Retired New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning intends to come back to football at some point in the future, but fans shouldn’t expect to see him on the sidelines with the Giants as a coach. Manning spoke about his intentions on a conference call recently, and revealed intentions to come back after taking a year off – something that, with the sports industry being shut down at the moment, seems well timed.
When sports finally does come back, though, and when Manning is finally in football again, it doesn’t seem like his new role will be in high level coaching unless something changes. It was said for some time that Manning didn’t have interest in being a coach, and now, Manning himself has said as much.
“I know one thing: I don’t want to be an NFL coach. I’ve seen what our coaches do and the hours they put in, and I enjoy being with my family and enjoy coaching some of their sports teams,” Manning stated. That of course, leaves open the chance that Manning may not end up in another highly public role at all, instead choosing to focus on youth sports. He did, after all, say that one of the possibilities was coaching a high school team.
“Football is my love and passion. It is all I’ve known for the last 25 years and all I’ve been doing. I don’t think I can stray too far away from that. I’d like to hope to do something with the Giants, stay involved with them. I probably need a little break right now just because it’s so new. So I’m going to take a little time, enjoy some family time, but I assume I’ll be jumping back into football in some way,” Manning continued.
Manning also said that announcing is a possibility. Due to his style of play, which relied on intelligence rather than athleticism in an age where athletic quarterbacks were becoming increasingly common, some kind of analysis role seems like a natural fit.
It looks like fans will have to wait until next year to find out the next step for Manning, but after such a long career with the Giants, most would believe that things feel more natural with Manning back in the sport that he’s been linked with for the past couple of decades.