Texas coach Steve Sarkisian leaves Arch Manning exposed by avoiding Holly Rowe apology

How far should a college football coach go to protect his players?

That's a question Steve Sarkisian must answer this week amid backlash involving Arch Manning, who laughed at an AI-generated video depicting the Texas coach slapping ESPN reporter Holly Rowe following Saturday night's comeback win over then-No. 1 Ohio State.

Manning has since apologized, but the controversy has not disappeared, and Sarkisian is missing an opportunity to protect his star quarterback from an avalanche of bad headlines — the New York Times, Good Morning America — by issuing an apology of his own and taking some of the oxygen away from the Manning controversy. Sarkisian has to own how he handled his moment with Rowe, but had he or Texas handled the aftermath of that strange moment better, the focus still would have been on the school's thrilling comeback over Ohio State instead of the star quarterback stepping in it.

When Sarkisian chose to blow off his ESPN interview, he let the internet have its way. The 22-year-old Manning, immaturely, put himself in the crossfire when he offered up how "hilarious" he found an AI-generated video of his coach slapping Rowe.

Manning said Tuesday in a note posted on…

Original source: https://www.cbssports.com/