Archie Manning makes notable statement about grandson Arch's future

Archie Manning can already sense which way the wind is blowing with his talented grandson Arch.

The retired former Pro Bowl quarterback Archie spoke this month to S.C. Gwynne in a feature for Texas Monthly. In the feature, Archie made a definitive statement about the future of Arch, the Texas Longhorns star quarterback.

There has already been much speculation that Arch could be headed to the NFL Draft in 2026, where he would be in strong contention to go with the No. 1 overall pick. However, Archie does not believe that will be the case at all.

“Arch isn’t going to do that,” said Archie of a possible entry into the 2026 Draft. “He’ll be at Texas.”

Archie also noted that the 21-year-old Arch still has a whole lot of work to do in order to even be considered in the Heisman Trophy race.

“People are saying he’s a Heisman candidate,” Archie added of his grandson. “You’re not a Heisman Trophy candidate when you haven’t played but three games. It’s crazy.”

The hype train for Arch, the son of Archie’s eldest son Cooper, is at full speed ahead, especially now that Arch is projected to be Texas’ starting QB in the 2025 season. There has even been talk recently that some interesting NFL teams are already circling the waters for Arch.

But even if Arch is technically eligible to declare for the draft in 2026, he still has a full three years of eligibility left. Arch spent the last two seasons as Quinn Ewers’ backup in Texas and played sparingly enough to be able to maintain redshirt eligibility (meaning that he is only a redshirt sophomore at this point).

Notably enough, Archie’s uncles, former NFL stars Peyton and Eli Manning, used up all of their respective college eligibilities, playing four collegiate seasons each. As for Arch himself, he recently had an awesome quote about why he decided to stick with Texas. Now his grandfather Archie appears to think that the partnership with the Longhorns will be lasting for years more to come.