How Film Study Gives Peyton Manning an Edge

Posted February 08, 2010 by David Graff
Under  • Coaching & Athletics

There was a great article in the New York Times this weekend that anyone who loves football (players, coaches, and fans) should read. The article, “Peyton Manning’s Case for Being the Best Ever”, describes how Peyton out-prepares the competition each week and the vital role that studying video has played in making him one of the best quarterbacks of all time.

From the article:

Of his thirst for film, Manning said: “I knew that’s where I was going to try to gain some type of edge. I knew I wasn’t going to run away from guys or throw through three guys. My idea was to try to have a good sense of where they were going to be. I never left the field saying, ‘I could have done more to get ready for this team.’ ”

…

Each off-season, Manning and his coaches watch tapes of the entire season, and he takes notes on what he needs to work on. By the beginning of the next season, Manning’s command of the offense is complete. At the beginning of a game week, he leads the meetings with his coaches — he arrives with a plan for the meetings, Reich said — and doles out assignments to find plays to help confirm or refute his impressions of the opponent from hours of rigorous film study on his laptop.

Those meetings are conducted with as much as urgency as there is in a game, as if a wasted moment, like a wasted play, could undermine the entire enterprise. Manning often sends texts messages to Reich, alerting him to plays he thinks are useful. Manning has a network of football confidants, Reich said, including the injured backup Jim Sorgi, center Jeff Saturday, the offensive line coach Howard Mudd and Moore.

“We are the research-and-development team,” Reich said. “He’ll come out early in the week and say: ‘Here is what I’m seeing. Here is how I envision this.’ ”