Steve Sarkisian blowing off ESPN reporter Holly Rowe after Texas’s comeback win over Ohio State on Saturday was bad form, and he received plenty of pushback in the days since.
In the Longhorns locker room, however, it sounds like it’s been all laughs and giggles over the incident.
Texas quarterback Arch Manning met with the media on Monday to discuss his performance in the come-from-behind victory after he led the Longhorns on three touchdown drives in the fourth quarter.
The Steve Sarkisian postgame interview with Holly Rowe was quite brief. https://t.co/TWV6JrA9Ro pic.twitter.com/xo0z8oidMN
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 13, 2026
At one point, Manning was presumably asked about the incident after the win, in which Sarkisian blew off Rowe during the post-game interview opportunity, gave the camera the Horns Up gesture, and then ran off (this coming after he was curt with Laura Rutledge at halftime). While many called the move rude and classless, that was apparently nothing compared to what people were doing with the clip online.
“I saw the AI Edit of (Sark) slapping Holly Rowe.”
I asked Arch Manning if he’d seen any edits on TikTok or Twitter after the game, and his answer is gold. pic.twitter.com/70FnNCVEHb
— Evan Vieth (@EvanVieth) September 14, 2026
“I’ve seen a few AI edits and stuff, but that’s about it. I saw AI edits of Sark’s interview,” Manning told reporters on Monday. After someone in the room referenced a specific AI version, Manning asked, “Have ya’ll seen that one? That’s a good one,” and laughed, adding, “Of him slapping Holly Rowe?”
As the mention of a video showing the Texas coach slapping a female ESPN reporter makes a few other people in the room chuckle, Manning turns to someone off camera before looking forward and adding, “It’s hilarious.”
One would think it would go without saying that admitting publicly that you thought a video of your football coach slapping a woman was hilarious is a bad idea, but we live in “interesting times.” Even the X post sharing the clip, from On3’s Inside Texas reporter Evan Vieth, sells his answer as “gold.”
this is a horrendous exchange on a couple levels, including this tweet labeling the reply as “gold” https://t.co/S6bu5D8Fym
— Clinton Yates (@clintonyates) September 14, 2026
The 22-year-old may not be a full-grown man yet, but he should know better, and it reflects poorly on the adults in that room and on the Texas coaching staff that they’d all feel comfortable joking about something like that, especially given the Manning family’s history around football and sexual harassment allegations. To say nothing of the fact that we’re weeks out from the Good Good Golf controversy that effectively ruined that company.
It’s a bad look for Manning, a bad look for Texas football, and a bad look for men in general at a time when that’s unfortunately par for the course.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.