No time at all was wasted in the Miami Dolphins‘ coaching search. Barely a week after the regular season ended the Dolphins have named former Chicago Bears and Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase as their new head coach.
Welcome to Miami, Adam Gase! #StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/scJQmpFbqJ
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) January 9, 2016
Gase takes over for interim head coach Dan Campbell, who in turn took over for fired head coach Joe Philbin after the first month of the season. Gase was instrumental in probably saving Jay Cutler’s career this season in Chicago, calling the plays that helped Cutler complete 64 percent of his passes for 3.659 yards and 21 touchdowns with just 11 picks. The Bears finished 6-10, but notched big wins over the Kansas City Chiefs and the Green Bay Packers and were in the playoff hunt until a three-game December swoon ended that.
If Adam Gase comes to @MiamiDolphins don't be surprised to see @Bengals DBs coach Vance Joseph to follow as defensive coordinator @NFLonFOX
— Alex Marvez (@alexmarvez) January 9, 2016
Gase has been a name tossed around in multiple head coaching openings over the last three seasons. As the Broncos offensive coordinator, Gase and Peyton Manning ran roughshod over most of the AFC. With the magic Gase was able to work with Cutler in Chicago, he was too good a prospect to get overlooked again.
Gase began his NFL coaching career as a scouting assistant with the Detroit Lions in 2003. The 37-year-old coach has served as offensive coordinator of the Broncos and the Bears, obviously, but has no head coaching experience. Gase is, as of today, the youngest head coach in the league.
Congrats to the 14,000 remaining Dolphins fans on the Adam Gase hiring. As a fan of a fellow AFC East team, was hoping you wouldn't get him.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) January 9, 2016
“We did exhaustive research on all of the candidates ahead of time and conducted thorough and detailed interviews with each person,” Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said in a statement. “In the end, I was convinced and the search committee was unanimous Adam was the right leader for our football team who best met all our priorities. He has high energy, is competitive and driven to win with a mindset of teaching and developing players.”
Gase has his work cut out for him with a highly-paid, but underachieving Dolphins team led by a talented but kind of dumb and childish Ryan Tannehill. The only real news Tannehill made this season was from taunting practice squad players who were picking off his passes during practice. Tannehill reportedly mocked them by saying they would get a “scout team trophy” and made fun of the amount of money they made. Tannehill admitted the practice got heated, but denied he belittled the practice squad players that were completely dominating him.
Adam Gase was the Dolphins no 1 target BEFORE they even played their last game. Got their man
— Jay Glazer (@JayGlazer) January 9, 2016
Tannehill then went out and crapped the bed against the New York Jets, throwing two picks, completing just 19-of-44 passes and getting sacked three times.
Of course that wasn’t the first time Tannehill looked like an idiot. Back when the Dolphins were on Hard Knocks during his rookie year Tannehill was openly ridiculed by his teammates for having no clue which NFL team was in which division.
One of Adam Gase's top advocates has been Peyton Manning. Why? Gase's aptitude and work ethic rivaled Manning's. Always had answers for 18.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) January 9, 2016
Gase does have some quality offensive talent on the team. Jarvis Landry is another break-out former LSU receiver, making his mark on the NFL. This year Landry caught 110 passes for 1,157 yards and four touchdowns. In the backfield Lamar Miller is a solid NFL starter though he didn’t crack 1,000 yards this season, he did manage eight touchdowns and only fumbled once.
But it’ll all begin with Tannehill and when it comes to that guy, Gase has his work cut out for him.
