Record is the same, but coaches’ journeys aren’t
One NFL coach started the 2019 season 0-7, won five of the last nine to end his first year and is off to a 2-3 start through five games in 2020.
The other started 1-7, won six of the last eight games to end his first season with his new franchise and is off to a 0-5 start this season.
The math says they both have the same record, 7-14, in that span. But Brian Flores and the Miami Dolphins could not be drifting into a direction further away from the abyss New York Jets coach Adam Gase finds himself in before both teams play at 4:05p.m. onSunday atHardRockStadium.
The Dolphins just experienced their most well-rounded performance of the Flores era in a wire-to-wire victory last week over the San Francisco 49ers.
Awin Sundaywould take Miami to .500 for the first time under Flores, the coach the Dolphins hired after parting with Gase at the end of the 2019 season when Miami signaled it was proceeding toward a fullscale rebuilding process.
“Everybody is trusting Coach Flo. … We believe in what he’s coaching us each and every day and the message he’s getting across,” Dolphins tight end Mike Gesicki said. “You’ve got to buy into the head coaching.
“I think that’s what everybody in this locker room has done. We’ve just got to continue to stack good days and continue to get better.”
The Jets, on the other hand, are reeling, with Gase — the Dolphins coach from 2016-18 — in danger of being fired after a poor start and failing to show any true progression from last season’s 7-9 campaign.
Starting quarterback Sam Darnold suffered a sprained shoulder that will cause him to miss his second game this season. He missed three early last season due to mononucleosis. Former Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco, whois 6-0 against Miami while with Baltimore, will start.
Most recently, the Jets abruptly released standout but misused running back Le’Veon Bell this week. The Dolphins courted Bell before he signed with the Kansas City Chiefs late Thursday. Bell, the ex-Steelers star, had signed a four-year, $52.5 million deal with the Jets last year.
“It’s obviously not the way we’ve pictured things going,” Gase said of his Jets run after leading the Dolphins to a 23-25 record and playoff berth in three seasons.
The Dolphins are starting to see their
picture come into focus as Flores and general manager Chris Grier have reconstructed the roster with youthful talent in free agency and during the past two NFL drafts, with rookie quarterbackTuaTagovailoa as Miami’s prime addition.
Thevictories did notcomeearly or often for Flores and the Dolphins. But the team seems to be turning a corner based on 16-year veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick’s play, a revamped defense starting to jell as the season progresses and young players beginning to find their footing in the NFL.
“I’m a guy who is always trying to learn and always trying to get better,” said Flores of his coaching approach. “So just from a leadership standpoint, I just think it’s important to be authentic and to be honest.
“I don’t have all of the answers. I tell the players that. But I’m constantlyworking to find the right answers.”
While the Dolphins are striving for .500 this week, Gase and the Jets are simply looking for their firstwin. Gase has turned around a poor start before.
During his first season in Miami, he helped the team rebound froma1-4 start to reach an AFC wild-card game. It marked just the second time since 2001 the Dolphins had reached the playoffs.
The Jets may not have what it takes to make such a run this season, but Gase is hopeful he can turn his second season in NewYork around.
“That 2016 year [was about] finding a way [to have] short-term focus about getting better every day and really not look too far ahead,” Gase said. “That was a good reason why we were able to turn things around. Guys weren’t looking two, three four weeks ahead of time; they were focused on the task at hand.
“That’s something that applies to what we’re going through right now. It’s not easy. It’s a day-in, day-out test of can you handle adversity and how [do] you stick together and prepare for the next game?”