Cooper Manning knows the glare of the media spotlight. He’s not only the oldest of former New Orleans Saints star quarterback Archie Manning’s three sons, but also the big brother of Eli Manning, who led the New York Giants to two Super Bowls and was named MVP in both games, and to Peyton Manning, a first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer who won five NFL MVPs and two Super Bowls.
Cooper and his wife, Ellen, did their best to deflect as much attention as possible when their oldest son, Arch, emerged in high school as a gifted young athlete. The family tried to keep things as normal as possible as he went through the college recruiting process. A lot of pressure and attention come with being The Next Manning.
Still, when Arch Manning took over as Texas’ starting quarterback and the Longhorns — ranked No. 1 in the preseason 2025 AP poll — visited defending national champion Ohio State last August, Cooper admits he didn’t really know how his son would respond to all that was about to come at him.
That didn’t just mean the Buckeyes.
The Longhorns lost 14-7 in that season opener, and a month later they were upset by a 1-3 Florida team. Against the Gators, Arch, playing behind an offensive line that returned only one starter from the previous season, was sacked six times in a 29-21 loss, as Texas fell to 3-2. It shouldn’t have been shocking that Manning got off to a shaky start. Most college quarterbacks, whether they’re former five-star recruits or two-star players, do. Then again, most quarterbacks aren’t a Manning.
The criticism reached a level perhaps no college quarterback had ever faced before. A column in The Athletic referred to Manning’s start as “a flop.” The Ringer examined the “Arch Manning experience vs. the Arch Manning industrial complex.” Other outlets analyzed his weak moments in games.
Cooper said that was one of the moments when, as a father, he felt that it was best to log off.
“I think being a parent of someone who’s being critiqued on every little move is definitely a challenging spot,” he said recently. “There’s a lot of people in this sports world that have opinions, and there’s only a small portion of them that are qualified to have them or that I would respect listening to, so you gotta pick your spots carefully. And that goes both ways when they’re saying nice things, you know that can flip on a day or a dime.”
Being ranked No. 1 in the preseason only escalated the expectations.
“If they were the 20th-ranked team, which they probably should’ve been, and they got beat by seven at Ohio State, it wouldn’t be the end of the world,” Cooper said. “But all the fluff and the nonsense that comes with it, and it adds to the useless banter that goes on. I’ve learned to limit what I read and listen to. It’s actually quite liberating.”
The elder Manning knew that with quarterbacks, especially, there is a rush to write off players too soon, and that critics often don’t possess a deep understanding of the position or the time and reps it takes to excel at it. There are multiple examples of quarterbacks who blossomed after being labeled busts earlier in their careers: Bo Nix, for example, looked a lot more like a five-star later in his college career at Oregon than he did earlier at Auburn.
“People would try to downgrade the whole thing in one little week or two, it’s kinda silly,” Cooper said. “It’ll start all over again, and then he’ll be hyped up again this offseason — it’s coming, and he’ll have some bad games next year, and here it comes again.
“The coverage of sports is over the top, and there are too many people doing it. It’s no different than when they were saying he was the greatest thing since sliced bread early in the season before he’d ever played.”
Texas finished 10-3, ending up No. 12 in the AP poll after the Longhorns won seven of their last eight games, including wins over four ranked teams. Arch settled in, finishing his debut season as starting QB with 26 passing touchdowns against seven interceptions, plus 10 rushing touchdowns. Injuries to running backs CJ Baxter and Quintrevion Wisner earlier in the season added to Texas’ offensive issues. The Longhorns looked a lot better later in the season than they did at the beginning.
“Texas had a lot of guys, just like Arch, making their first starts (in 2025),” Cooper said. “They had a lot of youth, had a lot of turnover on the offensive line. Some guys started Week 1 and didn’t play very much the rest of the year. The receivers were brand new. Had a lot of new faces across the board. It didn’t really surprise me that it kinda went that way.”
In Texas’ last five games, Manning threw 11 touchdowns and one pick. His numbers against ranked opponents were better than against unranked opponents. He ran for 7.4 yards per carry against Top 25 teams and ran for twice as many yards versus ranked opponents, despite playing one fewer game against them.
The Red River Rivalry felt like a turning point, Cooper said. Facing No. 6 Oklahoma, Arch went 21 of 27 with zero turnovers, and the offense went 10 for 17 on third downs against one of the nation’s best defenses in a 23-6 win.
Cooper said that he was pleasantly surprised with how his son handled the season.
“You kind of expect everything, and we got a little bit of everything,” he said. “But I think just the way Arch handled the tough times. He didn’t like it, certainly, but he was kind of grittier and tougher. … When it wasn’t going great early, he was still confident. He was almost kinda confused about why it wasn’t working. like, ‘What’s going on here? I know I’m better than that.’
“As parents, you just try to say, ‘Hey, keep working hard. Keep your head down. It’s all gonna work out.’ And that’s really all you can say because you’re not at practice, you’re not calling the plays. You’re not really in the weeds. You’re just a parent trying to be supportive. I was proud of the way he handled adversity, and he ended up getting better every week, which I really thought was something fun to see.”
Manning said his son grew and learned more over the past season than he had at any point in his life. Not just how to win some close games, but “what he can do, and if he does what the coaches say, and he does what he’s been taught — and not try to overdo things or not try to overthink it — good things are gonna happen.”
One factor Arch dealt with last season that neither his grandfather nor his famous uncles experienced as players was constantly being photographed or filmed in public. Heading into last season, it was still something he was trying to figure out how to manage. Now, Cooper said, his son has just gotten used to it.
“We were in an airport the other day in Dallas — a layover with his brother — and we had people lined up,” Cooper said in an interview with The Athletic as part of a Capital One Venture X media tour. “All the waiters from the restaurant were coming over. We had everyone just coming to sit next to him and take a picture. Sit next to him and take a picture. Ellen was just taking pictures. It’s just part of the deal now. For anybody who starts to get known in a hurry, it’s an adjustment. He tries to put his hoodie on and just try to be a regular guy, but I think those days are over.”
The Mannings know that expectations for Texas and Arch will spike back up heading into the 2026 season. Texas received the third-most votes to win the national title among The Athletic’s college football staff, and Arch received the second-most votes behind Jeremiah Smith to win the 2026 Heisman Trophy.
The message from the Mannings, though, will be the same one they’ve shared with Arch since before he was a high school quarterback.
“It’s a similar conversation as you had in eighth grade, and in freshman year of high school and college,” Cooper said. “Hey: Work hard. Be a good guy. Enjoy it. Have fun and just play. You’re gonna win or you’re gonna lose. It’s all gonna be OK at the end of the day.”
