Ursuline graduate Tom Manning busy with Toledo football program

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Manning

Staff report

TOLEDO

Youngstown’s Tom Manning recently began his first full week of spring drills as the offensive line coach for the University of Toledo football program.

Manning, a former Ursuline High and Mount Union football player, joined the UT coaching staff in December and was on the sidelines for the Rockets’ participation in the Military Bowl against Air Force on Dec. 28.

Manning, who previously served on the Toledo staff from 2009-10, reunited himself with Rockets’ new head coach, Matt Campbell, a former teammate for one season at Mount Union. Campbell also was Manning’s position coach in Manning’s senior season with the Purple Raiders.

“I had the great pleasure to coach Tom as a player and work with him when he was on our staff as a graduate assistant,” Campbell said at the time of the hiring. “With his knowledge of our program, we feel he’ll fit into our system.”

In December, Manning, 28, made a quick jump to Toledo after serving as Mount Union’s offensive line coach in the Purple Raiders’ appearance in the NCAA Division III national championship game against Wisconsin-Whitewater, which Mount Union lost, 13-10.

Effectively, Manning coached in bowl games in different divisions within weeks of each other.

A 2005 Mount Union graduate, he is the son of Tom and Alice (Baal) Manning of Austintown.

Manning’s first stint with Toledo in 2009 was as a graduate assistant, when he worked with the offense under Campbell’s guidance. For the 2010 season, Manning served as UT’s director of football operations.

At Ursuline, Manning was a two-time all-conference performer who made first-team all-state as a senior and led the Irish to the Div. IV state championship in 2000.

In college, Manning was a two-time all-conference player at left tackle and he was a team captain as a senior, when the Purple Raiders won the Div. III national championships in 2002 and 2005. The Purple Raiders had a 59-3 record during his time on the team.

Manning began his coaching career as the offensive line coach at Massillon Jackson in 2006. His first job at the collegiate level was at Emory & Henry (Va.), where he was the offensive line-run game coordinator from 2007-08.