Since his retirement, there has been a steady drumbeat around the various football jobs Peyton Manning could potentially take on in his retirement. For now, he’s very happy hosting the ManningCast with brother Eli on ESPN during select NFL games throughout the season, while expanding his operations with Omaha Productions.
Of course, Manning is perhaps the most cerebral quarterback in league history. It makes sense that many around football would pencil him in as a potentially great coach. However, Manning himself doesn’t believe that would be the case.
On the advice of his former Colts coach Tony Dungy, Manning took a year away from football before jumping into his next role in the game, helping him discover what he was not interested in pursuing. Among those options: coaching.
“I decided after that year that I did not want to go into coaching,” he said during an appearance on The Colin Cowherd Podcast. “I didn’t think I’d be a very good coach. I was good at calling plays when I was playing quarterback, I’m not very good when other people are playing quarterback, hence my sixth grade offensive coordinator job so far.
“Every time Jim Sorgi or Brock Osweiler went in sometimes they’d let me call plays in the preseason and I sucked at it. Three-and-out, punt every single time.”
Manning added that he doesn’t want to take on the grind required to be a full-time, network broadcaster either, saying that to get to the level of a Cris Collinsworth or Tony Romo, it is a “four-day commitment.”
ESPN’s ManningCast returns this year for a 10-game run, beginning in Week 1 with Monday Night Football between the Seahawks and Manning’s former team, the Broncos.
