Gase era ends with a dud
NEW YORK » The Jets have fired coach Adam Gase, ending a frustrating and disappointing tenure after just two loss-filled seasons.
Hired by the Jets in January 2019, Gase went 9-23 with New York, including an 0-13 start that was the worst in franchise history — overshadowing even the 1996 squad that went 0-8 on the way to a 1-15 finish, and is generally recognized as the team’s worst.
The move was announced by the team a few hours after New York lost 28-14 at New England on Sunday to end the season 2-14 — the second-worst record in franchise history.
“While my sincere intentions are to have stability in our organization — especially in our leadership positions — it is clear the best decision for the Jets is to move in a different direction,” Jets chairman and CEO Christopher Johnson said in a statement issued by the team.
The 42-year-old Gase came to New York with high hopes in the organization that he would be the perfect fit to help quarterback Sam Darnold take the next step in his development and boost the Jets’ offense.
Instead, none of that materialized.
Darnold regressed in his third season before being sidelined twice because of an injured right shoulder, while the offense — ravaged by injuries early — was mostly inept. The Jets struggled until late in the season to put a consistently competitive offense on the field. Gase even handed off offensive play-calling duties to coordinator Dowell Loggains for a stretch to try to spark things.
Gase shouldered the blame for not helping Darnold enough to develop, and also acknowledged he felt as though he let down the Jets and Johnson.
“At the end of the day, it’s about winning,” Gase said last month. “We haven’t done that. For (Johnson) not to feel a playoff feel of being competitive in December, it’s disappointing to me that we haven’t been able to do that for him.”
Frustrated fans, many of whom weren’t excited by his hiring in January 2019, flocked to social media and sports radio nearly all season pleading for Gase to be fired.
Despite all that, several players — Darnold included — insisted Gase and his staff were putting the players in position to succeed, but they simply weren’t executing on the field. Gase never saw eye to eye with star running back Le’Veon Bell, who was unceremoniously released on Oct. 13. The coach also fired Gregg Williams after the defensive coordinator’s curiously overaggressive call cost the Jets their first win against Las Vegas on Dec. 6.