The future of Adam Gase and the Jets is still up in the air despite his 0-11 start to the 2020 season.
Despite another poor offensive showing in Week 12, the Jets are still employing Gase as their head coach. General manager Joe Douglas and quarterback Sam Darnold have expressed confidence in Gase, even as the Jets sink further and further. The offense still ranks dead last among the NFL’s 32 teams in points and yards, and New York only scored a field goal this past week after averaging 27.5 points in the previous two games.
Gase hasn’t proven to be a good head coach in his first 27 games with the Jets. His offense looks stagnant, his younger players have regressed and the team lacks overall competency in a competitive conference and division. If Gase continues to lose, his chances of staying on as coach past this season obviously will continue to shrink. Douglas would be wise to move on from Gase sooner rather than later, especially considering there are more qualified candidates among NFL coordinators and in the college ranks.
But history has shown teams aren’t always willing to dump coaches who underperform early in their tenures.
There are 15 NFL head coaches who have started a season 0-11, including Gase. Of those 15, six were not fired at the conclusion of the season. Like Gase, they were all in either their first or second seasons with their team. This doesn’t necessarily mean the Jets will keep Gase after this year, but it isn’t a foregone conclusion that Douglas will fire Gase.
Let’s take a look back at what happened with the six NFL coaches who kept their jobs after starting 0-11 the previous year.