ESPN’s Marty Smith predicts ‘Tim Tebow-level hysteria’ for Arch Manning

Ready or not, Arch Manning is poised to be college football’s next face.

The nephew of Peyton and Eli enters his junior season as the presumed starter for Steve Sarkisian’s Texas program. Manning could’ve bolted Austin, having been passed over not once but twice for Quinn Ewers at the University of Texas. But despite Ewers’ inconsistencies, the magnetism of Manning always loomed large.

Manning stayed the course, and now he has the opportunity to reshape both the sport and the conversation around it.

That conversation? Brace yourself for the inevitable hysteria.

Manning hasn’t been subjected to full-on overhype — yet. But it’s coming. We’ve seen this before: a select group of athletes seem destined to carve their names on the Mount Rushmore of overhyped figures.

Tim Tebow is the reigning king of that mountain, solidified by ESPN’s obsessive coverage.

Unless you experienced it firsthand, it’s nearly impossible to grasp just how far ESPN went in its Tebow fixation. We’re talking live-tweeting press conferences, elaborate birthday celebrations and even a cappella tributes.

Will Arch Manning face the same media frenzy?

ESPN’s Marty Smith certainly thinks so.

“Just know this, brother, it’s going to be Tim Tebow-level hysteria this fall when we go to Austin, Texas,” Smith told Paul Finebaum, “when he is behind center full time for the first time. It’s going to be like it was with Tebow at Florida — everywhere they go, they’re going to be rockstars. That’s what I anticipate, and I think that’s what we’re gonna see.”

“It’s gonna be Tim Tebow-level hysteria this fall.”@MartySmithESPN tells @finebaum that Arch Manning is college football’s next superstar 🤘 pic.twitter.com/SLU9vVtZUK

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) January 30, 2025

If Manning lives up to his last name, he might just face a media frenzy few athletes ever experience — one that echoes the Tebow-era circus.

And for Smith, a veteran voice of ESPN and college football, to say it’s coming says everything you need to know.