Lee’s Summit assistant coach Tyler Terrance has had a close view on Missouri junior receiver Joshua Manning throughout his life.
From growing up friends with Josh’s older brother and former Missouri receiver Micah Manning, to helping at Lee’s Summit’s youth camp while Manning was growing up, to playing at Lee’s Summit during Manning’s freshman season, to returning to coach during the summer while Manning was playing his high school years.
“The Manning family is like my second family,” Terrance said. “Like, me and his brother were in the same grade, I’ve known his brother since we were five, so I’ve known Josh since he was probably about two or three. … seeing where Josh is now, I kind of can say I always thought that was coming.”
After his college career at William Penn, Terrance returned to Lee’s Summit to take a full-time coaching position at the school he’d been helping coach at part-time for years. And this year, he got a little more help during kid’s camp, a Lee’s Summit summer staple for more than a decade.
“All these kids, when they saw Josh walking on the field, they’re like, ‘Oh my God, that’s Josh Manning, that’s Josh Manning, that’s Josh Manning,’” Terrance said. “That’s is a dope experience, man, because I could say, years past, we haven’t had many alumni come back besides myself, we have some alumni on staff that are older, you know, but it’s just the fact … even our players in high school, haven’t really seen our alumni truly come back and interact with them and interact with the kids as well. And Josh did a great job.”
Terrance said there wasn’t a pitch to get Manning to come back, in fact Manning called Terrance asking if kid’s camp was coming up and if he could help out.
The Tiger receiver spent Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday helping second-through-eighth grade receivers learn fundamentals of the game, and spent time with the older kids helping teach them to run routes.
“Josh was out there throwing, throwing passes. Let’s just say he’s never been considered a quarterback ever in his life,” Terrance said with a laugh. “But I will say he was taking some of those guys that are going to be eighth graders, playing middle school ball, and teaching them how to run routes and talk to the guys after the camp was over.”
That instruction would help the kids improve no matter who it came from, but having it come from a current athlete who many of them look up to made the moment extra special.
“The little kids, man, they love the fact of being around the high schoolers, right?” Terrance said. “So that’s going to be cool enough for them, but when you get a Mizzou receiver, coming up there and they know who he is, it’s even more of a dope experience for those kids.”
And as he worked with the kids, Manning also mingled with the parents and those who came to see camp, giving them all an extra experience to remember as well.
“It was great to see Josh actually interact with parents that asked him for a picture, or talking to the kids and shaking hands,” Terrance said. “It was dope, it was a dope thing to see.”
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