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DURHAM -- Tuesday evening, hours before national signing day, Duke football coach David Cutcliffe felt a sense of dread when his cell phone rang.
Cutcliffe earlier had failed to connect with a couple of prospects expected to sign on the dotted line the next day, so when he prepared to glance at his caller ID, he feared the worst.
"I didn't really want to talk to anybody. I thought, 'God dang it, who is this?' " Cutcliffe said. "I looked down, and it was Peyton."
That's Peyton as in Manning, the Super Bowl XLI winning quarterback who will try to win another NFL championship tonight when his Indianapolis Colts take on the New Orleans Saints in Miami (6:25 p.m., WRAL).
Manning had just spent the bulk of his day in the circus that is Super Bowl Media Day, while Cutcliffe had spent his making sure all was well on the recruiting front.
But at the end of the day, the former star quarterback at the University of Tennessee and his offensive coordinator with the Volunteers hooked up to elevate the level of the football conversation, as only a player and coach can do.
"I think he needed a little football fix midweek," Cutcliffe said. "Usually, we talk midweek and maybe at the end of the week on game week, just to compare notes. He was also checking on signing day.
"We ended up having about a 50-minute talk, and it did me some good. It put me in a good mood. I got to talk some Xs and Os, got to hear about his workweek and the circumstances surrounding the ballgame. No one's getting any information or tips from me, but we got into details of pass protection and routes. I had fun."
Cutcliffe is as familiar with the Manning family as anybody on the planet. As the head coach at Ole Miss, Cutcliffe mentored New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, who won the Super Bowl two years ago -- one year after Peyton.
So it's only natural that Cutcliffe is tight with the Manning brothers' father, Archie, who just happens to live in New Orleans and rank as arguably the most decorated player in Saints history.
"He's very excited for Peyton, but he's got the anxiety of being a father," Cutcliffe said. "There aren't a lot of opportunities to play in the Super Bowl. The Colts, along with the Patriots, are the best two teams the last 10 years, but they're not in the Super Bowl every year. It's difficult."
If the Colts do fall short, would Archie Manning take at least some solace in his Saints winning it?
"No -- none," Cutcliffe said. "You've never been around Peyton when he's lost. That's no fun for anybody."
While Cutcliffe is close with Peyton Manning, no one is closer -- literally -- than Colts center Jeff Saturday. The former North Carolina standout, in his 11th season sharing the ball with Manning, is the only former area player competing in the game, though there are a few more ties.
Colts assistant head coach Clyde Christensen played quarterback for UNC it the late 1970s, and assistant strength coach Richard Howell was a graduate assistant with the Tar Heels for one year before joining the Colts in 2000.
Then there's current UNC coach Butch Davis, who coached Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne -- Manning's favorite target -- but also coached Saints tight end Jeremy Shockey and linebacker Jonathan Vilma at the University of Miami.
"You can't cheer for a tie, but I can cheer for all three of them to play great," Davis said. "Some of them are going to be happy."
While Davis understandably is conflicted, Cutcliffe is not. His only real debate was whether to attend the game as if did in 2007 when the Colts beat the Chicago Bears or watch from home.
"I went the last time we won, but I told him that this year I'm not going to go," Cutcliffe said. "There are just too many things going on too close to Super Bowl Sunday.
"I've got a great seat picked out in my basement. I think it's going to be a great ballgame."
Staff writer Briana Gorman contributed to this article.
