Heading into the 2025 College Football season, the Texas Longhorns are one of the most hyped teams in the Country. Aside from the fact that the Longhorns return one of the most loaded teams in the Country, their starting quarterback garners attention like the Beatles or Justin Bieber. The Manning Family has a deep legacy with football fans and as Arch Manning prepares to lead Texas in his first season as the starter, the expectation is that he'll compete for a Heisman and the National Championship.
If you took away the Manning last name, he'd still be one of the most exciting starting quarterbacks in the Country. As a former Consensus Top-5 recruit in the Country, Manning arrived in Austin with the promise of leading the Longhorns back to glory. Manning has a great arm but, his ability to make plays with his legs makes him more unique than either of his uncles.
When trying to make comparisons for which quarterback Arch Manning can be the most similar to, the best comparison comes to a former Heisman Trophy winner.
Arch Manning best compares to the hype of Tim Tebow
If there's any quarterback that Arch Manning best compares to, it's the level of hype and expectations that came with Tim Tebow. Like Arch Manning, Tim Tebow was a highly sought after recruit out of High School as a 5-star recruit. When Tim Tebow picked Urban Meyer's Florida Gators over Alabama, it ended up changing College Football History.
While Tim Tebow had all of the hype arriving on campus, like Arch Manning he was stuck behind another quarterback in Chris Leak. While Leak served as the starter, Florida used Tebow often in packages for him to make an impact with his legs which Steve Sarkisian utilized with Manning in 2024. Arch Manning's impact wasn't big enough to lift the Longhorns to a National Championship but, he did help take the team on a deep College Football Playoff run.
Arch Manning is now where Tim Tebow was heading into the 2007 College Football season as he now takes command of the starting offense. Like Tim Tebow, Arch Manning now faces the pressure of living up to the hype as "the guy" for Texas rather than being the player the fanbase was dying to see. While Manning most likely won't put together the increcible Heisman season Tebow had, he's a much better passer which should allow him to experience a different kind of success.
Neither quarterback asked for it but, both players garner more attention than any other player in the sport even during the time they spent on the bench. Tim Tebow was able to become a College Football icon during his time as the starting quarterback and while it will be almost impossible to reach those heights, he could end up with an incredible legacy of his own if he can officially bring Texas back.