“This seems pretty PRish”: CFB analyst makes a bold assessment of Arch Manning’s first interview as QB1

Arch Manning had an interview with ESPN's Marty Smith last week after inking an NIL deal with Red Bull. The quarterback was questioned about a wide array of things in the discussion, including the widespread attention he gets and his goals for the upcoming season.

On3’s JD Pickell offered his view on the interview on the latest installment of “The Hard Count with J.D. Pickell.” The analyst believes the interview was aimed at getting more attention for Arch Manning ahead of his first season as the starting quarterback for Texas football.

“This felt very PRish when it comes to this discussion in general,” Pickell said (timestamp 26:10). “[It's] pretty obvious that Red Bull in the NIL game is crushing it. He was rocking a red bull hat during that interview. Looks like he's about to be dialed for a Formula 1 race.”

“...It also looks like the set of this interview – I don't know where it was, so I apologize if this is your local high school or whatever. [It] looks kind of like a TV set of what was supposed to be like a high school football locker room if you go back and look. That's pretty hilarious.”

Arch Manning made it known in the interview that he gets a lot of undeserved attention from fans and the media due to his last name. However, he hopes to live up to that in the next couple of months.

JD Pickell’s takeaways from the Arch Manning interview

The discussion with Marty Smith was Arch Manning's first interview as Texas' starting quarterback. That comes with a lot of attention for him as the lofty expectations continue to pile up. JD Pickell has some takeaways from the interview.

“The takeaway for me is; Arch Manning is likable, clearly making a bag from Red Bull because that's a big-time move by them on the NIL front,” Pickell said (timestamp 27:03). “I'm all here for that.”

“But as I got further and further away from this discussion, it started to get the gears turning around how we are about to enter into the Arch extravaganza of media coverage. I have two thoughts; one, brace for impacts; two, Twitter is not real life.”

There's a lot of anticipation ahead of Manning's first season as a starter for the Longhorns. He showed a glimpse of what he could do during the 2024 college football season, raising the expectations in 2025.