It’s no surprise that Peyton Manning was a fierce competitor and demanding of his teammates. However, apparently he had no problem calling out his coaches either.
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Peyton Manning had one of the most prolific careers in NFL history. His accumulated list of accolades is lengthy, but includes items like 5x MVP, 7x first team All-Pro, and 14x Pro-Bowler.
Of course, in his 18 year NFL career, he won 2 Super Bowls. The first came with the Indianapolis Colts in 2006 and the second came in his final season in the league, with the Denver Broncos.
During his time in Denver, Manning played alongside center Ben Garland. Garland, who is currently a free agent, recently appeared on CBS’ DA Show where he had quite a bit to say about his former signal caller.
“[Peyton] was extremely demanding, and he kind of held everyone accountable to make sure they had the highest standards to be at our best,” he said.
“But sometimes it came to a point that it seemed a bit ridiculous. He would correct coaches, he would correct players, he would have you stand up and get called out during meetings. Just making sure everyone was on-point so we were at the top of our game.”
Peyton Manning Would Reportedly Demand Adam Gase to Finish Gameplan Faster
Also a member of the Broncos during Manning’s tenure was former Jets head coach Adam Gase. Today, Gase is well known for his time in Miami and his failure in New York, but at the time he was just Denver’s OC.
Garland claimed that Manning had no issue imposing his demand on coaches, including Gase. “I mean, watching him call out offensive coordinators in meetings after the coordinator put together a gameplan and him asking for it a day earlier than everyone else.”
“Normally you do the installs by Wednesday, and he demanded them to be done by Tuesday so he could review them before Wednesday’s meetings,” he explained.
Garland, who played for the Air Force Falcons and won the Salute to Service Award in 2018, found this a bit strange. “And for me, that was unheard of, especially coming from the military.”
“I couldn’t imagine someone talking to the offensive coordinator like that, let alone a superior officer in the military. So, I was blown away. But they listened to him, and it was done by next Tuesday. I think [the offensive coordinator] was Adam Gase at the time.”
