Cooper Manning gives the inside scoop on Arch Manning’s recruiting odyssey, College Bowl on NBC, expanded playoff

Cooper Manning is just trying to enjoy the process and remember football is fun as his son, Arch Manning, is one of the nation’s most sought-after recruits.

Cooper Manning is the son of the legendary Archie Manning, the brother of Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks, Peyton and Eli Manning and now the dad of one of the nation’s top recruits, Arch Manning. He’s seen it all as part of football’s first family and that’s why he’s a perfect co-host for the upcoming NBC game show Capital One College Bowl where he’s working with Peyton, who hosts the trivia contest.

The series Universal Television Alternative Studio, a division of Universal Studio Group, and Village Roadshow Television is a reboot of the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning show that previously aired on NBC.

Peyton is the show’s host, serving as an Alex Trebek role, while Cooper is the “sideline reporter.” Cooper, Peyton and Eli Manning are all executive producers on the 10-episode series along with Richard Reid via Richard Reid Productions, Inc., and Mark Itkin via his Tough Lamb Media. David Friedman is the showrunner.

College Bowl features two teams of three representing various colleges competing in a series of question rounds. Once the tournament gets down to the final two schools, they will compete for the Capital One College Bowl trophy and a scholarship.

Schools that will be featured on the show include the University of Alabama, Auburn University, Columbia University, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, Ole Miss, Morehouse College, University of Tennessee, University of Southern California, UCLA, University of Virginia and Xavier of Louisiana.

You can catch the series premiere of College Bowl on Tuesday, June 22 at 10 p.m. ET that pits Alabama vs. Auburn and Minnesota vs. Michigan.

Beyond the upcoming series premiere, Cooper talked about the recruitment of his son, Arch, who is the nation’s top quarterback in the 2023 class, the expanding College Football Playoff, expectations for his alma mater, Ole Miss, and what he attributes to the offensive explosion in the sport.

Cooper Manning talks about the hottest stories in college football and the recruitment of his son, Arch Manning, the top quarterback in his class

PS: Capital One College Bowl premieres on June 22 on NBC, I watched the premiere and it looks like you and Peyton had a ball filming, and there are some life-changing opportunities on the line for the contestants as well. What’s your experience been working on the show?

CM: I’m really excited. We had such a good time. Peyton and I did doing this with these great kids from all over the country, and I love college kids competing, and especially when they’re competing for life-changing scholarships. It was a really fun time to be a part of this.

PS: I’m watching the first episode and I’m thinking, why isn’t Jeopardy reaching out to Cooper and Peyton to co-host Jeopardy! Forget Aaron Rodgers, we need the Manning Brothers.

CM: I mean, I’m looking for an agent. Are you interested?

PS: I’ll have my people call your people. We’ll work it out.

CM: The only thing Jeopardy! doesn’t have is a fool like me sitting next to someone going, ‘Hey, that’s the wrong answer. What the heck are you thinking?’ They don’t have a heckler. So maybe that’s College Bowl. It’s Jeopardy! with a heckler.

PS: It’s like Andy Richter and Conan O’Brien. Great senses of humor bouncing off each other. I think fans are really going to like this. 

PS: Let’s talk about the big news in college football, I understand why the College Football Playoff is expanding, but I don’t really like it, what do you think?

CM: I kind of felt it coming. I didn’t know if it would go to 12. I mean, eight, you know, somewhere in the middle. But as you know, when the dollars start making sense, they just keep pressing the add button. And here we are. It definitely puts a lot more people in the thick of things late in the season. So, if you have that early loss, or even, a pivotal loss in the end, there’s always a spot to squeeze in. I think it opens the door for a lot more teams to remain focused and remain interested.

PS: You don’t think this diminishes the regular season then?

CM: I think that’s right. And I think it also gives some schools that have been on the bubble before, whether it’s the strength of schedule, or just not being the biggest school in the world, getting into the big dance, and that can really be fun. It’s one thing to have a 12 universal one, but you kind of get that, you know that eighth seed, they can come in there and make some hay. It’s gonna be really interesting.

PS: You’ve been recruited, you’ve seen your brothers be heavily recruited and now you’re seeing your son Arch as one of the nation’s most coveted recruits. What’s the biggest change you’ve noticed in recruiting from then to now?

