Could David Cutcliffe Have Another Manning to Coach?

Coach David Cutcliffe’s history with the Manning family is well documented. As Tennessee’s quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator, he worked with Peyton Manning and later mentored younger brother Eli as head coach at Ole Miss.

Now, there’s the possibility of a new chapter in the relationship.

Arch Manning, the son of Peyton and Eli’s brother Cooper, is one of the top quarterback prospects in the class of 2023. Already 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds at the age of 15, Manning completed two thirds of his passes for 2,438 yards, 34 touchdowns and six interceptions as a freshman at New Orleans’ Isidore Newman High, adding four rushing touchdowns.

Manning is already generating interest from colleges, including Uncle Eli’s Ole Miss, Uncle Peyton’s Tennessee and home-state power LSU. Georgia and Duke round out the early top five.

Manning’s father Cooper spoke to Baton Rouge’s ESPN Radio 104.5 over the weekend, talking about how recruiting has changed since he was catching passes from Peyton in high school.

“I’m still learning how it all works,” he said. “I know it starts meaningfully earlier than it ever did. At this time, Peyton had probably not even gotten a letter. We’re trying to keep it normal. It can get away from you here. As a family, we’re excited our kids are playing. We’re trying to keep it focused on making friends, getting better, learning how to win and lose, enjoying the bus rides and enjoying the whole experience, not getting caught up in the recruiting side too much.”

As for his quarterback son, Manning offers a scouting report on his work ethic.

"He loves football,” he said. “He’s enjoying his friends and the workouts and growing. He’s kind of had a growth spurt here in the last couple months. Enjoying being in the weight room and throwing. He just loves it. It’s not me pressuring him to play or hurry up and get ready. It’s kind of always been, ‘Hey, can you come catch for me? Can we go throw? Can you feed me hoops?’ My boys are like that. Just makes it a lot easier as a parent.”

As a Baton Rouge station, the hosts were most interested in the possibility that Manning ends up at LSU. Cooper managed to avoid tipping his son’s hand.

“Arch has grown up around all my good friends locally, who are big LSU fans,” he said. “He’s been to a couple of games there. They’ve got a great program and Coach O (Ed Orgeron) has done unbelievable. Arch is friends with Walker Howard, who just committed there.”

When asked directly if he was open to letting his son play for the Tigers, Manning answered, “We’re open to sending our kids wherever they want to go. I don’t think MIT is calling anytime soon, but we raise them to do what they want to do. They make decisions, and we support them. That’s how it works.”