‘Hotheads’ aim to rein in anger
Coach Gase, Ajayi, Landry discuss how all three could better channel negative emotions.
DAVIE — In London, Miami Dolphins running back Jay Ajayi was shown on television during an outburst on the sideline.
It appeared Ajayi was unhappy he wasn’t in the game for a third down. Surely Ajayi was frustrated with himself and/or his teammates, as he was unable to get any traction on the ground.
In Sunday’s home opener, at least once, wide receiver Jarvis Landry appeared to have an outburst of frustration.
It seemed La n dry was unhappy he wasn’t getting the ball more. It appeared Landry was upset Jay Cutler’s passes weren’t finding him more often and/or more accurately.
While all players, and people, get frustrated at times in their jobs, coach Adam Gase spoke with Ajayi and Landry on Monday about the optics of expressing emotions in a negative fashion.
“There’s three of us that are the hotheads of the offense,” Gase said Wednesday. “It’s 14 (Landry), 23 (Ajayi) and me. So it’s a like a deadly combination. We start getting all fired up. The three of us talked about it, about how can all three of us not get as frustrated when things don’t go quite right? I need to do a better job of keeping my anger under control, and they’re trying to do the same thing.”
Gase said Ajayi and Landry approached him Monday and
Tuesday.
“I look at that as a positive thing,” Gase said. “Because they know. They know everybody is looking at those two guys. How are they reacting when things aren’t quite going right? I know everybody is looking to me: How are you reacting? I need to do a better job. They’re working on it. It’s not easy. I mean, they want to do well. They want to have an impact on the game. I tell Jarvis all the time, ‘I’m trying to get you the ball. I’m not not trying to throw it to you.’ It’s just one of those things. You’re trying to get in a rhythm, get positive plays going, and when we do that, good things happen. That drive we scored a touchdown on, we had a good rhythm going, and we were making plays.”
While Miami’s defense has been very emotional as things are rolling, the offense in general seems lackluster, downtrodden and sullen.
The team could use more emotion on offense.
Gase just wants to make sure it’s funneled in a positive manner.
So who’s the worst hothead of all?
“Probably me,” Gase said. “I’m the worst.”
Crisis-management lessons: One of the major changes when a coach goes from coordinator to the head job is having to navigate a broad range of issues on and off the field. Gase has encountered quite a few in his first year and a half in charge.
Gase’s challenges have included losing his starting quarterback twice, Hurricane Irma and its related problems and, most recently, having to remove an offensive-line coach after an unseemly video surfaced.
It takes more than X’s and O’s to steer a team through things like that, and Gase’s main education in that field came from watching his father, Art, in the business world and his seven years coaching under Nick Saban. When asked specifically about what he learned from his dad, Gase gave revealing insight into what makes him the way he is.
“The thing that comes to mind for me with him is I just remember he never shied away from anything,” Gase said Wednesday. “He always met it head on. He never looked for somebody else to try to fix something. I think I always appreciated the fact that he was always trying to lead the charge.”
He also said, “I think a little bit has to do watching how my dad operated ... dealing with anything that would come up and jumping to the forefront. I’m the one in charge. I’ve got to handle it.”
That’s clearly been Gase’s mindset since taking over the Dolphins in January 2016, and he’s lived up to it. One thing players have consistently credited him for is being direct and steady.
If that sounds a little bit like Saban, it should. Gase was a student staffer at Michigan State when Saban coached there and followed him to LSU for three seasons as an assistant.
“I don’t remember anything quite happening every week, but watching him, how he always handled things where he dealt with a situation and had to get back to work, had to move on to the next thing,” Gase said.