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Former New York Jets head coach Adam Gase reacting in the middle of an NFL game against the New England Patriots.
A former New York Jets head coach is emerging from the darkness.
National NFL senior reporter Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports revealed that Adam Gase “has emerged as a possibility to be hired by the [Los Angeles] Chargers in an offensive assistant coach role.”
Gase hasn’t been in the NFL since he was fired by the Jets following the 2020 season.
Former #Jets and #Dolphins head coach Adam Gase has emerged as a possibility to be hired by the #Chargers in an offensive assistant coach role, sources tell @CBSSports.
Last coached in 2020 when he was with the Jets. Before Miami and the Jets, he was an offensive coordinator for
Zenitz added that the Chargers are “strongly considering” Gase for a “pass game coordinator role.”
Gase Represents One of the Worst Periods in Jets Franchise History
The former Michigan State product has been in exile for the last six years.
He was hired as the Jets’ head coach in January of 2019. Gase was the head coach for two seasons before he was let go.
Much was made of Aaron Glenn’s horrific start to his tenure as Jets head coach. He started 0-7 in his first year and finished the season with a 3-14 record.
Gase wasn’t much better. He started the 2019 season witha 1-7 record. Unlike Glenn, he finished strong. The Jets won six of their final eight games, creating a false sense of optimism that this ship was headed in the right direction.
Spoiler alert, it wasn’t.
The Jets went 2-14 in 2020. They started the season 0-13, randomly won two games in a row, and then lost the season finale.
Gase was fired following that disappointing campaign. He hasn’t had a job in the NFL since. He finished with a 9-23 overall record as the HC of the NYJ.
Gase had a .281 winning percentage. That is the third-worst in Jets franchise history of coaches who held the HC role for at least one season.
Arrogance Blinded the Jets in Their Decision Making
Before becoming the head coach of the Jets, Gase had held that title with the bitter rival Miami Dolphins.
He was the head coach of the fish for four seasons. Gase finished with a 23-25 overall record (.479 winning percentage). Ultimatley Miami decided he wasn’t good enough and let him go.
On December 31, 2018, the Dolphins fired Gase. 11 days later, he was hired by the Jets to become their next head coach.
Miami had as much information as possible on Gase and said no thanks. The Jets saw that it didn’t work with the Dolphins, but arrogantly thought that they knew more than Miami and that he would work in New York. That proved to be dead wrong on many levels.
After Failures, Jets Have Refused to Go Back
“Gase [was] the first coach hired by Jets with previous head coaching experience since Bill Parcells in 1997 and the first coach with an offensive background hired by Gang Green since Rich Kotite in 1995,” NFL Media digital content editor Jeremy Bergman wrote in January of 2019.
The Jets have yet to dip their toes back in those waters since the Gase failure. Team owner Woody Johnson hasn’t hired a retread or a coach with an offensive background in his 26-year history with the team, sans Gase.
If Aaron Glenn doesn’t work out for the Jets, there is a hunger amongst fans for Mr. Johnson to flip the script.
The Jets have zigged forever with first-year coaches who have a defensive background. It might make sense to zag and go in another direction if things flop with AG in 2026.
Paul Esden Jr. covers the New York Jets for Heavy.com. A New York native, he co-hosts a morning show, “The Manchild Show with Boy Green Digital.” Before joining Heavy in 2021, Esden Jr. covered both national and New York sports for FanSided, Elite Sports NY, and The Score 1260. More about Paul Esden Jr.
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