A CASE FOR GASE

Jet fans are pretty hard to please.  This Saturday January 12 marks the Jets’ 50^th Anniversary of winning Super Bowl III; their one and only Super Bowl appearance.  There’s supposed to be a celebration of some sort, somewhere, to commemorate this; but since there aren’t a whole lot of Jet fans that were alive or old enough to remember that game very well, it might not be much of a party. There’s no need to belabor how the team has done since then, Gang Green’s futility has been chronicled ad nauseum.  A half century of ignominy is hard to forget.  And a half century of unexplainable blunders is even harder to forgive (fill in the blank as you see fit, but do allow yourself sufficient time).  And so when the Jets announced that Adam Gase was to be their seventeenth head coach in franchise history, the immediate reaction was to pooh-pooh the decision.  Some recent stinging Tweets include: “The Jets are the Mets with football helmets”, “Exact reason this franchise has been a joke for 50 years”, and “I mean, Gase did develop 35-year-old Peyton Manning”.

It's Been 50 Years Since the Jets Won Super Bowl III

So what do you want Jet fans?  You had your three years of Bill Parcells, albeit a pre-owned version with high mileage, but still, he got you to the AFC Championship game in 1999.  You want him back at age 77?  How about Pete Carroll?  You had him for a year in 1994, before sacking him in favor of Rich Kotite (again, fill in the blank as you see fit, but do allow yourself sufficient time).  Sometimes you just don’t know how great your partner is until they get away.  Are you looking to break up his marriage with the Seattle Seahawks?  You even had Bill Bellichick for a day, but he’s probably been a bit too prosperous since then to return your phone calls now.  There’s even been cries for Rex Ryan to return.  Enough already!!!!

So what do want?  Since firing Todd Bowles eleven days ago the Jets have been exhaustive in their search for a new coach.  Eight candidates were interviewed in all.  Besides Gase, The Jets have spoken to:

Kansas City Chiefs Offensive Coordinator, Eric Bieniemy.   Bieniemy has only one year of experience as an OC of which his mentor, Andy Reid, still calls the plays.  Yes, recruiting offspring from the Reid family tree is as in vogue as finding the next incarnate of Sean McVay, but Bieniemy isn’t ready for the job just yet.

Former Indianapolis Colts and Detroit Lions Head Coach, Jim Caldwell.  Two stints of mediocrity is enough.  You seldom, if ever, get a third chance in the NFL with his body of work.  Had the Jets hired Caldwell, it would forever have been perceived as failing to woo a more desirable candidate.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Offensive Coordinator, Todd Monken.  As bad as the Bucs were in 2018, most of their woes were on the defensive side of the ball.  For the most part they were still able to score points with the perennially streaky Ryan Fitzpatrick and the perennially unpredictable Jameis Winston at quarterback.  Still, hiring respectable coaches from bad teams isn’t very sexy or exciting.  And at age 52, he just isn’t Sean McVay-ish enough to bring any wow factor either.

Former Texas Tech Head Coach, Kliff Kingsbury.  Seems everything about Kingsbury’s availability had this Hurry, While Supplies Last feel to it. The Jets talked to him, and then Cardinals signed him in the same time a frog snares a fly with its tongue.  Seems that being Facebook friends, or whatever Kingsbury’s purported connection to Sean McVay was, was enough due diligence for Arizona to offer him the job.  He’d last ten seconds in New York.  Good riddance…

Baylor Coach, Matt Rhule.  The mystery candidate that only the Jets seemed to have on their radar.  Seems that Rhule’s New York City roots may have had something to do with the Jets’ interest in him, but even the Jets seem to know that’s a pretty fluffy reason to hire someone. He’d probably be a fave with the New York media and a great drive-time interview on WFAN.   That is, until he started losing.  While what he’s done so far at Baylor has been considered respectable, his 8-17 record with the Bears is a tough sell.  It’s a long leap from Waco to the Big Apple, even if you grew up there; not to mention his only year of NFL experience came with the Giants as a low-level assistant in 2012.  At 43, his name will likely pop up again for future NFL coaching jobs.  For now, it’s probably wise the Jets took a pass on Rhule.

Dallas Cowboys Defensive Assistant, Kris Richard.  Who?

Former Green Bay Packers Head Coach, Mike McCarthy.  This was the heavyweight candidate that, not surprisingly, drew the most attention in this search. The guy “the Jets have got to get”.  McCarthy’s strained relationship with Packer’s QB, Aaron Rogers, helped to exonerate his blemished reputation after getting unceremoniously fired after 13 seasons.  After all, it was the villainous Rogers that got him fired!  Give McCarthy a pass, it’s not his fault for having Lady Macbeth as his quarterback.  Everyone bit on the spin for a short while, but then questions started to arise.  As in…if McCarthy really was still that great of a coach, why doesn’t he have any leverage?   Wouldn’t he be getting offers at least somewhat comparable to what Jon Gruden ridiculously received in Oakland?  Why weren’t the Jets in a three-way bidding war with, say, Tampa Bay and Cleveland over McCarthy’s services?  Something was amiss.  “Anonymous sources” and “those with knowledge of the situation” began leaking rather unflattering things about McCarthy; questioning his game management, his preparation, his decisions and, what’s akin to receiving last rites as a coach – losing the locker room.  This Super Bowl wining coach was suddenly damaged goods.  A dying brand. McCarthy was still a big name nevertheless, a safe hire, one who statistically had a much stronger case than the coach they ultimately hired.  And yet, there’ve been numerous “known commodity” coaches who never matched the success with their second team as they did with their first team. Guys like Mike Holmgren, Mike Ditka, George Seifert, Jeff Fisher, Tom Flores and Jimmy Johnson all fit in that category, among others.  The Jets had to have seen that with McCarthy, not to mention the bad buzz coming out about him, and thus decided to “go in a different direction.”  What’s the problem with that Jet fans? 

And so that leaves things with Adam Gase.  The Jets new coach.  Just as many established coaches have petered out after enjoying past glory, they’ve been a number of other head coaches who, perhaps hired a bit prematurely in their first jobs, went on to have tremendous success elsewhere.  Mike Shanahan, Bill Belichick and Tony Dungy all fit that bill quite well.  Gase is only 40, with already three years of head coaching experience: not too long to get burned out, but long enough to hone his craft.  Gase looks like he’s in perfect position to get the Jets flying, especially with Sam Darnold as his quarterback.  His biggest blemish is that he sparred with his boss, Dolphins owner, Steve Ross.  Like who’s never done that in a job?  It’s not like the Dolphins are among the NFL’s stalwart organizations anyway.  You have to go back to the Reagan Administration to when they were relevant.  Has anyone noticed that they’ve yet to fill their coaching vacancy?  What does that tell you?

There’s a case for Gase.  Park your cynicism Jet fans and show the kind of patience that New York is famous for.  He just might end up being that coach you’ll hate to love.

Adam Gase