Adam Gase might soon have employment in the NFL again.
The former Jets head coach’s name “keeps popping up” for the Patriots’ offensive coordinator job, according to NFL Network’s Mike Giardi. Gase, who was fired after going 2-14 with the Jets in 2020, ascended to the league’s head coaching ranks after a successful run as Peyton Manning’s offensive coordinator in Denver, and a year in the same role with the Bears.
Things didn’t go so well for Gase with the Jets, however. His obsessiveness, initially sold as endearing, quickly became a meme — along with photos that showed him wide-eyed, and looking constantly surprised.
In his first year, though, the Jets were a reasonable enough 7-9. Things fell apart in 2020 as it became obvious that Sam Darnold wasn’t a franchise quarterback, and Gase wasn’t the coach to turn him into one.
A franchise-record 13-game losing streak sealed Gase’s fate in New York, though two wins at the end of the year cost them the No. 1 draft pick. Le’Veon Bell and Jamal Adams, two players once viewed as franchise cornerstones, left on poor terms — an issue attributed to the head coach.
After being fired, Gase has been out of football for the last year.
In New England, he would be working with Mac Jones, a more proven talent, and Gase’s system has had success when he’s been a coordinator. Still, adjusting to life without longtime coordinator Josh McDaniels, who was recently named the Raiders’ head coach, could be tough for the Patriots.
Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien, who held the Patriots’ coordinator job the last time McDaniels left, has also been brought up as a candidate. Per Giardi, if New England decides to hire internally, it could be without an official change in title.