HEADLINES

Jets Fire Adam Gase

January 3rd, 2021 at 8:08pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Well, it’s official. The Jets have fired head coach Adam Gase, the team announced in a statement Sunday evening.

“This evening, I informed Adam Gase he will no longer serve as the Head Coach of the Jets. During his time here, I had the pleasure to get to know Adam and his wonderful family and wish them nothing but the best moving forward. While my sincere intentions are to have stability in our organization – especially in our leadership positions – it is clear the best decision for the Jets is to move in a different direction. We knew there was a lot of work that needed to be done when Adam joined us in 2019. Our strong finish last year was encouraging, but unfortunately, we did not sustain that positive momentum or see the progress we all expected this season,” Jets chairman and CEO Christopher Johnson said in the release.

We heard yesterday that this move was expected as soon as Week 17 concluded, and it certainly isn’t surprising. New York rattled off two wins in their final three games, but obviously it wasn’t enough to save Gase’s job. He’ll finish his two-year stint with a 9-23 record. As Johnson’s statement alluded to the team went 6-2 down the stretch last year, but that didn’t result in any momentum.

Things were a disaster right from the start in 2020 as the team lost each of their last six games. In that same report from yesterday we heard they were going to consider a lengthy list of candidates including NFL assistants like Eric Bieniemy (Chiefs OC), Matt Eberflus (Colts DC), Don Martindale (Ravens DC), Arthur Smith (Titans OC) and Brandon Staley (Rams DC), as well as college coaches like Jim Harbaugh (Michigan), Matt Campbell (Iowa State) and Dan Mullen (Florida).

It sounds like GM Joe Douglas is planning an exhaustive search. Even when he settles on a candidate there will still be plenty of unanswered questions, including what to do with Sam Darnold and whether or not to draft a quarterback with the second overall pick.

Gase, 44, first earned national recognition for his role as Peyton Manning’s offensive coordinator in Denver from 2013-14. He was head coach of the Dolphins from 2016-18, and was initially praised for his work in Miami before things spiraled. After being fired by the Dolphins he was very quickly picked up by the Jets. Bill Belichick has spoken very highly of him in recent days, but due to how polarizing he became during his time in New York, it’s unlikely he lands another head coaching gig anytime soon.

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