Adam Gase

The Browns have Adam Gase high on their list of coaching candidates.

(AP)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Browns will go hard after Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase as soon as they fire Mike Pettine, which could be as soon as Sunday night, league sources told cleveland.com.

The groundwork has already been laid for the interview, sources said.

Gase, 37, was high on the Browns' list in the last search, but he pulled himself out of the running to focus on the Broncos' Super Bowl run.

Gase -- a Nick Saban protege -- comes highly recommended to Jimmy Haslam from their mutual good friend Peyton Manning, who would like to play at least one more season despite a foot injury that relegated him to backup in Denver behind Brock Osweiler.

It doesn't mean, however, that Manning will automatically come along with Gase if he takes the job.

Manning will have other offers, both to play in 2016 and to move into the front office.

Gase, a finalist last year for the 49ers job, will also be in hot demand.

Profootballtalk.com reports that in addition to the Browns, the Eagles and Dolphins will likely aggressively pursue him. As other jobs come open, he'll receive more calls, with teams such the Lions expected to join the hunt if they fire Jim Caldwell.

Despite the Bears' 6-9 record heading into today's game against the Lions, Gase has been lauded for getting the best out of Jay Cutler, who completed 63.9 percent of his passes, with 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He earned a 92.8 rating.

Gase seems to favor big, pocket passers such as Manning and Cutler, and would likely not be thrilled about the prospect of heading into 2016 with Johnny Manziel as his starting quarterback.

Gase and other offensive candidates such as Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels of Canton, Ohio would likely need some assurances that they can use a high pick on a new quarterback of the future, especially given Manziel's off-the-field problems. Quarterback will weigh heavily in their decisions.

The following is Gase's bio from the Bears media guide heading into this season:

Gase spent the last six seasons on the Broncos coaching staff including the last two as Denver's offensive coordinator. Over the last two seasons, the Broncos led the NFL in scoring offense (34.0 points per game), total offense (430.1 yards per game) and passing offense (315.8 ypg). Denver's offense also ranked second in the league in plays of 20 or more yards (157) and third in third down conversions (189-of-418, 45.2 percent).

The Broncos set an NFL record with 606 points scored in 2013, including a league-record 76 touchdowns. They finished second in the league with 482 points in 2014 (25th most in NFL history). Their 7,317 net yards in 2013 are second most in league history. In 2014, they finished fourth in the NFL with 6,446 net yards, 25th most in league history.

In 2013, quarterback Peyton Manning was named the NFL's Most Valuable Player for the fifth time in his career by the Associated Press, while breaking NFL single-season records for passing yards (5,477) and passing touchdowns (55). His 450 completions in 2013 are tied for third most in NFL history. He was also honored as the Maxwell Club Player of the Year for the third time in his career and AP Offensive Player of the Year for the second time.

Seven players from the Broncos offense were named to the Pro Bowl over the last two seasons: RB C.J. Anderson (2014), T Ryan Clady (2014), Manning (2013-14), WR Emmanuel Sanders (2014), WR Demaryius Thomas (2013-14), TE Julius Thomas (2013-14) and G Louis Vasquez (2013).

From 2011-12, Gase oversaw the Broncos quarterbacks. In 2012, Denver's passing offense was fifth in the NFL (283.4), while the unit as a whole finished second in scoring (30.1 ppg) and fourth in total offense (397.9 ypg). Manning was named the AP Comeback Player of the Year after finishing second in the NFL in passer rating (105.8), his first 100-plus passer rating since 2006. Manning was also named a First-Team All-Pro by the AP, earned a Pro Bowl nod and finished as the runner-up for NFL MVP.

In 2011, Gase worked with quarterbacks Kyle Orton and Tim Tebow, helping lead the Broncos to the AFC West crown and a Wild Card Playoff victory. The duo threw for 20 touchdowns to just 13 interceptions, including Tebow's 12:6 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Tebow added a franchise quarterback record 660 rushing yards, 12th most in NFL history among quarterbacks, and six rushing touchdowns.

Gase joined the Broncos as the wide receivers coach, a title he held for two seasons from 2009-10. He had a Pro Bowl wide receiver in each season with the team as Brandon Marshall earned a nod in 2009 and Brandon Lloyd earned his first trip to the contest in 2010.

In 2010, Gase helped Lloyd lead the NFL with 1,448 receiving yards, the first 1,000-yard receiving season of his, at-the-time, eight-year career and the first time a Broncos player led the NFL in receiving yards. In 2009, Marshall finished tied for third in the NFL with 101 receptions (for 1,120 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns), including an NFL record 21 receptions on December 13 at Indianapolis.

In 2008, Gase was an offensive assistant for the San Francisco 49ers. Prior to his time in San Francisco, Gase spent five seasons in the Lions organization, including the last three on the coaching staff after starting out as a scouting assistant (2003-05). As a Lions coach, Gase held the titles of offensive assistant (2005), offensive quality control (2006) and quarterbacks coach (2007). In 2007, Gase helped Lions quarterback Jon Kitna finish sixth in the NFL in passing yards (4,068) and fifth in completions (355).

Prior to joining the NFL ranks, Gase worked at Louisiana State University for three seasons (2000-02) under head coach Nick Saban, starting off as a defensive graduate assistant in 2000 before working in recruiting from 2001-02.

Gase attended Michigan State University from 1996-99 earning a bachelor's degree.