Thanks to Lane Kiffin, the Tennessee Vols just got the cue they’ve been waiting on in the Marshall Manning recruiting sweepstakes
2030 quarterback Marshall Manning, the son of Tennessee Vols legend and Hall of Famer Peyton Manning, is expected to be one of the most coveted recruits in the nation over the next couple of years.
LSU Tigers head coach Lane Kiffin may have provided the cue the Tennessee Vols have been waiting on in the Marshall Manning recruiting sweepstakes.
Marshall, a quarterback in the 2030 recruiting class, is the son of Vols legend Peyton Manning. He’s a rising freshman at Baylor School in Chattanooga and he’s expected to be one of the most highly coveted recruits in the nation over the next couple of years.
Tennessee, of course, is expected to be heavily connected to Marshall during his recruitment.
Peyton, though, will almost certainly handle his son’s recruitment the way his dad, former NFL quarterback and Ole Miss legend Archie Manning, handled his recruitment three decades ago. No one should expect Peyton to pressure Marshall to sign with Tennessee.
Still, the talent is obvious with Marshall, and he’d be a great fit at Tennessee (or any other SEC school if we’re being real). The Vols will almost certainly show significant interest.
It’s honestly a bit surprising that Tennessee hasn’t already offered Marshall, though I get the sense they didn’t want to come across as offering him too early just because he’s Peyton’s son. The offer may feel a bit hollow if that’s the way it comes across.
Lane Kiffin’s latest move could open the door for Tennessee to offer Marshall Manning
If Tennessee hasn’t offered Marshall yet because they feel like it’s too early to be offering 2030 quarterbacks, then Kiffin may have provided the cue they’ve been waiting for this week.
(Note: Marshall, who was born on March 31, 2011, was originally supposed to be in the 2029 recruiting class, but he reclassified.)
Earlier this week, LSU offered 2030 quarterback Mason Smith, according to On3’s Sam Spiegelman.
LSU also offered 2030 defensive lineman Broderick Sanders this week.
If offers are now starting to fly out for rising high school freshmen, then I believe it signals that Tennessee should be clear to offer Marshall without worrying about the offer coming off as “Hey, we’re only offering you this early because you’re Peyton’s son and we want to be first.”
In fact, I think it would send a nice message for Josh Heupel to go ahead and pull the trigger on the offer. It would likely get a significant amount of attention nationally, which would be some good PR for Tennessee, too.
The Vols may be hesitant to offer in part because Marshall isn’t the starting quarterback at Baylor School yet (Ole Miss commit Keegan Croucher will start at Baylor this fall). But I still think it’s time to make the call and officially offer Marshall the opportunity to follow in his dad’s footsteps and become a Volunteer.