Kansas quarterback Cole Ballard spent part of his summer in some pretty elite company.
As he pushes to make his mark in the Big 12 and beyond in the 2026 season, the Jayhawks quarterback worked at the 30th Manning Passing Academy from June 25-28 at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana, alongside a loaded group of college passers.
The camp was run by Archie Manning and his sons, Peyton Manning and Eli Manning, with Arch Manning of Texas serving as one of the counselors. Ballard was among roughly 40 college quarterbacks on hand, a group that also included CJ Carr of Notre Dame, Julian Sayin of Ohio State, Trinidad Chambliss of Ole Miss, Noah Fifita of Arizona, Marcel Reed of Texas A&M, Jayden Maiava of USC, Gunner Stockton of Georgia and Kamario Taylor of Mississippi State.
Published reports said the Big 12 was represented by Ballard, Bear Bachmeier of BYU, Noah Fifita of Arizona, Conner Weigman of Houston, Alonza Barnett III of UCF and Drew Mestemaker of Oklahoma State. Kansas State’s Avery Johnson attended the 2025 Manning Academy but was not listed this summer.
Ballard called the experience “awesome.”
“Just being able to learn from Peyton and Eli, just kind of getting their perspective on things like how they watched film,” Ballard said. “Even the little stuff of how they lead was really awesome just to hear from them. And then all the other quarterbacks that were there, just seeing how their operation was compared to ours, it was great.”
The camp wasn’t just classroom work. Ballard and the other college quarterbacks helped run drills for the 1,200 high school quarterbacks, running backs, tight ends and wide receivers who attended, and they also took part in skill competitions. Fifita won both the camp’s “Air‑It‑Out” exhibition and the “Quarterback Challenge.”
Ballard said he spent a lot of time with friend and Purdue quarterback Ryan Browne, and said the group meshed well.
“All of us got along really well,” Ballard said.
The biggest lesson, though, came in the way the Mannings broke down film.
“Just kind of like how they dissected each play,” Ballard said. “They talked about whenever you’re watching a play, you want to watch it three times.
First, you’re watching it almost like a fan. You’re watching it and you’re seeing what happens.
Second, you’re watching it for the scheme. All right, so what is the offense doing to the defense?
How are they trying to, I guess, pick them apart?
“Third, you’re watching for the players, you’re watching the defense. What is what is this nose tackle doing?
What is this linebacker doing? Do they have any coverage indicators?
All that kind of stuff.”
Back in Lawrence, Ballard is in the middle of preseason work as he competes with redshirt sophomore Isaiah Marshall for Kansas’ starting quarterback job. Rice transfer Chase Jenkins has also drawn praise from coach Lance Leipold for his development.
“It’s been great,” Ballard said of the lead-up to KU’s Sept. 4 opener against Long Island, “just getting closer with everybody, continuing to learn the offense, just doing different things. It’s been really exciting.
I feel like we’ve had a really good camp so far. Just got to keep it going.
Get ready for week one.”
Ballard and Marshall are close, and Ballard even introduced him to golf this summer. For Ballard, though, the focus stays on the bigger picture.
“At the end of the day, we just want what’s best for the team, and whoever the coaches put out there that’s going to be able to help us win games ... I think that’s kind of where all our mindsets are right now,” Ballard said.
“We want to be able to help each other because whoever’s on the field, and that could be the first, second, third. I mean, you never, you never know how many quarterbacks are going to play in the season.
So it’s really trying to help each other out and put the team in the best position to win.”
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