When the Jets held a Q&A session with their players this offseason about how the coronavirus pandemic would affect the team and the season, Adam Gase said one of the questions posed to him was how he would deal with a coach contracting COVID-19.
It’s easy for Gase to replace a player who tests positive for COVID-19. The Jets can sign someone off the practice squad or in free agency. But you can’t just hire a new coordinator or position coach.
Fortunately, Gase had an answer for his team, and it’s similar to how an NFL roster is run.
“That’s something that we actually started talking about in April,” Gase said this week. “I’ve looked at it as we almost have a depth chart for myself, the coordinator spots. We talked about position coaches, kind of where that would go. So, a depth chart was really created.”
Not only does Gase have a succession plan if a coach is recovering from COVID-19, but he’s also asked his staff to learn about other jobs on the team in order to ensure anyone can coach any position. Gase pointed to special teams specifically as an area coaches need to learn more about because of how few of them work in that facet of the game.
“I think the biggest concern at the time when we first start talking about [this] was special teams and making sure that guys in the meeting room [are] learning what [special teams coach Brant] Boyer’s teaching and helping out in that aspect,” Gase said. “Because normally you’ve got your two special teams guys and everybody else is worried about their own deal.”
Other teams have looked into this coaching depth chart idea as well, including the Giants and the Eagles. Giants head coach Joe Judge said he spent the spring evaluating his coaches to build a plan, while the Eagles actually had to enact a succession plan when head coach Doug Pederson tested positive for the virus. Philadelphia promoted assistant/running backs Duce Staley to acting head coach while Pederson works remotely.
So who would take over for Gase should he test positive? It could be any number of coaches, but if you follow the Eagles’ model, inside linebackers coach Frank Bush and wide receivers coach Shawn Jefferson are both listed as assistant head coaches and could take on the mantle. That would allow Dowell Loggains and Gregg Williams to continue their duties as offensive and defensive coordinator, respectively. Loggains and Williams would also be prime candidates, especially since Williams has head coaching experience. Another dark horse option would be defensive assistant/outside linebackers coach Joe Vitt, who is Gase’s father-in-law.
What it really boils down to, Gase said, is communication between every coach in the organization. That, and the “next man up mentality” that the Jets learned first-hand from a player perspective in 2019.
“We all have to be on the same page,” Gase said. “Guys have to understand, you don’t know, you might be the next play-caller, whether it be offense, defense or special teams, so everybody’s got to prepare like that.”