The easy way out was there for Arch Manning.
When Quinn Ewers announced his intentions to bypass the NFL draft and return to the University of Texas for one more season as the Longhorns’ starting quarterback, it would have been understandable for Manning to pull the ripcord.
Most quarterbacks would have transferred to greener pastures. And no one would have thought less of Manning if he’d elected to do so.
More than 70 percent of the top 50 high school quarterbacks that signed with FBS programs in the recruiting classes of 2017 through 2020 transferred during their time in college, according to a 2023 study by The Athletic.
Manning, though, isn’t like most quarterbacks.
He’s different.
He’s a Manning, the third generation of America’s First Family of Football.
The Mannings aren’t cut-and-runners. They make a decision and stick with it.
That’s the Manning way.
The family patriarch, Archie, taught his three sons the importance of loyalty at an early age. When Cooper, Peyton and Eli committed to play college football at Ole Miss and Tennessee, Archie made them stick to their decisions.
None of the Manning boys ever considered transferring once they landed on their respective campuses.
Cooper instilled a similar sense of commitment in his son, Arch.
So it should surprise no one that the youngest Manning elected to stay at Texas and wait his turn to start after Ewers decided to return for his senior season.
If it meant one more year of waiting and learning, then so be it.
That’s how the Mannings roll.
They don’t waffle. They don’t de-commit. They don’t transfer. They’re not afraid to take the road less traveled.
Manning is happy in Austin. Like any competitor, he wants to play, but he knows his time will come. Until then, he’s content to learn behind Ewers and wait his turn.
Manning is mature beyond his years. He carries himself with the confidence of someone years his senior. From an early age, he’s been “programmed to be a quarterback,” as his grandfather, Charlie Heidingsfelder, once said.
If anyone could be prone to the trappings of impatience or entitlement, it’s Manning. After all, he was the No. 1 overall prospect in the Class of 2023. Peyton and Eli are his uncles, and Archie is his grandfather. His heritage is as gilded as any quarterback prodigy who ever played the game.
Yet, Manning was and is perfectly content, waiting his turn in Austin.
“I like the situation I’m in,” he said Friday at the Manning Passing Academy. “I like Austin. I like the school. I like the coaching staff. I like the people in the building, and it takes a while to learn everyone’s name and learn the trainer’s names and all the staff, so I didn’t want to have to go somewhere else and have to do that again. Sometimes you got to stay patient and stay ready for your turn. I can’t wait to stay there for more years and win some games.”
Manning’s selfless attitude is refreshing — and rare. There’s more pressure than ever for young athletes to produce, and our microwave society only exacerbates the problem.
And this isn’t just endemic to football.
During a session at Aspen Ideas this week in Aspen, Colo., LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey said patience, or the lack thereof, is the biggest detriment to players reaching their potential.
Trusting the process, Mulkey said, “is out the window with the transfer portal now. Kids want things today, yesterday.”
Five of the top 8 quarterbacks from Manning’s Class of 2023 have already transferred after one season at their respective original schools.
Dante Moore from UCLA to Oregon. Malachi Nelson from Southern Cal to Boise State. Jaden Rashada from Arizona State to Georgia. Aiden Chiles from Oregon State to Michigan State. And Austin Mack from Washington to Alabama.
“It’s tough, because you want to be out there playing with your boys,” Manning said. “But just realizing there’s nowhere else I want to be, and it was my dream to play at Texas. I’m going to stick it out and play there eventually.”
Sometimes, Cooper Manning said, the grass isn’t always greener on the other campus. He said he and Arch thoroughly evaluated the situation, but transferring was never really a serious consideration.
“It’s about the overall happiness and development of your son,” he said. “If he’s happy and enjoying school, enjoying his friends, enjoying the coaches, feels like he’s growing and getting better, then those are checking all the boxes for while you went to the school in the first place.”
Staying and sitting isn’t the easy way out. But it is the Manning Way.
It’s the road less traveled. And in the end, that will make all the difference.
