'I've never said that about anybody' - Former LSU HC Ed Orgeron drops quote on Arch Manning that will raise some eyebrows

In an alternate timeline, Arch Manning is the LSU Tigers' starting quarterback and Ed Orgeron is still the head coach in Baton Rouge.

If Joe Brady, the mastermind behind the Tigers' historically good offense in 2019, had stuck around at LSU, that alternate timeline might be a reality.

Arch, who is entering his redshirt sophomore season with the Texas Longhorns, was a fan of Brady early in his recruitment. Brady, however, left for the NFL after the 2019 season, and Orgeron was fired by LSU following the 2021 season.

With Brady and Orgeron no longer at LSU, the Tigers slowly fell out of the recruiting battle for Arch.

Ed Orgeron thinks Arch Manning could be the next Joe Burrow

Orgeron joined Pardon My Take this week and he made some comments about Arch that will have Texas fans giddy with excitement.

Coach O has unique insight into elite quarterbacks thanks to the two years he spent with Joe Burrow -- one of the very few "sure things" at quarterback to come out of college in the last couple of decades.

Orgeron told PMT that he thinks Arch may be as good as Burrow.

"I had an opportunity to go to Texas and speak at their clinic," said Orgeron. "And I watched practice. Now, we knew Arch Manning as a young kid from Louisiana. He liked Joe Brady. We watched him (as a recruit). But I watched his practice (at Texas). And I'll say this conservatively -- and we recruited (current LSU starting QB) Garrett (Nussmeier). Garrett's a great player. But Arch is as close to -- or maybe as good as -- Joe as I've seen. And I've never said that about anybody."

That's some high, high praise from Orgeron. But this is the guy who quickly recognized that Burrow was going be a superstar. If he sees those same traits in Arch -- which he obviously hasn't seen in a quarterback since he had Burrow in Baton Rouge -- then maybe the massive expectations surrounding the Texas quarterback in 2025 are warranted.