Steve Spurrier stirs the pot with blunt shot at Arch Manning

Who says fame doesn't come with its haters? Rising redshirt sophomore quarterback Arch Manning had a meteoric rise to stardom even without starting an entire season at Texas last year.

The 21-year-old son of Cooper Manning, brother to multi-time Super Bowl champions Eli and Peyton Manning, was an attention magnet for his family dynasty. His arm wasn't too shabby either. In 10 appearances last year, Arch put up 939 passing yards and was responsible for 13 total touchdowns behind starter Quinn Ewers.

But now that he has the reins down in Austin, all focus will be on him and he's already getting criticism from some college football royalty. Legendary Florida and South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier told WRUF's Pat Dooley he's not all that impressed with the young Manning.

"Most people picking Texas to win the SEC. They’ve got Arch Manning already winning the Heisman too. My question is: if he was this good, how come they let Quinn Ewers play all the time last year? And he was a 7th round pick," Spurrier said pointedly.

Arch Manning's list of haters grows to include college football royalty

Spurrier's comments are a bit harsh but they do make a significant point. That being said, he fails to realize that Steve Sarkisian was all in on Ewers last year as the starter.

“You only have to ask, 'how come you played that one instead of this one,'” Spurrier said of Sarkisian's decision to start Ewers when available. “Hopefully he’ll say, ‘Because we thought he was better than that one.’ Isn’t that why you play one guy and not the other? Unless it was discipline, and there was no discipline or anything.”

Sarkisian's decision wasn't an indictment on Manning's abilities - as a freshman let's not forget - but instead his vote of confidence in a senior QB that led the Longhorns to consecutive College Football Playoff semifinals.

Ewers did struggle at times, to be fair. He threw 12 interceptions to go with his 3,472 passing yards and 31 touchdowns. Spurrier seems to be stuck on the notion that Sarkisian should've made a change sooner if Manning was actually that good.

“One guy is struggling? Give the other guy a chance,” he said. “We let them all compete. The one you think can play the best, let him go. If he struggles, then you put the next one in.”

Well, whether Spurrier likes it or not, Manning has the ball now and he gets to prove himself on the biggest stage. But he's got to make the most of his opportunity, especially the the lofty expectations heaped upon his still-developing shoulders.