The National Football Foundation’s Valley of the Sun Chapter held its 41st Scholar-Athlete banquet on Saturday. The banquet honored 23 student-athletes for their accomplishments in the classroom and on the field and also awarded three staples of the Arizona football community with the Distinguished Arizonan award.
AIA executive director and long-time coach and administrator David Hines, decorated quarterback coach and broadcaster Dan Manucci and ASU Senior Associate AD Mark Brand were the recipients of this year’s awards.
Manucci has helped put Arizona on the map when it comes to top-flight quarterbacks. The former Kansas State quarterback played in the NFL, CFL and USFL as a player and has been one of the most accomplished position coaches in the state. He has helped the likes of Brock and Chubba Purdy, Tyler Shough, Dalton Sneed, Ty Thompson and many, many, many more quarterbacks achieve their dreams to reach the college and professional ranks and shape them as young men off the field as well.
Manucci has also been a staple in the Arizona broadcast scene, co-hosting the long-running “Rock and Manuch” radio show on Fox Sports 910.
Some of the former and current quarterbacks Dan has worked with over the years explained his impact in the video tribute above.
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