FINS ON FIRE
Gase has Tannehill & gang on red-hot tear
WHEN ADAM GASE took his talents to South Beach, no one could have expected this.
It is far too early to consider him a young Don Shula, but Gase, at 38 the NFL’s youngest head coach, has changed the culture and the perception of the 7-4 Dolphins. But he has been the quarterback whisperer that has locals brimming with hope that Ryan Tannehill can be the long, lost franchise quarterback.
Peyton Manning swore by Gase in Denver, and if Tannehill (15 touchdowns, eight interceptions, 66 percent completions) truly has been fixed, the poor Jets will have a new mortal enemy not named Bill Belichick and Tom Brady and the Patriots. Tannehill never has been better than 8-8 in his previous four seasons and never had won six straight games ... until now.
How did Gase earn Tannehill’s trust?
“I think he did a good job of coming in the door when we first started, trusting as far as really putting himself out there in saying, ‘What do you need me to do?’” Gase, by phone, said of Tannehill. “And, that was something that was very helpful for us as a coaching staff, because there was no con- vincing, ‘Hey, we want to do it this way.’ He just put himself out there, and rolled with the punches. And if he didn’t like something, he didn’t really say anything, he just kind of went with it, and as we’ve gone along and the longer we’ve kind of been together.
“It’s easier for him now to say to me, ‘I’d rather do this than that,’ or, ‘I like this concept better than this concept.’ The communication’s easier for him. He came in very open, and didn’t judge anything off of whatever we were doing in the past or whatever they did in the past. He basically wiped the slate clean, and started from scratch.”
The play caller and the quarterback — even Bill Walsh and Joe Montana — are never immediately two heads on one body.
“I think we had some growing pains,” Gase said. “Every time you get with a different quarterback, you kind of get a little bit of a rhythm going. It may have maybe took a little longer for me to adjust from my past. He’s the third quarterback that I’ve been around in the last three years, and what he likes is different than what Jay [Cutler] likes and was different from what Peyton likes. So, it does take time to kind of adjust.”
With Gase by his side, Tannehill never has been more respected as a leader.
“He’s put in all the time, he works as hard as anybody I’ve ever been around,” Gase said. “I think guys appreciate how much personal time, and how much time when he is in the office that he’s put in to help us get better each week. I think guys respect that, and I think guys go out there and the communication’s really good on and off the practice field, so I feel like there is a good bond with that whole offensive union. And I think some defensive guys are seeing him as far as somebody that’s really taken control of our offense.”
When you ask Gase to define his ideal football player, he makes sure to mention indefatigable Dolphins’ executive VP of football operations Mike Tannenbaum — who fearlessly stole offensive guard Laremy Tunsil with the 13th overall pick in the draft and is haunting the Jets — along with general manager Chris Grier.
“I think what we’re looking for in our organization, between Chris Grier, Mike [and myself], is we are looking for guys that this is their No. 1 priority,” Gase said. “You always want talent as far as that upper-tier talent. We all can say that around the league, but we’re looking for those little, tiny, tangible things. ... ‘Are you one of those guys that loves ball so much where practice is meaningful to you? Where you love being out there?’ We love guys with great energy. We love guys that constantly love talking about football.”
Gase is a breath of fresh air, comfortable in his own skin, tough when he needs to be. He left pouting running back Jay Ajayi at home for the opener in Seattle but showed he was fair by letting him out of the doghouse at the proper time. Gase said he isn’t quite sure how to label his motivational style.
“I would just say the environment that we’ve tried to create from the get-go is one of energy, attitude, even having a little bit of a swagger, enjoying playing this game,” he said. “The window’s so short and so small for these guys.
Gase has been influenced by the likes of Manning and Nick Saban and Mike Martz and John Fox.
“I think there’s a whole bunch of different forms of leadership,” he said. “I will say this: I’ve always respected guys that go out, do things right — whether it be within the building, on the practice field outside the building. Those are the type of guys that I’ve always really gravitated to as far as if I was ever one to follow somebody. It’s always those guys, that it’s more action than what they say.”