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Brian Kelly isn't quite ready to crown Arch Manning as the top returning quarterback

Joe Cookby: Joe Cook06/11/25josephcook89
LSU HC Brian Kelly and QB Garrett Nussmeier after the ReliaQuest Bowl
© Matt Pendleton-USA TODAY Sports

The hype surrounding Texas quarterback Arch Manning has reached all corners of the country, even Baton Rouge. But that hype doesn’t have LSU head coach Brian Kelly ready to anoint Manning as the top returning quarterback in the nation. Understandably, he’s backing his own guy: Garrett Nussmeier.

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Speaking with Rece Davis and Pete Thamel in the latest episode of the College GameDay Podcast, Kelly offered praise to Manning but also said, as he has to, if he had the choice, Kelly would pick Nussmeier as the top returning quarterback at least in the Southeastern Conference because of his experience.

“Look, we hear it every day because he’s from Louisiana. … And listen, there’s another guy that hears it all the time and that’s Garrett Nussmeier,” Kelly said. “He’s committed, and more than anything else, he’s experienced. And in this league, you need to see the bullets flying. Ask Jayden Daniels when he threw for (80) yards against Auburn (in 2022). We were coming back on the plane and I told Mike Denbrock and Joe Sloan at the time, ‘If we keep throwing for (80) yards, we’re not going to be together very long. We need (Daniels) to develop.

“All I’m saying is, Nussmeier has seen it. He knows what he’s going to get. There’s a confidence he’ll bring each and every game through experience, maybe even through some scar tissue, that’s going to allow him to be, I believe, the best quarterback.”

There’s some merit to what Kelly is saying. Nussmeier is entering his fifth season in Baton Rouge and his second as the full-time starter. Last year, Nussmeier was 337-for-525 for 4052 yards and 29 touchdowns with 12 interceptions for a 9-4 Tigers team. He also rushed for three touchdowns. Nussmeier has 31 career games with 14 starts.

Meanwhile, Manning has just 12 games of experience and two total starts against Louisiana-Monroe and Mississippi State in 2024. For the Longhorns last season, Manning posted 939 yards passing with a 68% completion percentage. He threw nine touchdowns to two interceptions and had four rushing touchdowns as well.

That’s not to say Kelly doesn’t believe in how well Manning could play in 2025. That was something Kelly admitted during his answer about the New Orleans-born quarterback.

But in his eyes, he’s seen more from Nussmeier than Manning.

“Now, Manning is extremely talented,” Kelly said. “But he’s got to go do it. And there’s going to be a couple of days where it doesn’t come out the way it’s supposed to. How do you bounce back, how do you come back from that? How does it work the next week in your gameplan? So there’s a lot out there. I can see the assessment of Manning, he’s an outstanding player. But I’ll take the guy that’s been in the SEC and seen what it looks like.”

Kelly isn’t the only one with that sentiment. Plenty of national outlets have struggled with how to handle Manning as a “returning” quarterback considering he saw limited action last year. Nussmeier, Florida’s DJ Lagway, South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers, and even some quarterbacks around the Big 12 like Arizona State’s Sam Leavitt have earned more offseason accolades as “returning” players than Manning, with writers defining the term to suit their needs. Even if the returning qualifier is removed, there are plenty out there, coaches and media alike, that aren’t willing to make Manning No. 1.

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That’s why they play the games. Though Manning and Nussmeier aren’t scheduled to face off this season, the 12 games to come in 2025 will help the college football world assess who really is the top quarterback not just in the SEC, but in the country.

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