CM: I just think that how early it starts. I wasn’t the biggest recruit in the world but I can remember Peyton and Eli in the thick of it and I don’t think Peyton was even getting any letters after his sophomore year, and now you have people committing in the middle of their sophomore year. So I think everything is just accelerated. It’s earlier It’s, faster, and it’s more to take in but you can kind of dictate how you do it. There’s a process and you try to enjoy it and try to make it fun going to these college campuses. That’s what it’s all about. And college is supposed to be fun so don’t get too worked up.

PS: Is that what you keep telling Arch so he can enjoy a semblance of a normal teenage life?

CM: I think that’s been the message the whole time. I mean, this is football, it’s supposed to be fun. It’s college football so it’s even more fun, so don’t get so caught up in what’s coming next. Enjoy high school, that’s the most fun. There’s nothing better than high school football, these are your friends that most are going to go on and do great things outside of sports so enjoy it with them. You can’t take that away from me. The coaches are pure, they’re doing it for the love of the game. People mess up, people make great plays, and you don’t have to answer to the media the next day. So we’re going at the right pace, I think enjoying it and doing it with great parents and great kids.

PS: Arch is coming off visits to Clemson, SMU and Texas and has visits to Alabama and Georgia later this month. Where’s the next stop on the Arch Manning recruiting odyssey?

CM: Well, it’s unfortunate you can’t really go see places meet the coaches outside of June. So trying to maintain some sort of normalcy after this month. Arch got named a captain so you got to be there for summer workouts, Mondays and Tuesdays, throwing on Wednesdays and lifting and running. So we’re using the weekends to go see a few of these spots that have been recruiting for a while that he’s never been to. And now he’s a young guy and hadn’t been on a lot of college campuses so seeing what’s out there. And then we’ll try to figure that out after June and say, “Alright, maybe we want to, maybe go look around in July but just maybe not the same degree.” So we’re gonna just kind of take it weekend by weekend, soak it up. It’s fun, but it is exhausting getting on the road every weekend. Sometimes you want to just kind of stay home and be a high school student not gonna see anything. I get it. Let’s just let’s knock this one out and kind of get back to normal.

PS: What’s been the best advice or process you’ve followed as Arch’s recruiting has picked up?

CM: I really have just been supportive. If Arch said I want to come in and play the clarinet. I think we’d be fine with it. Wherever your children are happy is when your parents are happy. And the last thing in the world I want from any of my children saying, “Dad, I can’t believe you told me to go here.” Because stuff goes wrong, you throw a bunch of interceptions and the coach is not as nice as he thought he was going to be. There are hurdles and obstacles and that’s part of life. So you try to point them in the right direction and help guide them and help them get there, but these are big boy decisions and they’re gonna have to live with it. They can make it themselves.

PS: What are your expectations for Ole Miss this season and have you had a chance to develop a relationship with Lane Kiffin?

CM: Kind of weird with all this COVID but I haven’t even met Lane yet but everybody’s behind. I heard the other day from a coach he would have been in front of a recruit six-seven times by now and they haven’t even met. You got kids going off to college right now who have yet to meet the coaches in person or even be on the campus. So everything is behind. I think this kind of created a little bit of a roadblock on the recruiting side but Ole Miss the fans have gotten behind Lane, they are scoring a lot of points. Matt Corrall is a talented quarterback who can really do a lot of things, a tough kid, very savvy and they go fast. And so I think people look down their schedule and see Ole Miss coming with an experienced quarterback and Lane, maybe in the old days, they might have a W next to it. Now it’s got a question mark.

PS: It seems like that’s a trend for a lot of teams where everyone is scoring a lot of points now. Can you put your finger on one thing why the defense has kind of been diminished and there’s an offensive explosion?

CM: It’s funny. It’s a great question because there used to be those 10-7 games with LSU and Alabama with just defense and the kicking game. And now it’s almost a mindset that if a defense can hold a team to a field goal, it’s heroic. I guess there’s just gravitation toward the talent wanting to be on offense. You go to these camps, and there are 55 receivers and five corners. I think they are starting younger at the flag football days. They’re throwing the football and it’s not just tossing it left and right to the fastest kid. It’s spreading them out, teaching people how to throw correctly, run routes, and you can be in a flag football game and catch five or six touchdowns. That’s fun. And so I think that you throw in a little 7-on-7, and the high school coaches and middle school coaches are not afraid to throw the football more. And you got more talent out there who can run and catch it. So it’s given a lot of defense coordinators fits.

PS: It’s the Manning Effect with kids wanting to grow up to be the next Peyton and Eli.

CM: [Laughs] I think we should take all the credit.

Interview edited and condensed for clarity.

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