Ed Orgeron believes Arch Manning is 'as close to, or maybe as good' as Joe Burrow

Ed Orgeron might be thinking about it but for now, he is not back in coaching. Ever since getting fired by LSU in 2020, Orgeron has popped up on different college campuses over the years. And after recently being in Austin to see the Texas Longhorns, he came away super impressed with quarterback Arch Manning.

Impressed might be underselling his thoughts a tad. Orgeron went on Barstool’s Pardon My Take and decided to put Manning right up there with the quarterback he won a national championship with, Joe Burrow.

“I had an opportunity to go to Texas and speak at the clinic and I watched practice,” Orgeron said. “Now, I knew Arch Manning as a young kid from Louisiana. He liked Joe Brady, we watched him. But I watched his practice and I’ll say this conservatively… Arch is as close to, or maybe as good, as Joe as I’ve seen. I’ve never said that about anyone.”

Burrow was somebody else who had to wait his turn before becoming a starter. Two seasons at Ohio State saw him serve as a backup before famously committing to LSU under Orgeron. The 2018 season was used to get his feet wet before exploding into one of the greatest college football teams of all-time in 2019.

Highlighted by the national championship, Burrow threw for 5,671 yards and 60 touchdowns during his final season. Efficiency was right up there with the counting numbers, completing 76.3% of his throws and just six interceptions. The only time his completion percentage was under 70 came in the College Football Playoff title game vs. Clemson. The number was over 80 on four different occasions, two of which were SEC games.

At least before officially taking over as Texas’ full-time starter, Manning went through a similar experience. Time was spent behind Quinn Ewers the past two years, mixed in with a couple of starts early in 2024 due to an Ewers injury. Now, there is no doubt about who will be under center moving forward. Manning will get his era underway on Aug. 30 when he walks into Columbus to face Ohio State.

Whether or not the story plays out similarly to how Burrow did, we will have to wait and see. But Orgeron certainly believes the talent is there with Manning. Nobody saw Burrow closer during his college playing days than him, which equates to high praise for the Texas quarterback.