Former Texas Longhorns QB Colt McCoy Voices Concerns About Arch Manning Hype

The Texas Longhorns five-star freshman quarterback is viewed as having some of the biggest expectations in college football.

When it comes to an absurd amount of hype around a young backup quarterback, former Texas Longhorns signal-caller Colt McCoy knows all about it.

Not because he was that young quarterback, but because his backup during his time in Austin, Garret Gilbert was. Gilbert came to Texas heralded as the next great Texas quarterback, who would follow in the footsteps of both McCoy and Vince Young who led the Longhorns to a title victory. 

However, Gilbert's time at Texas ended up under-delivering compared to what the likely absurd expectations of him were.

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So, following three seasons at Texas, and 24 games that saw him throw for 13 touchdowns to 23 interceptions, Gilbert transferred to SMU. In the eyes of McCoy, Texas' five-star freshman phenom Arch Manning may have too much pressure and expectations on him already, similar to that of Gilbert's.

Arch Manning rushing during Texas' win over Texas Tech  / © Annie Rice, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

When making an appearance on Barstool's Pardon My Take, McCoy revealed that he sees parallels to the way Manning is talked about and how his former teammate was even before he suited up at Texas.

"I've been around Arch quite a bit," McCoy said on the Pardon My Take podcast. "I don't want to compare Arch Manning with Garrett Gilbert. But when I was in school, I loved Garrett Gilbert. [He] had a nice career, but he never lost a game in high school. He was right in Lake Travis, right in the backyard. He was crowned as king before he ever got on campus."

He continued explaining that because the expectations were so high for Gilbert, fans turned on him quickly. 

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"And the moment he threw a pick or two or they lost a couple of home games, it was like everything turned on him. It wasn't necessarily his fault. But the expectations were just astronomical," said McCoy.

He revealed that he is starting to get a similar energy from the fan base and how they view Manning. 

The grandson of Archie and nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning, Arch made his debut in Texas' season finale against Texas Tech. With Maalik Murphy entering the transfer portal, Manning is expected to be next in line after Quinn Ewers departs for the NFL. 

McCoy spoke very highly of Manning but feels that having patience with the young signal-caller is important.