Texas' Arch Manning is the Taylor Swift of backup quarterbacks

NEW ORLEANS — For almost the entire 45-minute session with the media covering Monday’s Sugar Bowl, the star of the moment held court on Saturday before a rapt audience. Arch Manning dazzled with his polish and poise as well as his deadpan sense of humor.

While seven featured teammates did interviews from risers and another 19 had separate tables — even punter Ryan Sanborn and three running backs — upward of 25 or more reporters at a time crowded around the Longhorns' boyish-looking quarterback sitting on a bench along the sideline, picking his brain.

That’d, uh, be the backup quarterback.

But we all know Manning is no ordinary backup. In fact, until true backup Maalik Murphy announced a few weeks ago that he was transferring to Duke, Manning was third-string. He even worked with the scout team for a few weeks.

Never has there been so much fuss over an 18-year-old college athlete who most likely won’t even set foot on the Superdome field for Monday's College Football Playoff semifinal game against No. 2 Washington.

That said, Manning did kid that maybe he’d ask head coach Steve Sarkisian if he could “return a kick.”

Manning does throw to receivers Xavier Worthy and Adonai Mitchell, who stick around after practice, but he still doesn’t get any reps with the first team. Those are reserved for Quinn Ewers, you know, the actual starting quarterback who basically drew little interest from the press during Saturday's media day.

For sure, Manning is champing at the bit to get onto the field but pretty much doused any rumors that he has any interest in transferring. That said, he’s had some down moments while being totally at ease in the spotlight.

“I’ve never been a backup before,” the product of Isidore Newman High School here in his hometown said in his first public remarks as a Longhorn since the press hasn’t been allowed to speak to him until this CFP-mandated media day for all players and coaches.

Instead, he is now probably the most famous third-string quarterback in college football history. Heck, he once received a standing ovation from Longhorn fans. In the spring game. Never mind that he told the press, “I’m a regular guy. I’m not some super hero. I’m just a normal guy trying to play football.”

Even though all the trappings surrounding arguably the biggest recruit ever at Texas suggest otherwise. Given his well-known surname, his family tree as nephew of two Super Bowl winning quarterbacks and grandson of Saints legend Archie Manning and his rank as the No. 1 recruit in the nation a year ago, he’s become the most popular Longhorns backup quarterback since Major Applewhite.

There’s very little that is normal about his life since he routinely poses for pictures with classmates and tries to get away with best friend Michael Taaffe, the team’s starting safety, to play pickle ball or golf at Austin Country Club, where Arch’s dad is a new member. He said he loves golf, adding, “I hit it everywhere. In the woods.”

“He’s a goofball,” said Taaffe, who also was Arch’s recruiting host. “Just a normal person.”

'Behind the scenes, he's just a normal guy'

Manning took several of his teammates, including Taaffe, Ewers and lineman Cole Hutson to his home just 10 minutes from the Superdome, and treated them to his mom's homemade gumbo. They even toured the palatial estate and checked out Arch’s room that had a FatHead of himself, Little League baseballs and framed jerseys of Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.

Manning wasn’t oblivious to the new scrutiny of a player who has thrown just five career passes and has never started a game. He was as chill as a player could be for his first interaction with such a media crush.

“Yeah,” he joked, "I don’t see y’all giving attention to all the other backups.”

Boiled down, Arch Manning has become the Taylor Swift of college football. At least, the male equivalent. Cameras find him.

Why, when he entered his first college game in the regular-season finale for his debut in a mop-up role against Texas Tech, Royal-Memorial Stadium was buzzing. He even tried to quiet the crowd because “I didn’t want my first-ever play to be a pre-snap penalty.”

“Man,” Worthy said, “you saw him get in the game, it was a storm. But behind the scenes, he’s just a normal guy. A real humble kid.”

Finding his own path and developing at Texas

Now there has been a storm cloud here and there during Manning’s first year on campus. And we’re not even talking about losing his UT student ID card. Twice. He first lost it when he left it in his English class on the second day of school.

Sitting the bench has been a difficult adjustment for this celebrated quarterback who chose Texas over the schools of his father Cooper and uncle Eli (Ole Miss) and uncle Peyton (Tennessee). He also considered LSU and Georgia before picking the Longhorns in large part because of Sarkisian’s reputation as a quarterback whisperer and premier play-caller. The communications major added he’d have loved to come to Texas even if he wasn’t a football player although “I don’t know if I could get in.”

The transition hasn’t been easy because Taaffe has seen his down moments in the dorm room.

“In high school, you’re the guy,” Manning said. “The coaches love you. They love you in college, too, but it’s a tough love. They’re pretty hard on you. They push you.”

His teammates rib him now and then with defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat piling it on the most, but Sarkisian loves how Manning has fit in amidst all the hoopla.

"I give him a lot of credit, because he operates on a daily basis like that's not the name on the back of his jersey," Sarkisian said. "He comes to work and works as hard or harder than anybody in our program. He's extremely humble. He's there for his teammates. I've seen dramatic improvement in him.”

The path to a starting job was eased with Murphy’s transfer, but Ewers is still wrestling with the decision to turn pro or return to school for a third season. Ewers is having one of the best seasons ever, but hasn’t gotten near the notoriety of Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. and barely drew any interest Saturday, not that the introverted Longhorn minds the neglect.

A bright future could be on the horizon

So what would Manning do if Ewers comes back? Is he willing to sit a whole ‘nother season in that case?

“I mean, there’s always rumors,” Manning said, “but I haven’t looked into transferring at all. I’m just focused on developing and helping this team in any way I can. Hopefully, one day playing for the University of Texas like I’ve always wanted to.”

NIL revenue won’t influence him, he said, and he scoffed at recent speculation and said, “I don’t think I make more money than (San Francisco’s $870,000 quarterback) Brock Purdy. Somebody sent me that.”

Taaffe, for one, doesn’t think there’s any threat of Manning leaving. After all, this is a Louisiana native who grew up wearing Longhorns T-shirts (though also LSU and Ole Miss shirts) and is eager to stamp his own separate identity apart from his famous family.

“He’s very different,” Taaffe said. “He wants to make a name for himself. At Ole Miss and Tennessee, there are already legacies there. He wants to be known not just as a Manning, but as Arch Manning.”

That has to be reassuring for Longhorn Nation, and Manning might even be best-served if Ewers does come back. Manning would then have a chance to soak up even more wisdom from his good friend — they’re roommates for road games — and develop and mature.

Plus, there’s the possibility Ewers could get injured again. In the last two seasons, he's missed five full games and three quarters of the 2022 Alabama game with collarbone or shoulder injuries.

“He’s a little frustrated because he’s never been a backup,” Texas quarterbacks coach A.J. Milwee said. “These were conversations we’ve had. We’re working every day so that when that time comes for you, you’re ready.”

Manning’s probably not ready, but if Ewers goes pro, he’ll have to be. The Texas staff loves what they’ve seen from him in arm strength, mobility, football IQ, accuracy and his 6-foot-4 height although Arch said he hopes he’s still growing.

"When you get into the season, you don't always have the opportunity to get everybody the amount of reps that you would like to. So I think that's the biggest change for him," offensive coordinator Kyle Flood said. "We've got a ton of confidence in Arch. I think his progression throughout the year has been excellent. He's a real student of the game. He never approached it like he was the third quarterback or the backup quarterback. He approaches everything like he's the starting quarterback.”

Which Manning figures to be soon enough. Yeah, maybe he’s lost his student ID a time or two, but he’s established a clear identity as more than another Manning but the clear future of this Texas program.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas' Arch Manning is the Taylor Swift of backup quarterbacks