Arch Manning entered the 2025 college football season with a level of hype that probably hasn't been seen in over a decade—perhaps since Tim Tebow took over the sport as a Heisman-winning quarterback at Florida. It probably didn't help matters when Tebow's SEC Network colleague Paul Finebaum declared the young Manning as the best college quarterback since Tebow—comments he's admitted were over the top after a few rough weeks for the Texas QB to begin the year.

Tebow may not have come from a dynastic quarterbacking family, but he has walked in similar shoes to Manning and clearly empathizes with the Longhorns quarterback's plight of the last few weeks. Appearing on The Rich Eisen Show, Tebow shared the message he would give to Manning, repeating a number of times that he needs to "remember the love of the game" above all else.

"I'd encourage him, like, 'Man, you're a gifted player. You're a realy good player. You just need to be encouraged,'” Tebow said. "He's at a location right now with great coaches, great players around him, but he's just under a lot of pressure. The pressure's real, and it's hard sometimes explain that to people."

It's similar to the message recently shared by longtime Texas coach Mack Brown, who was not happy with the booing that Manning was subject to during the Longhorns' most recent win over UTEP. Tebow didn't address Texas fans specifically, but both clearly believe the young QB needs to be lifted up.

Tebow also cautioned Manning against trying to "make every play," signaling that he believes Arch may be pressing to live up to the hype right now, before praising how he's handled his college career to this point.

"I just encourage him—remember the love of the game and play for it. You don't have to make every play, you don't have to be perfect," Tebow said. "I've really appreciated the way he's carried himself for three years now. I've appreciated the way he handled it, as a teammate with Quinn [Ewers]. When he took over, how he's handled even some of the disappointments. I think he's a great example of someone whose handled hype and criticism. He hasn't pointed fingers, he's just handled it really well. So I'd say I'm proud of the way he's handled it, but also, try to block that out and remember how much you love the game. And yeah, people will keep talking, and there'll be praise and there'll be criticism, and sometimes the praise is off the charts and the criticism is too. And it's usually somewhere in between.

"That was probably advice I needed a lot my senior year, because we weren't just playing against the team we played, we were also playing against what we had done in the past and the hype and criticism of it. And I needed to be reminded and I should've done a better job of trying to keep it in perspective and handle it."

Manning has just a handful of starts under his belt, and even fewer as Texas's locked-in No. 1 quarterback, but he is the most famous college football player in the country. That makes it hard for him to get away from the game and clear his mind, something that Tebow hopes outside voices can begin to recognize.

"It's hard sometimes for people to just understand, if you can't walk anywhere, you can't really talk to anyone about it, because who do you trust, who do you have? And now he has this awesome family, but it's just different, so I think I just try to understand it and have a level of compassion for where he's at."

Manning and the Longhorns have one more tune-up game in nonconference play on Saturday against Sam Houston. He'll certainly look to take a step in the right direction before the team's SEC opener on Oct. 4 against Tebow's alma mater, Florida,

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Tim Tebow Shares Relatable Advice, Empathy for Arch Manning As Texas QB Struggles.

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