KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — University of Tennessee students were all abuzz this week after the College of Communication and Information announced legendary NFL and Vols QB Peyton Manning would be teaching select classes. The Sheriff himself got a chance to address his new role during NBC's Saturday golf coverage of the 2023 U.S. Amateur Championship in his home of Denver.
Manning is an honorary chair of the 123rd Amateur Championship. He spoke about what his role at UT is going to be, saying he's honored to teach students in the field he majored in, but won't be moving back to East Tennessee quite yet.
“Please don't call me professor," he joked. "It is a couple times of year. Not moving to Knoxville yet. We’re gonna be a guest lecturer in the College of Communications and talk a little bit about public speaking, so I’m honored to do it but am not moving to Knoxville quite yet."
UTK's College of Communication and Information announced Monday it had appointed Peyton as a professor of practice starting in the fall 2023 term, saying he would partner with CCI faculty to teach during select classes as a featured expert.
After the announcement, Eli Manning hopped on social media to rib his older brother a little, saying Peyton's classes would be an "Easy A."
Peyton got the chance to deliver a little payback on live television and reinforce the classes would not be that easy.
“We all know Eli went to Ole Miss because he couldn’t get into Tennessee, Dan. So, it will be a challenging course for these students for sure,” he said.