Kirk Herbstreit says Arch Manning’s growing pains could be good

It has not been the greatest of seasons for Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning.

He came into 2025 with Heisman expectations simply because of his last name. Yes, he looked good in a backup role to Quinn Ewers over the past two seasons in Austin, but the real hype around him was because his uncles are Peyton Manning and Eli Manning, and his grandfather is Archie Manning.

The exception is that he’d take the college football world by storm in his first season as the starter at Texas, but a large chunk of this season has been a struggle so far. The Red River Rivalry win over No. 6 Oklahoma this past weekend does a lot to cover up what has been a so-so season from Manning to date.

Still, not all hope is lost. Texas still has its College Football Playoff goals in front of it, and as one of the best analysts in he game, Kirk Herbstreit, puts it, this season has been an opportunity for Manning to grow and perhaps ready himself for the NFL.

“I think what Arch Manning’s going through right now, I just had his game in Dallas last week. I think the greatest thing is that he’s going through this right now. I really do,” Herbstreit told Dan Patrick on “The Dan Patrick Show” (h/t On3). As opposed to Anthony Richardson, the only failure he really met was injuries in Gainesville. All of a sudden, he gets to the NFL — the position is about overcoming failure.”

Kirk Herbstreit says it’s good for Arch Manning to be going through adversity at Texas

Herbstreit is right in pointing out that playing quarterback in the NFL is really about overcoming adversity. Plenty of college football quarterbacks looked great at that level but struggled to figure the game out in the NFL. Anthony Richardson is a good example, but the list goes on and on.

Heck, perhaps one of the greatest examples is Tim Tebow, who won a Heisman Trophy at Florida but never cut it as an NFL quarterback. Manning, no matter how this season ends up or when he ultimately declares, will enter the NFL with Tebow-esque hype.

So for now, it’s good for Manning to take his lumps. If he can come out on the other side of this roller coaster a better quarterback, it will all be worth it, according to Herbstreit.

“Arch Manning, the best thing that’s going to happen to him, long term, is people going from, ‘He’s the Heisman. He’s better than Peyton and Eli,’ to, ‘This dude sucks. This guy’s trash,’” Herbstreit said. “To go through that and to not point fingers and to just endure that, man, is that going to help him. It sucks to go through it, but man, is that going to help him long term.”