It’s been a rough patch for Texas football quarterback Arch Manning since he led a rousing comeback win over then No. 1 Ohio State in a Week 2 thriller at Royal-Memorial Stadium.
Since that Sept. 12 start, the fourth-year senior endured a social media controversy after his comments about an AI-generated video of Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian slapping sideline sports reporter Holly Rowe. Manning followed that week of ugly headlines with a pedestrian game against UTSA, when he threw for 161 yards and a pair of touchdowns on a 16-of-32 night and sometimes seemed more eager to run that proceed through his reads.
But when it comes to listening to critics about his performance in an interview or on the field, Manning’s coach had some succinct advice for his quarterback.
Who gives a crap?
Sarkisian used those exact words in Monday’s weekly news conference when describing a conversation he had with his star-crossed quarterback earlier in the day at practice. Playing quarterback for the Longhonrs comes with plenty of noise, Sarkisian said he told Manning. Tune it out. Focus on your team. Focus on winning.
“I think at the end of the day, you’re the quarterback at Texas,” Sarkisian said. “Your last name’s ‘Manning.’ Regardless of what you do, you’re going to get critiqued. You’re going to get criticized. I’m the head coach at Texas. Regardless of what I do, I’m going to get critiqued. I’m going to get criticized. Who really gives a crap? Just go play, man. Go be you.
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“You can’t try to be something you’re not. You’ve got to go be you. And if you’re you, that’s going to be you to the best of your ability. The goal is to try to win them all. The goal is to play great every week. Whether that happens or not, we’ll find out. But at least you’re putting your best foot forward to be what you’re capable of being.”
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Steve Sarkisian: Don’t listen to outside noise
Sarkisian doles out such advice from a place of experience. He first stepped into the spotlight as a fiery quarterback for BYU in the 1990s who drew some Heisman Trophy consideration before beginning his coaching career as a wunderkind. By the age of 30, he had already served as an assistant for a dynastic USC program as well as the quarterbacks coach for the Oakland Raiders.
But Sarkisian endured some well-documented personal issues as the head coach at the University of Washington and USC from 2009-15. He was eventually fired from USC after accusations of alcohol use on the job, and Sarkisian checked himself into rehab for alcohol abuse. Sober now for more than a decade, he has often said his status as a recovering alcoholic helped him at both a professional and personal level.
Any issues surrounding Manning carry far less weight than what Sarkisian faced, but both share what it’s like to stand in the spotlight as college quarterbacks.
In an abbreviated session with the media Monday, Manning said, “it definitely helps to have a coach who played the position in the past.”
Now Sarkisian wants Manning to just play like himself regardless of the outside noise.
“I think that that was part of the messaging for Arch was, like, I want him to be him. I want him to be him every Saturday. I want him to be him every series,” Sarkisian said. “Who he is is an engaging leader. Who he is is a guy that picks other people up. Who he is is a guy that doesn’t play the position like a robot. He uses his legs to his advantage, but he doesn’t use his legs all of the time. He’s got a weapon in his legs that are a factor in which he plays the game, and so using those at opportune times is beneficial for him, and it’s beneficial for us.”
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Advice to Arch Manning: Be yourself, not uncle Peyton
Manning will hear plenty about one of his famous uncles this week in the buildup to Saturday’s visit to No. 14 Tennessee, since Peyton Manning starred for the Vols in the late 1990s before beginning a Hall of Fame NFL career.
But so what, Sarkisian said.
“I do think that what’s important for (Arch Manning) is to not try to be something that doesn’t best suit him,” Sarkisian said. “I want him to be him. I want him to be Arch Manning. I don’t want him to be Archie. I don’t want him to be Peyton. I don’t want him to be Eli. I don’t want him to be Colt McCoy. I don’t want him to be Vince Young. I want him to be Arch Manning, and Arch Manning is plenty good enough for us to put us in position to win.”
And does hitting the road for the first time this season help drown out the noise and get the Longhorns focused on the first of seven games against SEC teams currently ranked in the Associated Press poll?
“I think it does,” Manning said. “It’s an us-against-the-world mentality.”
This article originally published at ‘Who gives a crap?’ Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian to Arch Manning about his critics.
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