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Arch Manning will likely be a non-factor when Texas faces off against Michigan this weekend unless the Longhorns suffer an unexpected setback, but his dad Cooper seemingly went out of his way to make the team’s presence known in Ann Arbor prior to the contest.
As was the case with his brothers Peyton and Eli, Cooper Manning (the oldest of the three siblings) was a highly-touted quarterback prospect who was slated to play at the University of Mississippi before his football career came to an abrupt end after he was diagnosed with spinal stenosis after arriving on campus ahead of his freshman year.
However, Cooper is responsible for continuing the bloodline of the most storied QB dynasty in football history as the father of Arch Manning, the redshirt freshman who will presumably step into the starting role for the Texas Longhorns next season following what is expected to be Quinn Ewers’ final year with the team.
Arch got some reps in after Ewers was pulled in the fourth quarter of a season opener where Texas cruised to a 52-0 victory over Colorado State (he threw for 95 yards and a touchdown while completing five of the six throws he attempted), but the Longhorns will likely be facing some stiffer competition from a Michigan team that heads into Saturday’s contest as 7.5-point underdogs.
While I can’t personally verify a claim that surfaced in an online group for parents of students at Texas, Cooper supposedly orchestrated a stunt to get under the skin of Wolverines fans in the city the team calls home by paying the Graduate Hotel in Ann Arbor to fly the Longhorns flag ahead of the game.
This was shared in our Texas parents group… love it!
“I hear that Cooper Manning paid to have the Texas flag fly outside the Graduate hotel near campus. People in Ann Arbor are not happy about it.”#Hookem🤘🏼🤘🏼 pic.twitter.com/ml0Phq5xbD
— Tori Rasberry (@Rasberry_TR) September 4, 2024
It’s worth noting Cooper probably didn’t need to pay any money when you consider he has a high-ranking role at AJ Capital Partners, the real estate firm that boasts a sizeable lodging portfolio that includes the hotel in question.
With that said, pictures show multiple Texas flags currently hanging outside the building along with others honoring the Wolverines, and I really want to believe Cooper had a hand in making that possible.