62 SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
draft analyst based in NewOrleans. “It’s going to
be a tsunami of recruiting like we’ve never seen.”
For now, though, there isn’t a ripple in sight. In
an era of attention-seeking recruits and spotlight-
craving parents, the Manning camp has gone
dark. Coaches interested in extending a scholar-
ship have been politely told not to bother. “We just
say, ‘There’s no offer to give because there’s no
offer to receive,’” says Stewart, 42, in his 14th year
as Newman’s coach and a teammate of Cooper’s
and Peyton’s in the 1990s.
Arch is not on social media, and he’s never done
an interview. Except for a few benign comments,
the usually accessible Mannings declined to speak
about Arch for this story or to make him available.
“They’re very private and protective of Arch,”
says John Georges, a NewOrleans businessman
who owns the state’s two largest newspapers. “As
much as they try to keep a lid on it, there’s a buzz.
Certain people know how to raise thoroughbreds.
The Mannings know how to raise athletes.”
EARLIER LAST FALL,
a boy was with his father inside Newman’s gift
shop when a tall, skinny teenager entered. “Dad,”
the boy whispered to this father, “that’s Arch.”
Arch is unassuming and quiet, those close to
him say. He wants to be as normal as possible,
but—as the first freshman ever to start at quar-
terback for Newman—he is not. He won the job
over senior Beau Adams, who then emerged as one
of the team’s best receivers. There is no tension
between Adams and Arch. “Beau would drive him
home during the summer,” Stewart says, then
pauses, “because Arch isn’t old enough to drive.”
On road trips Arch rode the freshman bus;
during pregame warmups he stood at the end of
the stretch line with the other rookies, towering
over the veteran players in front of him. He even
attended the school’s junior varsity games. Why?
“Those are his buddies,” says Stewart.
Arch isn’t the only Manning at Newman. Older
sister May plays volleyball and younger brother
Heid is a center on the eighth-grade football team.
Their father was a receiver here, serving as Pey-
ton’s primary target. Cooper signed with Ole Miss
before having to retire from football because of
spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spine that also
required multiple operations.
Aside from a stiff neck, Cooper, a real-estate ex-
ecutive, is fine today. He attends Newman games
with his wife, Ellen, and his parents, who watch
the oldest boy among their nine grandchildren.
Peyton even returned to see the Greenies play
last fall. Images of his visiting with Arch swept
across social media—Arch in his green 16 jersey,
the same number Peyton wore at Tennessee.
Since his early days at quarterback, Arch has
displayed a keen focus and calm that remind many
of Peyton, but he far surpasses his uncle in one
attribute: mobility, says David Morris, who began
working with Arch as a sixth-grader. The Man-
nings trust Morris, a backup to Eli at Ole Miss
and the founder of the Mobile-based training
facility QB Country. (Morris declined to speak with
SI before Cooper cleared the interview.) “Young
quarterbacks usually hesitate, but Arch doesn’t,”
says Morris. “His ability to see it quick and get it
out quick is one of the reasons he’s playing so well.”
If Arch is ever struggling with fundamentals, he
doesn’t have to look far for pointers: His grandpa
lives just up the road. Archie isn’t a boastful per-
son by any means—“too much of a gentleman”
to brag, says a close family friend—but he makes
an exception when the subject is Arch. Since his
grandson’s flag football days, Archie has often
acknowledged, “He’s really good, really good.”
Archie frequently shares a story with friends
about the time Arch asked him for advice on quar-
terbacking a team. The most important quality
A R C H I E T Y P E S
As a freshman,
Arch outdid Peyton
(top left with son
Marshall) and Eli.
