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Tony Dungy Doesn’t Think Peyton Manning Could Ever Be NFL Coach Because of Quarterback’s Crazy Work Ethic

Peyton Manning‘s leadership could absolutely transition to coaching, right? Wrong.

You see, Manning is a perfectionist. And because of that, Tony Dungy — who coached Manning for seven seasons in Indianapolis — doesn’t think a coaching career is in the cards for the veteran quarterback.

“No, absolutely not, because he would expect that from everybody, and he doesn’t realize, everybody’s not Peyton Manning,” Dungy said when asked on The Dan Patrick Show whether Manning could someday be an NFL coach. “Everybody doesn’t work that hard. Everybody can’t be at that level all the time. It would frustrate him to death.”

Dungy called Manning the “smartest player I’ve ever been around,” which doesn’t come as much of a shock to those who have seen Manning thrive throughout his entire NFL career. It is somewhat surprising that Dungy ruled out a coaching career completely, though, as Manning is a future Hall of Famer and one of the most well-respected field generals to ever lace up the cleats.

Dungy, who coached in Indy from 2002-08, said Manning would often show up to practice with a bunch of plays and that he’d have to tame the signal caller’s excitement because he was unsure whether everyone else on the team would pick up all the plays before the next game.

“He’s got 25 things we can run, and he knows they’ll be touchdown plays,” Dungy said. “You have to say, ‘Peyton, they are great plays — they probably would be touchdowns. You could put them in just like that. Everybody can’t. The other 10 guys can’t handle those 25 new plays.’”

In other words, Dungy basically thinks Manning is too good. And with the way the Broncos quarterback has been playing this season, it’s hard to argue.