Peyton Manning, who plans to attend the Orange and White game tomorrow at Neyland Stadium, was a guest this morning on 104.5 in Nashville. He talked about Butch Jones, the direction of the program and Vols’ quarterback Josh Dobbs, among other things. Below are a few of his comments pertaining to Tennessee football.
“I am excited about the direction that Butch Jones has our football program headed in. I feel like we are getting back to competing for championships. I believe in him, I believe in his direction, his philosophies. He and I spend a lot of time talking and he has shared with me his vision and his approach and it’s very impressive.”
“I still get to go back and workout with the team every summer in June—go back and throw one-on-one, routes versus air and seven on seven with them, which is a lot of fun for me. Of course, last year, Dobbs told me he wasn’t even born when I was a freshman at Tennessee. I appreciated him sharing that with me.”
“These guys are telling me they enjoyed watching me on ESPN Classic. I’m like ah dang.”
“The energy there is very noticeable, it reminds me of the energy that we had during my time there, all the years I was going back after, working out with Coach Fulmer’s teams. The energy, the focus, the guys are really working hard. Then, just the talent, I’m seeing the talent coming back. I used to go back after I left Tennessee and you’d workout and you’d see a Jason Witten there and you’d say, well this guys’ special, this guy’s going to be an NFL player and I’m seeing more of that now.”
“Those are the kind of players we need to get us back where we want to be. Plus, they are all great kids. They believe in Butch Jones, they are excited about being at the University of Tennessee. They take pride in it. For all those reasons I am very excited about where the Tennessee football program is headed.”
On Josh Dobbs:
“It was a huge year for him. To win a bowl game as a young quarterback does so much for you from a confidence standpoint, just heading into the spring, the Orange and White Game and next season, knowing that you won a big game and knowing that your players are going to believe in you now. You have to have some of those wins and establish yourself and earn that respect to have that vocal platform, and he probably earned a lot of stripes there with the way he played late in the season and winning that bowl game. He’s a great kid and he’s coming to down to our football camp this year. I’m looking forward to seeing him there and I’m pulling hard for him this year.”
It’s worth noting that Peyton also admitted to being a big Chevy Chase fan, stating, “It’s all ball bearings these days.”
Audio Link: Peyton Manning on 104.5 Nashville