UCA quarterback to be one of counselors at Manning Academy

CONWAY, Ark. — For 27 years, the Manning Passing Academy has been the place to be for high school quarterbacks and Central Arkansas quarterback Will McElvain has been invited to be a college counselor at the camp later this month in Thibodaux, La.

McElvain, a two-year starter for the Bears from Des Moines, Iowa, will be one of the college quarterbacks in charge of instruction for the high school student-athletes from around the country in attendance at the 28th edition of the camp, named for the Manning family of quarterbacks that includes Archie, Peyton Eli and Cooper.

The four-day MPA on June 27-30 will again be held at John L. Guidry Stadium on the campus of Nicholls State University where it has been since 2005, after nearly a decade of alternating between the campuses of Southeastern Louisiana and Tulane.  The 2024 camp is expected to be the largest to date, with roughly 1,500 student-athletes participating.

The MPA, the premier football camp in the country for 27 years, has been helping players fully realize their potential on and off of the football field. The MPA is a family-owned and managed football camp that embraces the basic fundamentals of football while catering to the offensive skill positions of running backs, tight end, wide receivers and of course quarterbacks. The camp gathers some of the most successful and brightest coaches and players from the professional, college, and high school ranks to help all campers learn from the best.

“It is an extremely high honor for Will to be invited as a college counselor to the Manning Passing Academy,” Bears coach Nathan Brown said in a press release. “He has been chosen as one of the few college quarterbacks across the country that have the resume to impact young athletes at one of the premier summer football camps in the country.

“The Manning family is the standard for the quarterback position and Will has the opportunity to not only represent himself but also the UCA football program on the highest stage there is.”

McElvain, a 5-11, 185-pound transfer from Northern Iowa, has passed for 5,069 yards and 42 touchdowns in two seasons at UCA. For his career, he has 9,028 passing yards and 64 touchdowns between UNI and UCA. Last season, McElvain threw for 2,477 yards and 24 touchdowns, with just five interceptions, and completed 63.6 percent of his passes.

Information from UCA Sports Information is included in this story.