Stephen A. Smith Makes Bold Comment About Steve Sarkisian’s Coaching After Texas’ Humiliating Loss: “Too Busy Trying to Protect Arch Manning”

Arch Manning, son of American TV personality Cooper Manning, is the nephew of Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks Eli and Peyton Manning.

Stephen A. Smith Makes Bold Comment About Steve Sarkisian’s Coaching After Texas’ Humiliating Loss: “Too Busy Trying to Protect Arch Manning”

Steve Sarkisian, Arch Manning; Stephen A. Smith (Images via Fox News/Newsweek/Deadline)

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The Texas Longhorns had a terrible start to the 2025 season, dropping their first game against the defending CFP champions Ohio State Buckeyes. The Buckeyes, led by a dominant defense, limited the Longhorns to 14-7 in star kid Arch Manning’s third start as a quarterback.

The Longhorns, ranked No. 1, were heavy favorites ahead of the game. Manning had a disastrous day, finishing with a 56.6% completion rate. He threw for 170 yards and just one touchdown while being intercepted once as well. The media attention on Manning was extremely high, and his weak performance has garnered national scrutiny.

Despite the loss, Steve Sarkisian, the Longhorns’ coach, came to Manning’s support. The coach mentioned that Manning has just started his career and asked the media to give him time before they stamp their judgment on him.

For Arch, the expectations were out of control on the outside. I’d say let’s finish the book before we judge it.

Steve Sarkisian told the reporters after Saturday’s loss

Sarkisian’s support, however, has irked ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith. Smith lashed out at Sarkisian and claimed that the coach was busy protecting the 21-year-old rather than coaching him.

I put most of the blame on Sarkisian more so than I put it on Arch Manning… You can make a legitimate argument that Steve Sarkisian got just as caught up in all the hype and hoopla and everything surrounding Arch Manning as Arch Manning supposedly did. He looked like a coach that was too preoccupied with protecting a quarterback rather than coaching a quarterback.

Stephen A. Smith said via First Take

Steve Sarkisian assumed the head coaching position of the Texas Longhorns in 2021 as the 31st head coach of the Longhorns. During his tenure at Texas, Sarkisian has led them to 38 overall wins from 56 games. In 2024, the Longhorns went as far as the semifinals of the CFP championship, finally crashing out following a loss to the Buckeyes in the Cotton Classic Bowl.

Cam Newton doesn’t agree with Stephen A. Smith about Arch Manning

In the First Take broadcast, Stephen A. Smith found both support and contradiction, mostly regarding the quarterback. While Paul Finebaum supported Smith’s claim, former quarterback Cam Newton didn’t agree with the shade.

Arch Manning
Arch Manning (Image via SI)

Newton, who has faced a lot of social media wrath for his takes, pushed back on Smith and Finebaum’s arguments about Manning. Newton noted that the game was mostly played defensively and that it limited a quarterback’s swagger.

I think we’re overreacting just a tad bit. Yeah, would you have wanted Arch to go out there with a swagger? Absolutely. Did he? When you’re having the type of game where it’s low scoring as it is, it’s hard for anybody to have too much swagger, unless you’re on the defensive side of the ball.

Cam Newton said

Newton believes the responsibility shouldn’t fall on just one person. Instead, he pointed to Texas’ overall inability to sustain drives as the bigger problem. He also leaned more toward supporting Sarkisian than blaming him.

Each game is different, and when you’re asking Steve Sarkisian, would you question his playcalling and his play efforts, but he really tried to put the ball in his guys’ hands to go win the football game…  Well, the blame goes down to the whole team of Texas because we didn’t win the gotta have it situations, and when the game was on the line, those opportunities cannot be missed more than they aren’t missed.

All said and done, it is only the first Saturday of the college football season. Manning and the Longhorns are still in a good spot to make the CFP, and they have many games left. For the time being, the focus is on their next game against San Jose State.

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