Steve Spurrier questions Steve Sarkisian's handling of Arch Manning and Quinn Ewers

USA Today

5 days ago

Steve Spurrier is tired of hearing that the Texas Longhorns are the favorites to win the SEC in 2025. The "head ball coach" questions a lot of things about the UT program, including the entire quarterback situation over the past two years.
'Most people are picking Texas to win the SEC in football,' Spurrier said on Another Dooley Noted Podcast. 'They've got Arch Manning already winning the Heisman, too. My question is, if he was this good how come they let Quinn Ewers play all the time last year? He was a 7th round pick?'
After the dust settled on last season, there were many that felt Texas coach Steve Sarkisian's decision to stick with Ewers at quarterback might have cost Texas last year's national title. To extrapolate further, if Manning had started last season and UT didn't win the title, at least Arch would have more experience going into this season.
USA TODAY Sports writer Matt Hayes said the decision to keep Manning on the bench was, "what could one day be considered a monumentally poor decision by one of the game's best coaches."
It seems Spurrier shares that opinion. If Manning is so good, shouldn't he have beat out Ewers?
The Texas QB room over the past two years was one of the most unique in college football history. Never before (and probably never again) has a QB room featured two No. 1 ranked players in the nation. 'It's probably pretty annoying having me as a backup," Manning deadpanned this spring.
For his part, Sark defends his decision to stick with Ewers. Sark told CBS Sports' Josh Pate in May that he owed Ewers a lot.
"First of all, Quinn Ewers decided to come to the University of Texas when we were a 5-11 football team. We owe a ton to Quinn," Sarkisian said. "Because if Quinn Ewers doesn't come, I don't know if the next five guys are coming. And if those next 5 guys don't come, I don't know if the next 10 guys are coming."
And that's really the answer to why Sark didn't bench Ewers. He felt everything Texas is building started with Ewers decision to transfer to Texas from Ohio State. Will Sark ever be that loyal again? It's hard to tell. But to program outsiders who don't know that piece of information, playing Ewers over Manning didn't make much sense.
'You only have to ask Coach Sark how come you played that one instead of this one,' Spurrier said. 'Hopefully he'll say 'Because we thought he was better than that one.' Isn't that why you play one guy and not the other? Unless it was discipline, and there was no discipline or anything.'
Whether Spurrier genuinely didn't know why Sark stuck with Ewers, thought the reasoning was flawed or is just trying to disrupt a growing SEC power, it still brings the questions up again.
"Here's a guy that started for three years at quarterback for us," Sark told Pate. "Battled injuries all three years. Leads us to two college football playoffs. Leads us to a Big 12 championship. Leads us to an SEC Championship Game, our first year in the conference. And that's his 'legacy' here. His legacy is way bigger than just that."
But Sark and Manning don't seem to pay much attention to outside noise, even from a Hall of Fame coach. The two are focused on 2025 and Ohio State on Aug. 30.