It would have been easy, and natural, for Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase to have his head turned when teams called with chances to interview for head coaching jobs.
But he impressed his boss with his ability to say no.
“He’s done a tremendous job,” Broncos executive John Elway said, via Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com. “He’s had a great year and he’s just got such a great feel, and he’s a hard worker and he’s very bright. I hope he stays but — I thought it was, to me, I couldn’t think for him to be able to do what he did and to say ‘I want to keep my focus on the Denver Broncos and once our season is over I’ll interview.’
“To me that was studly because it was to me, I like guys that are committed to what they’re doing, committed to the Denver Broncos. So I couldn’t be more proud of that decision. It tells you a lot about the guy.”
It also tells you he’s got a pretty good gig, and a chance to learn more about coaching with one of the best quarterbacks of all time in Peyton Manning. That’s a nice laboratory in which to experiment.
“I felt like I was all-in for what we were doing here,” Gase said.
Elway said Gase’s aggressiveness while calling plays was impressive, and had him thinking back to his playing days.
“I wish I could have played for him,” Elway said. “I think that he’s so bright and he’s working with Peyton and having been here with Josh [McDaniels] before that — who is a very bright, young offensive mind — he has just used all of that and learned from all that. With McCoy here, then Peyton here and now him on his own, he’s been able to put them all together and mold it as his personality and I think he’s done a tremendous job. That shows up in the numbers we’ve put up this year.”
In his first year calling plays, the Broncos set a single-season record with 606 points, and Manning set new records with 5,477 yards and 55 touchdowns.
That kind of performance emboldened the 35-year-old Gase to hang around, rather than take offered interviews with the Vikings or Browns (though the Browns still have a vacancy).