The late Pat Summitt was best known for her success on the hardwood, but the reaction from the college sports community Tuesday morning shows that the former Tennessee women’s basketball coach had many admirers from the football world, particularly her Volunteers friends and colleagues.

Former UT quarterback Peyton Manning released a statement early Tuesday morning and went on ESPN to discuss Summitt’s legacy and their friendship.

“Pat meant a great deal to me. This is obviously a very sad day for the Tennessee family,” Manning told ESPN. “Pat was a great friend to me, a great resource. Even though I never played for her, I always kind of felt like she was one of my coaches.

“She was one of the people I spoke with my junior year in college when I was deciding whether to turn pro or return for my senior year. She gave me some invaluable advice.”

Aside from being his friend, Summitt was also one of Manning’s biggest fans.

“She loved watching Tennessee football games. She went to all my games,” Manning said.

Manning’s full ESPN segment can be viewed here.

Former football coach Phil Fulmer and current coach Butch Jones also released statements:

Fulmer:

“Pat Summitt was many things to many people. Pat was a great person, loving mother, passionate coach, and loyal friend. We shared a lot of years working together and spreading the word about Tennessee Athletics. We had wonderful personal times talking about life, our respective teams, or helping each other recruit. Her legacy as a basketball coach is iconic, but her greatest legacy may well be through The Pat Summitt Foundation and her role in leading the battle against Alzheimer’s!”

Jones:

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Pat Summitt. I had the privilege of spending time with Pat during my first year at Tennessee, and those are conversations I will cherish forever. When you think of all the great coaches in all sports, Pat Summitt is at the top of that list.

“As a coach, I stand in awe of Pat and what she accomplished on and off the court. She is someone I admired when I decided I wanted to get into coaching. You study all the great coaches, the traits that made them successful, and you try to incorporate those into your own program and teams. She demanded excellence and her teams played to her personality.

“It was about more than basketball for her, it was about life. She wanted every player that left the program to be prepared for the next stage of their life. Every player received a degree, and that was as important to her as any win on the court. She wouldn’t settle for anything but the best effort on the court and in the classroom.”

 

Summitt had experienced a recent decline in health due to progression of early-onset dementia. She was 64.