Paul Finebaum holds media accountable in Arch Manning controversy: ‘Pack of wolves trying to get meat’

If the media wants thoughtful answers from Arch Manning, then Paul Finebaum is putting it on the media to ask better questions.

You get what you give. And Finebaum believes Manning is just making the media look like fools after they attempted to make him out to be a fool last week. Manning recently found himself in the biggest controversy of his young career, when he laughed with reporters at an AI-generated video of Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian slapping ESPN reporter Holly Rowe. It was one of several AI videos that went viral after Sarkisian controversially snubbed Rowe in the real interview following Texas’ win over Ohio State.

Manning received a lot of criticism for laughing at a video depicting a woman being slapped, even if it was fake. The Texas quarterback has since apologized, with Rowe accepting the apology. But in his next meeting with the media, Manning was accused of being much less engaging with reporters. Manning took 19 questions from reporters, with his answers totaling less than a minute of speaking time.

“Don’t criticize the subject if you ask stupid and bogus questions, which I heard on most of those. If you ask Arch Manning a pertinent question, maybe he will answer them” – Paul Finebaum pic.twitter.com/nw2XTMzGA8

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 23, 2026

“Arch made fools out of everybody in that room because they helped make him look like a fool last week with the Holly Rowe situation,” Finebaum claimed on his radio show this week. “They all laughed, and he took all the heat. The bottom line is, I say this to any media member. Don’t criticize the subject if you ask stupid and bogus questions, which I heard on most of those. If you ask Arch Manning a pertinent question, maybe he will answer them. If you don’t sit there like a bunch of fanboys drooling over his sweat, then maybe he’ll give something back in return. But I didn’t hear anything from the media there.”

“I know a lot of my colleagues are probably not happy to hear me say this, but things have changed,” Finebaum continued. “Guys like Arch Manning do not need the local yokels in media. He can reach millions of people with one Instagram post. He can reach millions of people by doing something more than sitting there listening to a bunch of dumb questions from the local media who look like a pack of wolves trying to get some meat at feeding time.”

Manning was never the most charismatic quarterback in front of a microphone. And last week, Manning was coming off the biggest win of his college football career. That’s probably as loose as he’s going to be with the media. This week, Manning was being asked to look ahead to their next game against Tennessee rather than reflect on a big win.

It’s not surprising to see Manning be more guarded than he otherwise may have been in the wake of being chastised for laughing at the AI video of Sarkisian and Rowe. But Finebaum is right in noting this version of Manning who answered 19 questions in under a minute isn’t necessarily the only version of the Texas quarterback that we’re going to see moving forward. Manning may have checked the media with short answers, now it’s on reporters to ask questions that will elicit more thoughtful responses.