NFL: Jacksonville Jaguars at Denver Broncos

Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning (18) and offensive coordinator Adam Gase (left) on the sidelines during the second half against the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

(Chris Humphreys)

The three best friends since their days on the fourth floor of North Wonders Hall were on speakerphone during a late winter call back in 2002 listening to Adam Gase talk about quitting football. With the long hours and meager pay, he’d be better off selling insurance back home in Mount Pleasant, Mich. He interviewed for a job at a local Applebee’s.

Nate, Jeff and Scott had watched Gase spend every waking moment in his three-bunk freshman dorm at Michigan State logging statistics and film breakdowns into a clunky desktop at the behest of coach Nick Saban. They tried to lure him out for a beer, usually with no success.

They didn’t think Gase was serious about leaving the game. He had majored in business, but was always the kid who worked for the football team. He was the only one left in the group still pursuing his sole passion. They couldn’t let him give it up.

"His plan was to be a coordinator by 40," Scott Angove, now a teacher, said in a telephone call from his home in Chicago, "and I would always tell him, when you’re making coordinator money, I’ll just move in and be your personal chef."

That night, Scott said, Gase just needed to be reminded of how good he had it. He was in his early 20s and had a job at Louisiana State University. He would jump to the NFL a year later with the Lions and shoot up the ladder, part of a baby-faced cadre of young play callers settling into headsets across the league.

Sunday, the 35-year-old will be calling the plays for Peyton Manning, the league’s most demanding quarterback, in the league’s most important game — Super Bowl XLVIII. Because of his situation, often at the whim of a manic Super Bowl champion two years his senior, Gase has to be more prepared than any coordinator in football. He has to know more than Manning. He has to anticipate the questions Manning will have. He has to be one step ahead of a guy who racked up 5,477 passing yards and 55 touchdowns in one season.

He’s glad he had some good friends to change his mind.

"I know that there was a point that I thought it might not work out," Gase said. "It ended up working out pretty good. I think there might have been some college loans — that might have been part of it. When you’re making about $8,000 a year, it’s tough to pay everything off."

A few years back, Gase was at a Senior Bowl dinner alongside Saints linebackers coach Joe Vitt, head coach Sean Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis.

Vitt’s daughter, Jen, had just started dating Gase three months earlier and when all the other coaches left the table, the conversation quickly shifted to serious business.

He barely knew Gase, but offered up permission to marry his daughter. Gase sat dumbfounded; he didn’t even ask for it.

"So I’m leaving the Senior Bowl, and I call her and go ‘Hey, your dad gave me permission to marry you,’ " and she goes, ‘What!?’ "

They were engaged three months later.

"I don’t think I had a choice," he said, laughing. "I’m in."

Gase heard rumors that he was vetted aggressively by Vitt, a former collegiate linebacker from upstate New York, but must have passed. Vitt wanted his daughter in good hands.

It’s difficult to find a bad word said about Gase in league circles, or even at his wedding, where Scott gave a speech about it all: character, integrity and a genuine attitude that stands out in a hypercompetitive coaching world. It was good enough for a future father-in-law to suggest marriage.

When his name emerged as the must-have coaching candidate — the Browns were among the most aggressive suitors — he walked into John Fox’s office and told him about his game planning schedule for the bye week, just before their first game against the Chargers. He called the Browns personally to turn them down, and also phoned Broncos vice president John Elway, who was away at the Senior Bowl.

"He just said, ‘Hey, if that’s the best thing for you, then I’m with it,’ " Gase said.

* * *

The texts from Peyton Manning are oddly specific.

On play 63, what are we doing if we make (Call X), what's my answer as far as protection?



"Our relationship, I probably won't experience it again," he said. "Hopefully I can stay around him as long as I can, and we'll see where it goes next year."

Manning loves that Gase watches as much film as he does. They split it up and shut the rest of the world out. They text in code all day, working to solve problems they may never have answers to.

During the playoffs, Gase said he’s discovered wrinkles as late as Friday, called Peyton to install them on Saturday, and used them to score on Sunday.

"His work ethic is second to none," said backup quarterback Brock Osweiler, who added that he would buy insurance from Gase if he was trying to sell it.

Whenever he has free time, though, Gase is in contact with the three friends who kept him here; who kept him out of a dull existence he was never meant for. On a recent visit to Denver, Adam gave Scott his old Broncos sideline gear; a getup that’s far too large for his friend. Scott wears it anyway.

He doesn’t like football; never cared much for it. But he’ll be watching on Sunday. There was just something about Adam. He belonged out there.

"We just needed to enthusiastically remind him that quitting was not in the game plan we all established for him in our dorm at 18 years old," Scott said. "We weren’t ready to accept him as an insurance salesman, and he never needed a second call after that."

Conor Orr: corr@starledger.com

