After a mediocre stint with the Miami Dolphins, Adam Gase has been hired by the New York Jets with a second chance to prove he’s head coach material.
After being fired by the Miami Dolphins, Adam Gase interviewed for multiple other head coaching jobs. He talked to the New York Jets last Friday, and now according to multiple reports Gase will be their next head coach.
Gase went 23-25 over three seasons in Miami (5-1 against the Jets), including 10 wins and a playoff berth in his first season. But he only had quarterback Ryan Tannehill for half of those 48 games, due mostly to a torn ACL, with Matt Moore, Jay Cutler and Brock Osweiler filling the void.
A head coach and quarterback are tied together automatically, and in New York Gase will inherit a promising young signal caller in Sam Darnold. The USC product threw 15 interceptions as a rookie (tied for second-most in the league), but he did not have any over the final three games of the season as a sure sign of progress looking toward his second season.
During his time as quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos (2011-2014, Gase worked with Kyle Orton, Tim Tebow and Peyton Manning. The latter two were about as opposite in style as two quarterbacks can be, and in 2015 Cutler had the best passer rating (92.3) and one of the best interception rates of his career (2.3 percent) with Gase as Chicago Bears’ offensive coordinator.
Gase had control over the 53-man roster in Miami, but it’s safe to say he’ll share some of that authority with Jets’ general manager Mike Maccagnan now. The Jets need to add pieces around Darnold, but one of the appealing aspects of the head coaching job is the salary cap space they’ll have to address that this offseason ($99.38 million, second-most in the league, via Over The Cap). The Jets will also have the third overall pick in April’s draft.
Ceding some personnel authority is surely part of Gase’s arrangement with the Jets. But that should be all for the better, as he can focus on coaching and more specifically working with Darnold. With a second chance to lead a team, away from the general dysfunction that hangs over the Dolphins, Gase can show what he’s really made of as a head coach.