Arch Manning earns Herbie Award for ‘Redemption’ in 2025 season
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Arch Manning faced criticism in the early parts of the season as he settled in as the starting quarterback at Texas.
He turned things around in a big way down the stretch, though. That was enough for him to earn a Herbie for “Redemption Player of the Year,” beating out Alabama‘s Deontay Lawson and Notre Dame‘s Boubacar Traore.
“A lot of people wrote (Manning) off (and) thought, ‘Oh, this guy, all that hype, he’s terrible. He’s not worth all that hype,'” Kirk Herbstreit said. “All he did was finish the year with three 300-yard passing games in his final five games, capped off with a huge win against Texas A&M, the number three-ranked team.”
Manning finished the season with 2,942 yards, 24 touchdowns, and just seven interceptions. However, five of those interceptions were thrown in the first five games of the season. Half of his touchdowns were across the final five games of the season.
As for the criticism Manning faced, Herbstreit chalked it up to “unrealistic expectations.” That mostly came through the lens of what Manning’s grandfather and uncles did at the position.
“People were talking about, ‘He’s going to win the Heisman Trophy. He’s better than Peyton. He’s better than Eli. He’s better than his grandpa. He’s going to win a national championship, and he’ll be the first pick next year in the draft.’ And when that didn’t pan out in the first half ot the season, people were very, very critical,” Herbstreit said.
“He blocked all of that out, didn’t take any of it personally. If anything, I think it motivated him to go out and help his teammates win games. And I was really happy for him enduring that … and coming out on the other side.”
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
