Manning Passing Academy Campers Getting True College Quarterback in Arkansas’ Brandon Allen
Written by Ryan Wright
The 20th annual Manning Passing Academy kicked off this weekend at Nicholls State University with an estimated 1,200 campers attending ranging in experience from 12th to 8th grade. Of the 1,200 attending 900 are quarterbacks.
Beyond the usual cast of Manning family members on hand, patriarch Archie along with sons Peyton (Denver Broncos), Eli (New York Giants), and Cooper, are 120 camp counselors. Of the 120 counselors 39 are college quarterbacks brought in to pass their knowledge of the game on to the next generation of up-and-comers.
Among the more experienced college quarterbacks on hand is Arkansas Razorbacks third-year starter Brandon Allen. Allen heads into his senior year with a strong offensive unit returning to the field. In all, the Hogs have nine offensive starters coming back including two 1,100-yard rushers in Jonathan Williams and Alex Collins.
Allen threw for 2,285 yards in 2014 completing 190 of 339 passes connecting on 20 touchdown passes while throwing just five interceptions helping Arkansas go from a three-win team in 2013 to a seven-win team last year. Preseason expectations are very high for the Razorbacks for the first time with Allen under center as Arkansas is considered a legitimate contender in the SEC West in 2015.
There are some camp counselors on hand at the Manning Passing Academy that maybe more proficient in the stat department like Cal’s Jared Goff who threw for 3,973 yards with 35 touchdowns, TCU’s Trevone Boykin who also topped the 3,900 yard passing mark while tossing 33 touchdowns and ran for 707 yards with another eight touchdowns, or even USC returning starting quarterback Cody Kessler. Kessler completed 70 percent of his passes in 2014 racking up 3,826 yards with 39 touchdowns against just five picks while managing a balanced Trojans’ offense but few have what Allen has in experience.
The other signal callers may have the bigger stats but few of the counselors can pass along the mental makeup of being a college quarterback better than Allen. The redshirt senior has been through part of the Bobby Petrino era and the post Bobby Petrino era seeing the Razorbacks finish the 2011 season ranked No. 5 in the nation and then suffering through the Hogs being ranked as the nation’s preseason No. 10 team but only ending with four wins at the end of the 2012 season. He can now stake a claim as part of the Bret Bielema era seeing the former Wisconsin head coach rebuild the Arkansas roster one recruit at a time with amazing results.
Allen is also now on his fourth offensive coordinator (Garrick McGee, Paul Petrino, Jim Chaney, and Dan Enos) having to learn the subtle nuances each coach prefers for their starting quarterback. At 6’2”, 210 pounds, Allen can also preach the mental toughness of surviving multiple seasons in the SEC taking hit after hit from All-Americans and future NFL first round picks while attempting passes against some of the top cover corners in the nation game after game, year after year.
The 900 aspiring quarterbacks attending the camp may not know Allen’s background story or even know who he is due to lack of national media coverage on the former Fayetteville High School star, but if a camper or two takes the time to ask Allen a question or two about the ups-and-downs of being a collegiate quarterback few others could impart the amount of wisdom Allen has to give.
The Manning Passing Academy began their 2015 camp instruction on Friday and ends on Sunday. The camp has a 20 year history that began on Tulane’s campus before expanding to Nicholls State in 2005. Over the years the Manning Passing Academy can lay claim to helping seven No. 1 overall NFL Draft picks (JaMarcus Russell (LSU), Matthew Stafford (Georgia), Sam Bradford (Oklahoma), Andrew Luck (Stanford), and Jameis Winston (FSU) along their way. Of the quarterbacks currently in the NFL, 54 have participated at the Manning camp including 17 projected starters going into the 2015 season.
Manning Passing Academy College Quarterback Counselors
Brandon Allen – Arkansas
Kade Bell – Jacksonville University
Sean Bellotti – Cal Lutheran
Trevone Boykin – TCU
Jacoby Brissett – N.C. State
Ryan Buchanan – Ole Miss
Keller Chryst – Stanford
Montell Cozart – Kansas
Joshua Dobbs – Tennessee
Brandon Doughty – Western Kentucky
Michael Eubank – Samford
Tuskani Figaro – Nicholls State
Jared Goff – Cal
Christian Hackenberg – Penn State
Kevin Hogan – Stanford
Jacob Huesman – Chattanooga – Tennessee
LaMontiez Ivy – Jackson State
Chuckie Keeton – Utah State
Chad Kelly – Ole Miss
Cody Kessler – USC
Gunner Kiel – Cincinnati
Trevor Knight – Oklahoma
Cooper Kupp – Eastern Washington
Tanner Lee – Tulane
Mitch Leidner – Minnesota
Jeff Lockie – Oregon
Maty Mauk – Missouri
John O’Korn – Michigan
Dak Prescott – Mississippi State
Mason Rudolph – Oklahoma State
Seth Russell – Baylor
Jordan Scelfo – Incarnate College – Texas
Thomas Sirk – Duke
Nate Sudfeld – Indiana
Chad Voytik – Pitt
Dalyn Williams – Dartmouth
Johnathan Williams – Grambling
Marquise Williams – North Carolina
Jeff Ziemba – Shepherd College
Photo credit: fansidednetwork.com; No. 10 Brandon Allen.