Kirk Herbstreit: Failure was ‘greatest thing’ that could happen for Arch Manning early at Texas

Living up to a world of expectations is never easy, and that’s what’s been asked of Arch Manning in his first full season as the starter at Texas. Through the midway point in the season, however, he’s struggled to live up to those expectations.

That type of failure is never easy to navigate. In Manning’s case, it may have been the best thing for him, though. As Kirk Herbstreit explained during an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show, those struggles are going to help him develop and improve in the long run.

“I think what Arch Manning’s going through right now, I just had his game in Dallas last week,” Kirk Herbstreit said. “I think the greatest thing is that he’s going through this right now. I really do. As opposed to Anthony Richardson, the only failure he really met was injuries in Gainesville. All of a sudden, he gets to the NFL — the position is about overcoming failure.”

By now, the hype that surrounded Arch Manning is very well documented. The grandson of Archie Manning and the nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning, he comes from a long line of quarterbacks. He was then a five-star recruit who landed with a coach renowned for his quarterback development in Steve Sarkisian. After two seasons of largely being the backup, the expectation was that he’d hit the ground running in 2025.

Manning, ultimately, didn’t hit the ground running. He struggled in the opener against Ohio State before going into a series of games against overmatched teams in the non-conference. Then, the Longhorns opened SEC play by being upset by Florida and pulling off a win in Red River. Through those six games, Manning is completing 63 percent of his passes for 1,317 yards and 12 touchdowns to five interceptions. He’s also rushed for 194 yards and another five touchdowns.

“Arch Manning, the best thing that’s going to happen to him, long term, is people going from, ‘He’s the Heisman. He’s better than Peyton and Eli,’ to, ‘This dude sucks. This guy’s trash,'” Herbstreit said. “To go through that and to not point fingers and to just endure that, man, is that going to help him. It sucks to go through it, but man, is that going to help him long term.”

None of that is to say that Arch Manning hasn’t had any sparks throughout the season. They’ve been there, but not to the Heisman contender level expected. Still, he can start to produce those in the second half of the season. That begins next Saturday with a road trip to play the Kentucky Wildcats.