It sounds like such a ridiculous proposition that no one would even need to deny it. But Peyton Manning has put out word, through his father, that he will not be the next head football coach at the University of Mississippi.
“I’ve gotten about 20 or 25 e-mails from people in that regard,” Archie Manning said, via the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “I passed that on to Peyton. He said, ‘Just tell them that I’m 0-10 as an assistant for Indianapolis.'”
Ole Miss is looking for a new football coach because its current coach, Houston Nutt, has been fired effective at the end of this season. Some Ole Miss fans apparently figured that Peyton Manning might be done playing football and interested in getting into coaching, and that he might be a good fit for Ole Miss because Archie and Eli Manning were both star quarterbacks there.
Archie Manning is the co-chairman of the selection committee for Mississippi’s next football coach, and while it’s true that nepotism is rampant in college football coaching, Archie will definitely not be hiring Peyton (or Eli or Cooper). Archie did say that his middle son gave him some help in identifying a list of candidates, though.
“Peyton, some of his teammates and a couple of coaches put their heads together and recommended a few people,” he said.
I wonder if Jim Caldwell is on the list.