What Peyton Manning told Tennessee football players during spring practice visit

Tennessee football players got a treat in spring practice, as Peyton Manning stopped by to talk to the team during a brief visit to campus.

Manning talked to the Vols for about 30 minutes and took questions from players for another 20 minutes on Wednesday night. And then he had a closed-door meeting with Nico Iamaleava and the other quarterbacks.

Don’t expect to see a transcript from either discussion. They weren’t filmed, and Manning likes those visits to remain private.

But coaches said UT players, including several newcomers, were impressed by the appearance from the Hall of Fame and former Vols quarterback.

“I mean it’s Peyton Manning. Like, well there’s not much more to say on that one, right?” offensive coordinator/quarterback coach Joey Halzle said. “… I think it’s going to be something that's crazy beneficial for those guys.”

Why Peyton Manning was in a Tennessee classroom

It’s a work trip to Manning.

On Thursday, Manning taught a class in the UT College of Communication and Information, where he serves as a professor of practice.

Beginning in fall 2023, Manning took that role, partnering with CCI faculty to teach a variety of topics that align with the college’s curriculum, including sports reporting, video production and performance, leadership and communication and public speaking.

He regularly appears in the class remotely via video conferencing, and he teaches in person a few times each semester.

'Our guys were taking pages of notes'

A few fortunate UT students learned from Manning in that mass communication class. But UT football players also got quite a lesson.

“He talks, everybody really listens,” Halzle said. “He was just giving guys a bunch of great nuggets as far as the way he prepared, the way he went about his business, what his daily routine was, his weekly routine was.

“And our guys were taking pages of notes on it.”

Manning can be long-winded when he’s talking about football and his legendary level of preparation, and no one has ever complained.

During a visit to UT in Butch Jones’ coaching tenure, Manning was supposed to speak to the football staff for 20 minutes. Instead, he held a three-hour clinic where he went through pages of notes and lots of game film.

After Peyton Manning, Joe Milton returned to UT

During this visit, Manning had more of a time crunch. But UT players said they took in every word he said.

Freshman quarterback Jake Merklinger has been on campus for only three months since graduating high school early and enrolling at UT. Talking to Manning in a private position meeting was a special treat, and he also met with former quarterback Joe Milton.

Milton is on campus preparing for Pro Day, where former UT players will work out for NFL scouts on March 27.

“That was super cool to see such a Tennessee legend like Peyton Manning,” Merklinger said. “It was very cool to hear from him, how he played the game, his advice to us.”

“Getting to see Joe again was really cool. I got to see Joe a little during (Citrus) Bowl practice.”

Milton attended practice Thursday. He greeted former teammates and newcomers before their morning workout and then helped assistant coaches during quarterback drills.

“(Players) love it. For Joe, he’s everybody’s friend, so everyone’s just happy to see him again,” Halzle said. “He just falls right back into his old self. Like he’s helping coach up the young guys during individual (drills) about what he’s seeing in their footwork.”

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Emailadam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

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