EJ Manuel calls out Steve Spurrier over viral Arch Manning take

Longtime college football and national championship-winning coach Steve Spurrier pulled no punches regarding Arch Manning heading into the 2025 college football season. He questioned just how good the quarterback will be for Texas after spending two seasons sitting behind Quinn Ewers. 

“People picking Texas to win the SEC in football,” Spurrier stated, via Another Dooley Noted Podcast. “They’ve got Arch Manning already winning the Heisman, too. And my question is, if he was this good, how come that they let Quinn Ewers play all the time last year?”

The college football legend pointed toward Ewers ending up as a seventh-round pick in this year’s NFL Draft as cause for concern. If Manning is projected to be an eventual first-round pick, then why would Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian choose to start Ewers for two full seasons over Manning? It’s an interesting debate.

One analyst isn’t buying what Spurrier is selling, though. ESPN’s EJ Manuel panned the comment, as the former Florida State quarterback took some time to explain the basis behind Manning sitting behind Ewers, and why it doesn’t signal he’ll be a bust in 2025.

“Coach Spurrier, what are we talking about here, man? I don’t think it correlates to say a player that gets drafted ahead of a new, incumbent starter is indicative of that new starter not being that good,” Manuel responded, via Get Up on Friday. “I mean, when you look at the quarterback situation at Texas coming into the 2024 season, Quinn Ewers didn’t lose his job, he didn’t play bad enough to say, ‘Hey Arch, you’re going to now be our guy,’ considering in 2023 their lead, winning the Big 12, they make it to the CFP — that was all through the arm and the play of Quinn Ewers.

“I understand Quinn Ewers went much later in the draft than I thought he would’ve went or should’ve, but I don’t think that’s indicative of saying Arch Manning is not as good of a player. Let’s keep this in mind too, coaches have plans for quarterbacks. When you come in from high school, you know, Arch Manning probably came in with the level of like, ‘I’m going to be patient, I’m going to red-shirt, I’m going to learn as much football as I can. That’s a luxury that a Texas has, because you already have a quarterback that can get you to that ultimate level, which is CFP berths and things like that.

“I was kind of shocked to hear Coach Spurrier say this, especially somebody who has coached the quarterback position, played quarterback and knows how important patience and opportunity is, as well. I think Arch Manning is going to shut up all the haters. He’s going to have a huge opportunity against Ohio State.

“This is one where I can tell Coach Spurrier was just trying to pump up the Florida Gators. He had a bunch of Gator helmets behind him. This must’ve been like a SEC kind of podcast that he was talking about. Was shocked to hear him say that.”

All told, it isn’t hard to see why Manuel was a bit shocked at Spurrier’s comments. During the few times Manning has been on the field for Texas, he hasn’t disappointed. He finished his redshirt freshman season with 939 total yards to go with nine touchdowns and two interceptions.

As Arch Manning receives more opportunities, we’ll see if he can rise to the occasion, despite Steve Spurrier’s concern. EJ Manuel believes he’ll be a star, so we’ll see who’s right about the Texas quarterback situation in the end.

— On3’s Barkley Truax contributed to this article.