performance against UTSA earned him SEC Co-Freshman of the Week honors.

Let’s ride 🤘@ArchManning pic.twitter.com/MzmCBnYi75

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The entire country is paying some sort of attention in one way or another to the Texas quarterback situation. Every major outlet that covers college football blasted an update out when Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian declared Manning would start against ULM on Saturday. Noise is anywhere you look.

Almost anywhere. The Texas program is doing all it can to ignore the hubbub related to Manning’s first start, and that’s something that starts at the top.

“I honestly have no idea,” Sarkisian said Wednesday. “I don’t pay any attention to it. We focus on what we do.”

He’d continue, “we try to stay really consistent with our approach, the way we coach our players, the way we motivate our players, the way we prepare. So we don’t pay a lot of attention to what outside anything is, quite frankly.”

That sentiment is common among football coaches. New England Patriots great Bill Belichick boiled the idea down to three simple words: do your job.

Despite all the attention on Manning, the son of Cooper, nephew of Peyton and Eli, and grandson of Archie, his task against ULM remains simple even with all the hype and excitement around him starting for the No. 1 team in the country. Sarkisian believes Manning will be able to do everything he asks, just as No. 16 did last week.

“Arch is more than capable, as I think we all know,” Sarkisian said. “He’s got a lot of confidence in his teammates and trust from his teammates to go out and play. Had a really good week of work. He understands the plan. But it’s different. It’s different when you’re the starting quarterback as opposed to coming in cold off the bench as a backup. Different challenge for him but I know he’ll be more than ready to go out and operate and play football at a high level.”

Manning is no stranger to the spotlight. Ever since he was a sophomore at New Orleans (La.) Isidore Newman, the eyes of more than just the recruiting world have been on him. Not only was he the No. 1 overall prospect in his class, but he’s also a Manning. Between his uncles on ESPN, his dad diving into the media world, and his family’s overall presence in the sport, there’s been pressure on Arch whether he’s realized it or not for a long time.

Sarkisian has worked hard to relieve much of that pressure. Manning has only been available to the media twice during his time at Texas. One occasion was in the leadup to the 2024 Sugar Bowl when the College Football Playoff mandated that every player be made available to the media. The other was following last week’s game against UTSA, when there was no way Texas was going to leave the player who was just responsible for five touchdowns away from the microphone.

Approaching Saturday, Sarkisian hopes those tasks are ones Manning can look back on as easy compared to what happens in practice and within the program.

“We try to put as much stress and as much pressure on them on a daily basis on the field so that when they do get in the environment of playing in front of 100,000 people, they’re comfortable,” Sarkisian said.

The spotlight will be on Manning once again, but this time whenever the Longhorn offense takes the field, Manning won’t be watching with an earpiece in from the sidelines. Ewers will. Manning will be with the first offense in a game with a margin no larger than one possession for the first time in his career.

No matter what the last name is on a player, or what a team is ranked, there’s a job that must be done by the starting quarterback. It will look a bit different for Manning this week, but he carries high expectations from the staff.

“Execute,” Sarkisian said. “One thing when you come in cold off the bench like he got thrown into last week and what I really appreciated about him, he really executed the offense whether it was the passing game, the motions, shifts, all the stuff, him having to pull it and run. He executed. That was almost a reaction to go in.

“Now he’s had all week to really study the game plan, know the openers, things of that nature. My goal is I don’t want him to overanalyze and get himself into paralysis by analysis state. I want him to play football.”

Sarkisian mentioned he might not levy large leadership expectations on Manning in his first start. It is ULM after all, but he also knows that’s one of many parts of Manning’s game that must be developed. There’s also on-field aspects from Manning that indicate the former five-star is still a redshirt freshmen. He was 9-for-12 last week, and the three incompletions weren’t drops but missed throws.

“I don’t think he has to focus on leading right now,” Sarkisian said. “I think he needs to focus on knowing what he’s supposed to do and playing at a high level.”

Sarkisian said Manning prepares each week like he’s the starter. For Manning to finally become the starter is something a lot of football fans around the country have anticipated, though there has not been nor will there be a quarterback controversy when Ewers returns. Sarkisian’s national championship aspirations that he spoke about Thursday include Ewers as his QB1.

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But Ewers’ march is on hold for at least a week as Manning steps in for the Longhorns’ starter against ULM. It’s been highly anticipated, this extended action from Archie’s grandson, but it’s a moment Manning, Sarkisian, and the program have prepared for since Archibald arrived stepped on campus.