Hornibrook makes most of offseason opportunities like Manning camp
June 30, 2018 | Football, Mike Lucas
Time at Manning Passing Academy offers chance to dig deep with NFL’s top play-calling family
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BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — Alex Hornibrook did his homework before returning to the Manning Passing Academy. That entailed coming up with some pertinent things to ask Peyton and Eli Manning.
The Manning brothers have a stack of throwing records in the NFL — a combined 123,622 passing yards and 878 touchdowns — to go along with two Super Bowl rings each.
Obviously, they're a wealth of knowledge and information.
"I wrote up a list of questions," said Hornibrook, the Wisconsin quarterback, who sports a 20-3 record as a starter (16-2 in the Big Ten), "and I asked other people what questions I might ask as well."
Hornibrook was aware of Peyton Manning's mental game. But what were some of his other strengths? UW quarterbacks coach Jon Budmayr suggested Manning's execution of red zone fade routes.
"So, I asked him how he approached them and how he saw leverage," said Hornibrook, the Most Valuable Player of the 2017 Orange Bowl. "And he was able to give me a pretty good answer."
Hornibrook was one of 39 counselors at the annual passing academy which is put on by Archie Manning, the former New Orleans Saints quarterback, and his sons: Peyton, Eli and Cooper.
The Mannings encouraged all their counselors and campers to be inquisitive and curious.
"They said up-front that you have resources here so use them as much as you can," noted Hornibrook. "They're an open book, they told us. Whenever you can, ask questions. That's what I did."
Hornibrook might have answered some, too; just by the way he competed in the company of his peers during the three-day event on the Nichols State campus in Thibodaux, Louisiana.
He did take home another trophy.
In this case, it was actually a football helmet autographed by the Mannings. The helmet was the prize for Hornibrook winning the Quarterback Challenge competition and the "Air-It-Out" throwing exhibition by hitting three moving golf cart targets on the final day of camp.
Your 2018 MPA Air it Out Champion: @alex_hornibrook #MPA2018
— Manning Passing Academy (@mpa_info) June 23, 2018
Among all the counselors — a mix of marquee college quarterbacks and less publicized ones from non-Power Five programs — Hornibrook was the only one to hit all three targets.
The first and second carts moved horizontally across the field at 15 and 25 yards. The third one was positioned on the sideline about 35 yards downfield and moved vertically.
Nobody took the accuracy competition more seriously than what it was — a light-hearted, fun exercise that played out in front of an assembly of campers.
"People were even joking about it before we threw — we're just hitting three targets," shrugged Hornibrook. "At the same time, it was fun to compete with those guys. You are in a competition.
"And even if it's throwing rocks, you still want to win. I was pumped that I won."
Rightly so given the pedigree of the competitors on hand.
There were 10 quarterbacks from the SEC, including Georgia's Jake Fromm, Alabama's Jalen Hurts, Missouri's Drew Lock, Auburn's Jarrett Stidham and Mississippi State's Nick Fitzgerald.
All of them are generating varying degrees of preseason Heisman hype.
South Carolina's Jake Bentley was Hornibrook's roommate. Bentley, a junior, led the Gamecocks to a 9-4 record and a win over Michigan in the Outback Bowl.
"I roomed with him last year, so I knew him already," Hornibrook said. "I probably knew 10 guys, or a little more than that (from the previous camp) … it was good to meet a lot of new guys.
"I was hanging out with Brandon Wimbush from Notre Dame — he's a great guy — and Jarrett Stidham and Jake Browning from Washington. They were a few I was with a little more."
Great group of college QBs. Good chance a few of these guys will be wearing suits and/or tuxedos come December. #MPA2018
— Manning Passing Academy (@mpa_info) June 22, 2018
Penn State's Trace McSorley and Purdue's David Blough were the other Big Ten reps — joining the likes of Virginia Tech's Josh Jackson, NC State's Ryan Finley and Arizona's Khalil Tate.
On the diversity of the quarterback pool at the academy, Hornibrook said, "Everybody throws a little bit differently. And there are different levels of athleticism."
Each counselor was assigned a group of campers — ranging in age from middle school to high school. Hornibrook drew a bunch of youngsters from Arkansas.
"We'd coach the kids in the morning," he said. "We'd have a throwing session in the middle of the day (with the Mannings). And then we'd coach the kids again before gathering for dinner.
"Usually after the throwing sessions, I tried to talk to both of them and pick their brains," he said of Peyton and Eli. "They were awesome about it. They answered all the questions."
It's fair to say that Hornibrook was a bit overwhelmed last summer with the Manning clan.
"I was starstruck just being in the same room with Peyton," he said.
It was much different the second go-around.
"Just knowing what we do there, knowing the people already, I got to spend more time thinking about questions that I wanted to ask them," he said. "I could focus more on learning this year."
There was plenty of teaching going on.
"We'd do drills every day — throwing routes, moving around the pocket," Hornibrook said. "Peyton would get one side of the field and Eli on the other and we'd switch off."
So, it was well worth a return trip to Thibodaux?
"It's as much as you want to get out of it," Hornibrook said. "You could go there and have fun and throw a couple of balls and coach some and it would be fine. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
"But you could also go there and use the resources, which is what they want you to do, and ask as many questions as you can."
Hornibrook got back to Madison on Sunday. By 10:30 on Monday morning, he was lifting weights with his teammates at Camp Randall Stadium.
Physically, the 6-foot-3 Hornibrook looks extremely fit. At 223, he's five pounds heavier than he was when he completed 23 of 34 passes for 258 yards and four touchdowns in a 34-24 win over Miami.
Since that eye-opening performance, Hornibrook has fielded numerous questions on whether it's possible to carry that momentum into the 2018 season. Both as a player and a team.
"Immediately going into that first team meeting (in January), yes, there was a carry-over," he said. But he added that it's not sustainable because the Badgers are a new team with a new identity.
"It has to be new," he insisted, "because we don't want to be the same team that we were last year. We want to be better. We'll use what we had in the past and keep growing on that."
No one gets there alone. It takes all of us. #OnWisconsin
— Wisconsin Football (@badgerfootball) June 27, 2018
July is always a most telling stage for player development and team bonding.
"We have a little bit less time with the coaches because they're off in July," Hornibrook said. "And I actually like that time (on our own). It's all on the guys."
Hornibrook will take charge of organizing the receivers for throwing sessions.
"Teams probably separate here," he said, "when nobody is pushing them, and the coaches aren't around to tell them what to do. If we continue to work … and work even harder than before …."
The Badgers will be right where they want to be. Or need to be when training camp opens.
