CHICAGO For Purdue football's quarterbacks, it pays for your head coach to have connections.Barry Odom's longtime friendship with the Manning family allowed the Boilermakers to receive tips from one of the best to ever play the position.In June, Peyton Manning spent a day in West Lafayette, during which he mentored Purdue quarterbacks."Peyton is tremendous and always is a giver back to the game of football," Odom said.Purdue starting quarterback Ryan Browne got extensive experience and has developed a new resource in the Hall of Fame QB, who won Super Bowls with the Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos.Last month, Browne attended the Manning Passing Academy.Browne and Manning eventually exchanged phone numbers, and Browne hasn't been shy in relying on having Manning as a resource."Just last week I sent him a text, and he made some time for me, and we spoke about 35 minutes on the phone," Browne said at Big Ten Media Days on July 29.Purdue's quarterback room consists of Bennett Meredith, Evans Chuba, Garyt Odom and Corin Berry, who all are trying to represent a program that has the moniker the Cradle of Quarterbacks for its extensive history of stars at the position, including soon-to-be-inducted Pro Football Hall of Famer Drew Brees."He's done a number of phone calls or Zooms with our quarterbacks," Barry Odom said of Manning. "Then he happened to be in a position he could come see us on campus. And we took full advantage of that and spent time with our quarterbacks while he was there. "What a great resource. You've got him. You've got Drew Brees. You've got all the quarterbacks that have poured into our current ones. We're always trying to find a way to move our program forward and give our guys experiences that will help them be the best that they can be."Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on X and Instagram @samueltking.This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Barry Odoms ties to Mannings open doors for Purdue QBs to gain elite coaching