Uncle Eli has sage advice for Texas backup quarterback Arch Manning: be patient | Golden

Many of us had that favorite uncle who could give sage advice and sometimes at the perfect time.

I’m not sure if Arch Manning has been in close touch with Uncle Eli lately, or even Uncle Peyton for that matter, but Eli’s comments during Super Bowl week gave some nice perspective with the understanding that Arch will enter the spring as Texas' backup quarterback behind Quinn Ewers.

That should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed college football. Ewers is the incumbent and he took a large step from his first to second year behind center.

A lot can change between now and the Aug. 31 opener against Colorado State, but there was really no reason for head coach Steve Sarkisian to upset the apple cart in February and say anything but Ewers is the starter. To that end, Zach Gelb of CBS Sports Radio asked Eli about the possibility of his nephew entering the transfer portal between now and the start of the season with the news that he's officially Texas' backup.

More: We're in a new recruiting era, and Steve Sarkisian has Texas thriving in it | Golden

"Obviously, the plan was maybe Ewers would go into the NFL, but he’s there,” Manning said. "It’s another year for Arch to mature, learn an offense, get bigger and stronger in the weight room and always be prepared to play. You never know what’s going to happen.”

The message I took from here is simple. Nephew, play your butt off and prepare each day as if you’re the starter. Ewers has missed six games over the past two seasons and the opportunity to shine could arise sooner than you think.

Uncle Eli is speaking from experience. Then Ole Miss coach David Cutcliffe redshirted Eli in 1999 behind starter Romaro Miller, who then beat him out in Manning's redshirt freshman season, limiting the Manning to only six games. Over his last three seasons, Manning rewrote the SEC stat book and became the top overall pick in the 2004 NFL draft.

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Now, Eli could have transferred while languishing behind a guy who was solid but completed only 53% of his passes. But he stuck it out and waited his turn. Transferring would have meant sitting out a year, unlike present day when a player can leave and play immediately. Either way, it sounds as if he is encouraging his nephew to be still and see how the dominoes fall.

“He’s got to be ready,” Eli Manning said. “If not, then he gets some playing time here and there, and he’s got three more years of eligibility at a great school, at a great football program on the rise. The fact that you can transfer so easily now doesn’t mean you should do it just because you’re not playing right away. A lot of quarterbacks when I was college, that was always the game plan. You redshirt, you sit a year, you heave three years of eligibility. That’s what I did at Ole Miss and I think (that) helped me.”

The Mannings aren’t like most families. Money would not drive any decision to transfer since Arch is from a family of millionaires and already has an NIL portfolio that will one day be well beyond a million. The youngest Manning loves what Sarkisian is putting down and believes his day will come and he’s right. I’m not convinced he won’t end next season as the starter given Ewers’ propensity for injury, but that’s for another day.

For now, Sarkisian has the best of both worlds: a seasoned starter and arguably the most talented backup in the country.

"I know he wants to play,” Manning said. “He’s itching to get in there. But being patient, continuing to learn can be very helpful as well.”

As helpful as a well-intentioned uncle. That’s good advice from someone who has been there.

Texas men still need to string some Ws together

Needing some momentum: That West Virginia win had to happen, but the Texas men aren’t out of the NCAA basketball woods just yet.

More: Dylan Disu, Texas basketball race past West Virginia while avenging earlier loss

What’s missing is something that’s hard to come by in the best league in college hoops: a nice little winning streak.

Not counting their Big 12 tourney championship last season, the Longhorns haven’t won three straight games in league play since they pulled it off twice in the 2021 season that ended with that embarrassing first-round loss to Abilene Christian.

More: Texas softball's Mac Morgan throws a no-hitter as Longhorns open season 2-0

That was Shaka Smart's final season. Current coach Rodney Terry just watched the Horns put together the most comprehensive  wire-to-wire performance of his tenure to improve to 5-6 in the league with seven games left. But it came against the 13th-place team in the league. It gets more difficult against the first-place Houston Cougars on the road Saturday followed by Kansas conqueror Kansas State two days later.

More: Freshman guard Gisella Maul makes the case for more playing time as No. 7 Texas beats TCU

Life in this league isn’t swimming underwater. Sooner rather than later you have to come up for air, but the opponent is constantly trying to pull you back under. Texas has perfected the art of the competitive game and remains one of the best road teams in the league.

That said, this is easily the biggest test of the season.

Patrick Mahomes could catch Tom Brady

Watch out, Tom, here comes company: Patrick Mahomes is simply from another planet.

Did anyone doubt that he would drive the Kansas City Chiefs down the field in overtime and deliver the organization a fourth Super Bowl ring? OK, I did, but I’m an idiot who has learned the hard way over the years that you just don’t bet against No. 15. Three rings at the tender age of 28 has already tied Hall of Famer Troy Aikman and now he’s one behind Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw.

If he gets there — and he will — Tom Brady’s once unassailable seven-championship mark is in Mahomes' sights, depending on how long he wants to play. I never believed anyone would come close to Brady, but after watching Mahomes lead the least talented offense under Andy Reid to another title, anything is possible with him behind center.

Lay off the Swifties, already

Making music together: If you’re trying to somehow make Taylor Swift and coach-bumping boyfriend Travis Kelce some political thing designed to get President Biden re-elected, just cool down for a minute.

Taylor Swift is supporting her partner and his dreams. Nothing more, nothing less.

And what’s wrong with that? So many Internet trolls railed every time they showed her during the game, but some of the same people went wild when Kelce's brother, former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, took off his shirt and gyrated his big gut in the suite at Buffalo with the cameras rolling. I loved it but couldn’t see the disconnect when it came to Swift.

And stop blaming the league and TV networks for getting in bed with them. I read a report that said the Swift story generated more than $300 million in revenue for the NFL this past season. Shoot, I ran into a 20-something girl at the airport the second weekend of the playoffs wearing a Taylor-Travis shirt and she explained that she knew nothing about the team, but she was just doing her part to support the Swift movement.

Tay-Tay is good for business.

And apparently good for Travis, too.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Is Arch Manning transferring? Eli Manning has advice for Texas backup