Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning are in the last few hours of prepping to host this year’s CMA Awards, and they feel they are really zoned in on each other’s timing since being paired together last year.

“With us, we’re just comfortable now, like I know how he rolls,” says Luke. “I guess our timing, we know a little bit better about our comedic timing and how that’s gonna roll.”

Peyton agrees and says he had a lot of fun last year, not only hosting, but watching the performances and seeing all of the winners. “I’m honored to be back. It was a lot of fun for me last year, and I’m kind of the outsider here. The music was so great, and seeing all the winners last year, the looks on their faces, as Luke and I kinda discussed last year, this is a life-changing moment for so many of these artists, and so I can appreciate that, and I’m looking forward to seeing some of those other life-changing moments tomorrow night.”

The NFL Hall of Famer has made a lot of friendships with country artists over the years, beginning with Tennessee Vols fan Kenny Chesney. He’s also close friends with Brad Paisley with whom he has done numerous Nationwide Insurance commercials, as well as new pals Jordan Davis and Parker McCollum.

“Probably wasn’t necessarily a huge country fan growing up in New Orleans, because I wasn’t exposed to it as much, but when you spend four years in college in Knoxville, country music is right in front of you, and I just jumped right in and embraced it,” says Peyton. “I got to meet a number of the artists during that time and started going to concerts. I met Kenny (Chesney) on the sidelines at a Tennessee game, and he and I got to be good friends and saw him perform several times. He performed at my wedding, which was a great honor. And that’s just been the coolest part for me is getting to know these artists as friends, as well, not just as entertainers, and I’ve tried to continue to get to know him and spend some time with ‘em, you know playing golf and I’ve appreciated their friendships. I met Jordan Davis four years ago, and he told me that we met before, and I said, ‘I don’t recall that.’ And he said, ‘I was a high school quarterback from Shreveport and I came down to your high school football camp back in 2004.’ And I said, ‘Obviously, we coached you right into country music.’ (LUKE LAUGHS) We couldn’t help him much as a quarterback. I love stories like that, and I went on a golf trip with Parker McCollum earlier this year and he and I have stayed in touch. He’s gonna play this charity event for me in Indianapolis that Luke has played, which means a great deal to me. So, I love it. I love the stories. I love to hear where the artists have come from, whether it’s Albany, Georgia or Gibbs High School outside of Knoxville, Tennessee, and I love to kind of know the hard work that these artists have put in to reach their dreams. It’s been a lot of fun for me, and I really do value these friendships that I’ve made, and I enjoy getting to know new ones each year.”

The 57th Annual CMA Awards, hosted by Luke and Peyton, will air live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday (November 8th) at 8pm ET/7pm CT on ABC and the next day on Hulu.