Colt McCoy knows exactly what Arch Manning is walking into.
Back in 2008, McCoy had already settled in as Texas’s third-year starter and had the Longhorns rolling. What changed his daily routine wasn’t a new offensive wrinkle - it was defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, who turned practice into a full-on test. Muschamp attacked McCoy with pressure, disguises, and constant challenges, and the quarterback welcomed every bit of it.
“I’d not seen a lot of those pressures and coverages that he put together,” McCoy says. “I would go straight to Muschamp after practice and say, ‘Explain this one to me, this coverage where you got me.’ I asked him about line stunts, why he’d walk a linebacker out, what a linebacker’s landmark was dropping in three-deep coverage.
“I wanted him to throw everything at me that he was throwing at [opposing quarterbacks]. He helped me understand defenses.”
That back-and-forth helped shape McCoy’s Texas career and, later, his 13-year NFL run. Now Muschamp is back at Texas, and McCoy sees a similar opportunity for Manning - only with far more attention attached to the quarterback in question.
“I mentioned it [to Manning] in one of our conversations this summer,” McCoy says. “I said, ‘Man, you’ve got a real opportunity here.
He’s the best defensive coordinator in the country. He’s going to throw everything he can at you.
Learn everything you can from him.’ ”
The next test comes Saturday, when No. 4 Texas hosts No.
1 Ohio State in the first cataclysm game of the 2026 season. It’s the same Buckeyes team that knocked Manning off track in last year’s opener, when his first college start ended in a 14-7 loss.
Manning finished 17-of-30 for 170 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
He spent much of Texas’s 10-3 season last year trying to find his footing, then improved late. His pass efficiency rating of 144.92 ranked seventh in the Southeastern Conference and 42nd nationally, and his 61.4% completion rate reflected the uneven ride. That wasn’t what many expected from one of the most celebrated quarterback recruits ever, but it also set up a chance for a major leap.
Manning already opened this season with a much cleaner outing in Texas’s 59-7 win over Texas State, throwing for 305 yards and four touchdowns while adding one interception. Now the stakes rise sharply, and McCoy says the key will be rhythm and quick decisions against Ohio State defensive coordinator Matt Patricia.
“It will be real important to be in rhythm, get the ball out quick,” McCoy says. “I’ve seen growth over the spring and summer in confidence in the players around him and in the system. His overall command and presence, I think there’s just a lot more confidence there.”
McCoy’s own path to Austin was very different. He came in as a three-star prospect from Jim Ned High School in Tuscola, Texas, redshirted behind Vince Young, and had to earn everything. Manning arrived with a spotlight that never really turned off, long before he ever took a snap for the Longhorns.
“Most quarterbacks coming into Texas, you’re the five-star, you’re the savior,” McCoy says. “There’s a lot that needs to be understood when you step into that role.
The pride, the tradition, the expectations, it’s big. It’s hard.
It’s something you have to deal with. I think Arch struggled with that for a while, but it seems like he has a much better grasp on it now.
He’s in a good place.”
Texas also made sure Manning won’t have to do this alone. The Longhorns attacked the transfer market and upgraded the offense around him.
Auburn wideout Cam Coleman arrived as the top receiver in the portal and caught three passes for 70 yards and two touchdowns in the opener. Wake Forest transfer Sterling Berkhalter added a couple of catches.
North Carolina State running back Hollywood Smothers produced 98 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown, while Arizona State transfer Raleek Brown scored twice. The Week 1 starting offensive linemen included Melvin Siani from Wake Forest and Dylan Sikorski from Oregon State.
“It’s incredible how talented they are,” McCoy says. “It’s really not fair.
They’re more talented than last year and maybe more talented than any team in the country. I told Arch, ‘You don’t have to be perfect with everything around you.’
”
Texas’s upgrades extend to the other side of the ball, too. Pittsburgh transfer Rasheem Biles made an immediate impact against Texas State with an interception and a forced fumble returned for a touchdown, and he figures to be a key piece of Muschamp’s defense.
The standard in Austin is unchanged: 10-3 and no College Football Playoff berth doesn’t cut it. That’s why Pete Kwiatkowski is out and Muschamp is back in charge of the defense, tasked with fixing a unit that finished ninth in the SEC in points allowed and 11th in yards allowed per game last season.
“He brings the juice every day,” McCoy says. “There’s so many highs and lows in a season, but Muschamp was always full of energy.
He’s one of my favorite coaches of all time. He can help Arch as much as anybody.”
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There is already plenty of anticipation around the season, too, with the school announcing a record 7,100 season tickets sold. Add in exhibition tuneups and a slate full of key SEC matchups, and the early part of the year looks less like a warmup than a proving ground. The real question is how Texas handles the pressure of that kind of schedule before conference play even settles in. [Read more 🡒]