A few years back my friend was having supper across from Jim Caldwell, then head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. During the course of conversation, he asked Caldwell, "How do you coach someone like Peyton Manning? He's such a rare talent." The coach asserted that it wasn't talent alone that caused Manning to stand out but his work ethic, his relentless quest to improve.

Coach Caldwell recalled coming to the Colts as the quarterbacks coach in 2002. He watched every game from the ...