Is Arch Manning the real deal — or are we overhyping the name?
The Audible with Stew, Bruce & Ralph: A show about college football
The Athletic
4.4 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 14 July 2026
⏱️ 59 minutes
🔗️ Recording | Apple Podcasts | RSS
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It's time for the biggest storylines entering the 2026 season. Can Curt Cignetti keep Indiana among the College Football Playoff contenders? How will the SEC's new nine-game conference schedule impact the playoff race? Will Lane Kiffin deliver immediately at LSU? Is Arch Manning ready to lead Texas into national championship contention? Stewart Mandel, Bruce Feldman and Ralph Russo debate the programs, coaches and quarterbacks that will define the 2026 college football season.
The Michigan investigation appears to be reaching its conclusion, and The Audible crew breaks down what could be one of the biggest administrative stories in recent college football history. With reports that Michigan commissioned an extensive outside investigation into the culture of its athletic department, the crew discusses what it could mean for athletic director Ward Manuel, the fallout surrounding Sherrone Moore, and why this report could reshape the future of one of college football's premier programs.
Next, the conversation turns toward the field as The Audible begins its official preview of the 2026 college football season. Bruce shares his biggest takeaways from Big 12 Media Days, including a healthier Deion Sanders, Colorado's revamped roster, Baylor quarterback DJ Lagway's development, and what to expect from one of the most intriguing conferences in the country this fall.
The crew also gets into a spirited Arch Manning debate as Texas enters the season with massive expectations. Bruce and Ralph are buying the leap, pointing to Arch's late-season growth, improved playmaking and a loaded Longhorns roster that should have Texas thinking national championship. Stewart pushes back, questioning whether the Manning name is still inflating the hype and arguing that Arch can be a very good quarterback without needing to be treated like the next superstar before he has fully proven it.
Finally, Stewart, Bruce and Ralph examine the coaches facing the most pressure this year. From Bill Belichick's uncertain future at North Carolina to Mike Norvell's mounting expectations at Florida State, Luke Fickell at Wisconsin and several other hot-seat candidates, the guys discuss which programs are approaching pivotal moments and which coaches could be coaching for their jobs this fall.
Whether you're following Michigan football, Texas, LSU, Colorado, Indiana, the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, ACC or the College Football Playoff race, this episode delivers in-depth reporting, insider analysis and informed discussion to get you ready for the 2026 college football season.
Will Arch Manning live up to the hype in 2026? Drop your thoughts in the comments.
Plus don't forget to send in your mailbag questions to theaudiblepod@gmail.com
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Audible presented by Trader Joe's. I'm Stuart Mandel, joined by Bruce Feldman and Ralph Rousse. So we got some news to hit this week, especially involving Michigan and an investigation that's been going on there for a while. |
| 0:20.5 | Mainly we want to talk, we want to start turning our attention to the field and some of the |
| 0:24.2 | best storylines of the season that's coming up. |
| 0:26.8 | Guys, it was great to see you in Vegas last week for our athletic CFB offsite. |
| 0:32.7 | And that's really what got me wanting to start doing more on the field talk because it was really our first |
| 0:38.9 | chance as a staff to really start planning for the season. |
| 0:42.9 | Yeah, it's the preseason is here, talking season, right? Big 12, Big 12 kicked off last week, |
| 0:50.8 | Media Days, ACC, where I'll be later in the week, media days. SEC and Big Ten both next week? I'm a little confused. Everybody in our staff except me is going to Big Ten. Big Ten's one more week. So they each have a week. Time I can remember where each of the Power Four is getting their own week, their own week in the spotlight. Yeah. That's good. |
| 1:28.7 | That's good. Yeah. So, and plus it was just nice to see you guys in person. It's nice that we're all here in person for the first time in a little bit. And that hasn't been the case for a lot of the summer as we go in and out. And of course, I won't be here on Wednesday. So, who's already setting the scene for that. |
| 1:33.7 | Bruce, you know, when the Sharon Moore thing happened in December, |
| 1:38.1 | which was really jarring and serious, obviously, |
| 1:41.7 | you and some of our colleagues did a lot of reporting on that. And almost immediately the attention turned to the A.D. Ward manual. Like, how could this have happened? Is his job now in Jeopardy? Well, here, and then it kind of went to the side, and Michigan won a national championship in basketball, seems like all is going well. But where are we now with news breaking on Sunday that this investigation that the school hired a law firm to do |
| 2:02.9 | and apparently paid $11 million to do it is probably going to be released this week. |
| 2:07.8 | Yeah. So it's been an interesting situation with Michigan where you've had a weird, you know, |
| 2:13.6 | deal with the president who's running the school, you know, go back to, to Ono who came and went and there was an interim and then somebody else took |
| 2:21.2 | the job briefly and then was sick and anyway, so that's on the side. You also have |
| 2:26.3 | from the reporting that we've done, the don't big, big money donors are kind of split on |
| 2:33.5 | what to do with Ward Manual. |
| 2:36.2 | Keep in mind, he is known as a really, really good fundraiser. |
| 2:40.2 | But beyond that, this whole thing from our reporting has been toxic and has been toxic for a long time. |
| 2:49.0 | Initially, Michigan did what one source there told me |
| 2:52.8 | was kind of a sham investigation. |
... |
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