How the Georgia Bulldogs could utilize Peyton Manning to land Arch Manning
2023 five-star quarterback Arch Manning is one of the most sought-after recruits in the nation. Manning, 6-foot-4/208 lbs from New Orleans, LA (Isidore Newman), is ranked in 247Sports' composite rankings as the No. 1 quarterback in the nation and the No. 3 overall player in the 2023 recruiting class. Tennessee Vols legend Peyton Manning is […]
2023 five-star quarterback Arch Manning is one of the most sought-after recruits in the nation.
Manning, 6-foot-4/208 lbs from New Orleans, LA (Isidore Newman), is ranked in 247Sports' composite rankings as the No. 1 quarterback in the nation and the No. 3 overall player in the 2023 recruiting class.
Tennessee Vols legend Peyton Manning is Arch's uncle. And so far that's the only reason the five-star quarterback has been linked to UT.
Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss (thanks to some strong family connections), and Texas are believed to be the programs at the top of the list for Manning.
Oddly enough, Georgia is the program that might be best situated to utilize a Peyton Manning connection to land Arch.
247Sports' Steve Wiltfong provided an update on Manning's recruitment on Sunday afternoon and he noted that Georgia head coach Kirby Smart is "good friends" with Peyton Manning.
Manning was in Athens this past weekend. The family has known offensive line coach Matt Luke and senior analyst Will Muschamp for a long time, and coach Kirby Smart is good friends with Peyton Manning. There are a lot of common friends between several members of the Georgia staff and Manning family. Manning loves Athens as a college town.
It makes sense that Peyton and Kirby are close. Both are former SEC players who are 45 years old and played against each other in the 90s. Smart also briefly played with the Indianapolis Colts with Peyton (Smart was signed to a free-agent deal in 1999 and spent the preseason with the Colts before being waived).
Peyton probably isn't going to give Arch any unsolicited advice during this process — that's just not how the Mannings roll.
But if Arch asks Peyton about Georgia, I'm sure he'll give Kirby a positive review. Ultimately, Peyton, like the rest of the Mannings, just wants the best for Arch. And Peyton's not going to push Tennessee on the young quarterback just because it's where he went to college.
Featured image via Michael Patrick/News Sentinel
