Arch Manning is still nearly three years away from having to make a decision about where he wants to play college ball, but the nephew of Peyton and Eli is already receiving pressure from supporters of one of the top programs in the country.
Cooper Manning, who is Arch’s father and Peyton and Eli’s brother, told “Off the Bench” on 104.5 ESPN Baton Rouge this week that his 15-year-old son is already being pressured to attend LSU by people close to the family. Arch is also friends with a fellow quarterback who is committed to LSU for 2022.
“It’s funny. All my good friends locally in New Orleans are big LSU fans so they’ve been giving him a hard time for a long time about coming up to Baton Rouge,” Cooper said, as transcribed by Bill Embody of 247Sports. “They’ve got a great program and Coach O has done unbelievable. Arch is friends with Walker Howard, just committed there. They’re good buddies for a long time…”
That would not sit well with some of LSU’s conference rivals, of course. Both Eli and Archie Manning, Arch’s grandfather, went to Ole Miss. Peyton was a star at Tennessee. That said, Arch is entering his sophomore season at Isidore Newman School in New Orleans, and LSU is coming off a national championship. You can understand why LSU fans feel like the next potentially great Manning should become a Tiger.
Cooper understands that Arch still has a long way to go, and he says the youngster is free to attend any school he would like.
“We’re open to sending our kids wherever they want to go to school,” Cooper said. “I don’t think MIT is calling anytime soon. We raise them to do what they want to do. They make decisions and we support them. That’s the way it works.”
While it’s tough to imagine fans getting excited about a sophomore in high school, the pedigree is obviously there for Arch. He also recently hit an insane growth spurt and lit it up at a freshman, so the hype may just be getting started.
