The Manning name is about to show up in another football huddle, but Marshall Manning won’t be handed the keys right away.
Peyton Manning’s son is set to begin his freshman season at Baylor School in Tennessee, and according to Rivals’ Andy Villamarzo, he’ll open his high school career as the backup quarterback. Baylor head coach Erik Kimrey laid it out plainly on Villamarzo’s “Voice of High School Football Podcast”:
“Marshall Manning is our backup quarterback this year. He’ll be a freshman, so we’re excited about him,” Kimrey told Villamarzo.
That means Marshall’s first steps will come behind a quarterback with a much longer résumé. Baylor’s starter is 2027 four-star recruit and Ole Miss commit Keegan Croucher, a highly traveled prospect who is ranked No. 122 nationally and No. 10 among quarterbacks.
Croucher’s path has taken him from Fonda-Fultonville (NY) as a freshman to Cheshire Academy (CT) for his sophomore and junior seasons, then to Brentwood Academy (TN) after his junior year. Now, as the article notes, he appears set to finish his high school career at Baylor.
He’ll be stepping into a big role, too. Croucher is expected to replace Louisville signee and four-star freshman Briggs Cherry, who led Baylor to a Tennessee Division II Class AAA championship and went 24-1 in his two seasons as the starter.
Marshall Manning is unranked for now, and unlike Arch Manning - who started immediately at Isidore Newman in New Orleans - he’ll spend his first year learning instead of leading. That doesn’t make the buzz any smaller. It just means the football world will have to wait a little longer before the youngest Manning gets his shot.
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Tennessees Quarterback Battle May Already Be Telling Fans Something Big
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Tennessees Biggest 2026 NIL Price Tag Comes With One Huge Twist
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The twist is that the biggest reported deal tied to the program did not end up belonging to a player who is still in the mix. Edge rusher Chaz Coleman reportedly signed for $2 million before a medical disqualification changed everything, and he had been paid only about $200,000 by the time he left. It leaves Tennessee with a familiar modern-football question hanging over all those eye-catching valuations: how much of this spending is about present production, and how much is about the uncertainty that comes with betting early on talent? [Read more 🡒]