After a hiatus in 2020, the Manning Passing Academy returns next month.
The 2021 edition will be a month later than usual. The event is usually held over the last weekend in June, but was pushed back in April to July 15-18 to give everyone ample time to get vaccinated. The 25th edition will once again to return to Thibodaux, La., and the campus of Nicholls State University.
The official purpose of the MPA is to help high school quarterbacks and skill players hone their craft and get recruited. The unofficial purpose is for current college quarterbacks begin jockeying for their place in the Quarterback Hierarchy. Not only is the first family of American sports' most high-profile position there to run the thing, they also bring in a number of football celebrities that orbit around the Manning universe -- guys like Raiders GM Mike Mayock and NFL Network analyst Charles Davis.
Joe Burrow, Trevor Lawrence, Justin Herbert and Tua Tagovailoa were each among the counselors at the 2019 MPA. Of course, none of those guys became national champions, Heisman winners, top-10 picks and/or the NFL rookie of the year because they donated their time to the Manning Passing Academy; but each of those guys were well on their way to becoming the next generation of elite QBs before the Mannings solicited their help, and they all came.
With five quarterbacks going in the 2021 NFL Draft, the title of pedestal of Next Great QB is relatively open. There's a great chance the next Heisman winner and/or No. 1 pick will be in Thibodaux in mid-July; there's also a really good chance none of us know exactly who that is yet.
Here's the full list of counselors, via The Athletic's Jeff Duncan:
Myles Brennan, LSU
Matt Corral, Ole Miss
JT Daniels, Georgia
Dillon Gabriel, UCF
Sam Howell, North Carolina
Max Johnson, LSU
Levi Lewis, Louisiana
Grayson McCall, Coastal Carolina
Michael Penix, Indiana
Michael Pratt, Tulane
DJ Uiagaleilei, Clemson
Harrison Bailey, Tennessee
Connor Bazelak, Missouri
Jake Bentley, Utah
Anthony Brown, Oregon
Jarrett Doege, West Virginia
Sam Hartman, Wake Forest
Gunnar Holmberg, Duke
Bo Nix, Auburn
Luke Anthony, Louisiana Tech
Phil Jurkovec, Boston College
Kenny Pickett, Pitt
Drew Plitt, Ball State
Brock Purdy, Iowa State
Drew Pyne, Notre Dame
Desmond Ritter, Cincinnati
Will Rogers, Mississippi State
Lindsey Scott, Nicholls
Tyler Shough, Texas Tech
Skylar Thompson, Kansas State
Malik Willis, Liberty
Tyler Johnson, UAB
Layne Hatcher, Arkansas State
Cody Orgeron, McNeese
Trey Lowe, Southern Miss
Cole Kelley, Southeastern Louisiana
And while we're on the topic the Mannings, quarterback recruiting and Jeff Duncan, he wrote a great story on the pursuit of the Uber Manning -- 2023 quarterback prospect Arch Manning.