"Kind of like his grandfather Archie" - When Nick Saban was left impressed with Arch Manning as Texas faced Louisiana

Texas quarterback Arch Manning is expected to be the biggest beneficiary of Quinn Ewers' declaration for the 2025 NFL draft last week. Manning has been Ewers' backup for the Longhorns for two years since committing to the school as a five-star recruit in 2022.

When Ewers was injured last season and Manning took over, he shone for Texas. After a sensational game against the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks during which he tallied 258 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, retired coach Nick Saban gave the QB the ultimate compliment by comparing him to his grandfather, Archie Manning, during a segment of ESPN's "College GameDay."

"That's Arch's route," Saban said (1:10). "He does a great job of faking the ball, he pulls it, which is his read. He shows really good athleticism, kind of like his grandfather, in making this guy miss right here.

"Then he's gonna show good speed in outrunning a bunch of folks to get into the endzone. So, in the first three plays of the game, they score touchdowns in two of them."

When Archie Manning revealed Arch Manning being recruited by Nick Saban

Arch Manning was heavily recruited when he was a student at Isidore Newman High School. Renowned college football coaches, like Georgia Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart and then-Alabama Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban, attended basketball games to watch the multi-sport athlete play.

During a 2023 interview with ESPN, the Texas quarterback's grandfather, Archie Manning, revealed how his grandson resisted the recruiting pitches from Saban and Smart despite visiting both schools multiple times and the role he played in the popular Arch Manning's ultimate destination.

“I think he did his due diligence, I think he took a great look at a lot of schools," Archie Manning said. "I know he made four visits to Texas, four visits to Georgia, four visits to Alabama, I know he had a hard time telling Coach Saban and Coach Smart no, but he made his choice, and he wanted to play for Coach Sark (Steve Sarkisian).

“I totally stayed out of the way. I was very proud of his dad, the way he handled the recruiting. You know, recruiting’s changed so much since my boys went through it, and I’m not sure all of it’s good. Cooper kind of took an old-fashioned approach, and the whole family made their visits to various schools and just let Arch make his own decision where he wanted to go.”

Despite being linked with moves to other programs via the transfer portal as he languished behind Quinn Ewers in the Longhorns' quarterback room, Arch Manning has stayed loyal to Texas.