Will Adam Gase join his third AFC East team next season?
The New York Jets coach is currently 2-13 with a matchup against the New England Patriots in Week 17. The Jets reportedly plan to part ways with Gase after the the Patriots-Jets contest this weekend. He’s in his second year in New York and spent the three years prior as the Miami Dolphins head coach.
While speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Bill Belichick showed much praise for Gase and Jets starting quarterback Sam Darnold.
“Adam’s always had an offensive system that really gave the quarterbacks all the opportunities to have tools that they need to be successful, so I don’t think you could have anybody better coaching (Darnold) than where he’s at,” Belichick said. He’s progressing as you expect he would.”
Gase is an offensive mind and the Patriots just lost quarterback coach Jedd Fisch, with the potential of also losing offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. Gase worked under McDaniels and Nick Saban, while maintaining a solid relationship with Belichick. The Jets coach even mentioned that Belichick called to ask about his future plans following his tenure with the Dolphins.
“After I left Miami, he called me and we had a discussion about that ending and seeing what I was going to do moving forward,” Gase said, transcribed by NESN. “That was kind of the starting point there. We just had a conversation to kind of just see what my next steps were going to be.
“I was very appreciative. Not ever having a conversation (with Belichick) except for after games, which were usually short when I was in Miami, to be able to have a conversation with him and kind of hear his experiences and how to go about things moving forward, he didn’t have to go out of his way to do that. I thought that was somebody that was great for me to hear from.”
Belichick continued to rain down that praise on Wednesday while speaking in depth about Gase.
“I have a lot of respect for Adam,” Belichick said. “I think he’s a very good coach. He’s always been tough to coach against. He’s always made things difficult on our defense. He goes back to Josh in Denver, so we’ve known each other for a while through a mutual connection there.
“But I think he’s done an excellent job. I thought he did a good job with Miami. I think he did a good job with the Jets. He’s, as I said, a coach I have a lot of respect for, and he gives us a lot of problems and is a tough coach to coach against. That’s really the way I feel about him.”
The Patriots aren’t only looking at turnover from players, but the coaching staff will take a hit this offseason as well. It’s never to early to start planting seeds and working toward the future.
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