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Apparently, NFL quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning and their father, former NFL QB Archie Manning, believe BYU quarterback Taysom Hill has a bright future. Hill will join the Manning Passing Academy this summer, having accepted an invitation to work as an instructor at the camp July 10-13. The camp is held at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, La. Only the nation's elite college quarterbacks are invited to participate as instructors at the camp; Last year, Georgia's Aaron Murray, South Carolina's Connor Shaw, LSU's Zach Mettenberger and Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel (until he left early) helped the Mannings. BYU's spring camp wrapped up last Friday with coach Bronco Mendenhall, offensive coordinator Robert Anae and quarterbacks coach Jason Beck all heaping praise on Hill, a 6-foot-2, 223-pound junior, for his progress during the five-week camp. Hill threw for 2,938 yards and 19 touchdowns last season, while rushing for 10 more scores. But he also threw 14 interceptions, and completed just 53.9 percent of his passes. "I am happy with our progression, and our direction as an offense, and as a team," Hill said last Friday. "We got after each other every day. I think collectively, as a whole, we got better." What about his own improvement? "I think the thing that jumps off the page is third downs, and our completion percentage, because that was two goals that we had as an offense going into spring. We were right at those goals going into today's practice, and we achieved well above that today. So we did really well. So I would say third downs and completion percentage [is where he improved]," he said. Here's more from Hill's final spring practice interview:On the BYU receivers and their emergence:"Those guys started to play really well. I thought Terenn Houk had an extremely good spring. I would say that he had as good of a spring as any body on our team. I was pleased with that. It made us a lot better. We had a really good inside presence there, and something we really wanted to focus on. I was really pleased with Terenn. I trust that guy a lot, and so he went up and made a lot of plays. Nick Kurtz, he emerged. This last practice was his best practice, by far, and he played extremely well. And I think all things considered, coming in and learning the new scheme, going fast and going hard, all that stuff, he played really well and lived up to the hype and the expectations that he came in with."On the offensive line changes and steps the O-linemen have made:"There is some new personnel, and I would say the biggest presence that has been felt there has been Tuni Kanuch, coming in and playing. He's been a really big help there. But other than that, I think with Tuni and De'Ondre [Wesley] taking some senior leadership, those guys have a different mentality, a different mindset. They are tough dudes. And they came in, they battled day in and day out. Kyle Johnson came in and played extremely well. There's a different camaraderie within the O-line group, and amongst the other guys on the team as well, because we see them working hard. On what was the biggest single improvement the offense made: "I would say knowing individual assignments. I think early in spring, we added a few variations, and various things like that. From then until now, I would say we began to click on all cylinders. People took more ownership in their position, and what they did individually, and we got a lot better because of it. Individually they cared more, and collectively we got better." On how backup QB Christian Stewart did this spring: "Christian played really well this spring, and again, I would say along with Terenn, Christian had a really good spring. I don't think it really surprised a lot of people because they knew Christian, and they knew how hard he tried, and his capabilities. He just didn't have a lot of reps last year to really show what he could do, so Christian had an extremely good spring. If something came up, and heaven forbid, I went down this season, I would trust that guy playing and I would feel safe to say the rest of the team would as well."On what didn't happen that he wished happened in spring:"It is hard to say right now. I think it was all good. I think you can look back at missed assignments. You could look back at good days and bad days, but again, I think it was all good because we can learn from the bad as well as the good and continue to build off of the good. So, I thought it was structured really well. The five weeks gave us a better opportunity to be in the film room and learn more in that way. I thought it was a really well-ran spring camp."On whether they scrimmaged enough, played football enough:"Yeah, I think so. I can't really speak for everybody. Regardless, I wasn't being hit. But it doesn't take long to remember what that feels like, come August. So that's OK. I think maybe for some underclassmen, that first game will be big. But again, I trust our coaching staff. I think for the most part the guys that hadn't gone live this spring are the guys that were there last year. So with that being said, I thought it was managed really well."