Sarkisian: Texas will need both Ewers, Manning

Andrea Adelson, ESPN

• Senior WriterJul 17, 2024, 03:46 PM ET Close ACC reporter.
• Signed up with ESPN.com in 2010.
• Graduate of the University of Florida.DALLAS– Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said he will not manage his quarterback space any in a different way with Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning returning for a 2nd straight season together, stating Wednesday,”We’re probably going to need both those guys eventually this season. “Throughout an interview session with ESPN, Sarkisian stated”we’ve got a great

quarterback room,”adding there is a mistaken belief outside the program that Ewers and Manning do not get along. He said that could not be further from the fact.” These guys are excellent, terrific friends. No one gets along much better,”Sarkisian said.

“There’s a genuine level of gratitude for what each guy is doing. Because they understand the journey, they know the course, they know how we coach him. From Archer’s viewpoint, he’s watching Quinn have to go through a few of the difficulty, having a fight through injury, needing to deal with the criticism of being the quarterback of Texas, so to see him have success, I believe Arch is fired up for Quinn.”On the flip side, I believe Quinn recognizes Arch’s journey Year 1 in our system and what that’s like. If you return to the spring game Arch’s real freshman year, what that looked like, and after that to see how he played Year 2 in the system, there’s terrific gratitude from Quinn for what Arch is doing. “So in the end, we’re probably going to require both those guys at some point this season.”Editor’s Picks 1 Associated Ewers started for Texas last season, leading the Longhorns to the College Football Playoff. Texas lost to Washington in heartbreaking style, when a fourth-down pass from Ewers to Adonai Mitchell fell incomplete as time ended. Ewers stated he did not sleep for 2 days after the loss, considering the insufficient pass.That loss, paired with his desire to have more beginning experience on the collegiate level, led to his decision to return for

another season with Texas. That left Manning, the No. 2 general prospect in the 2023 ESPN 300, as the backup quarterback for the 2nd straight season.Ewers stated his relationship with Manning returns to high school, and the two have actually turned into buddies while at Texas. He also stated they hang out off the field– all the quarterbacks head out to dinner on a near-weekly basis.” It’s been a great previous 2 years for us, just being able to have him in the quarterback space and us being able to press each other,”Ewers said.” It states in the Bible,’Iron sharpens iron.’So to have that competitive relationship is good.”Manning, a nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning, turned heads with his efficiency in the spring game this past year. Sarkisian made the decision to restrict Ewers to a couple of drives in the spring game so he might see more of Manning. His young quarterback delivered, finishing his very first 10 passes.According to ESPN Stats & Details, Manning threw for 355 lawns and 3 touchdowns. In the spring game of his freshman year in 2023, Manning finished 5 of 13 passes for 30 lawns and endured heavy criticism from fans.Manning functioned as the No. 3 quarterback in 2023, tossing five passes. However he was the backup for the semifinal game versus Washington, and stated throughout media accessibility before that game that sitting on the bench was tough, however he discovered through the experience.”There were a lot of tough days, I’m not going to lie,”Manning stated in December.”I was never a backup in high school. So there are some days when you graduate early, you’re alone in your dorm room, you’re like, just another day of defending the third-string task. Some days it’s tough. There’s difficult workouts, hard practices, they expect a lot out of you. I’m happy I went through that to help me grow.”When asked about the way fans were thrilled about what Manning performed in the spring game, Sark didn’t miss out on a beat and said,”So was I,”before including how happy he was with the quarterback space– crediting co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach AJ Milwee.”

We’re actually lucky to have that room and the quality of people in that room, and that’s a credit to Coach Milwee to bridge that gap to bring two guys together to pull for one another,”Sarkisian stated. “They’re fantastic teammates; they both just want to win.

They both want to be truly successful, and I believe they do appreciate the journey that each guy’s on begun.”