What made the Jets the right landing spot for him?
“The No. 1 thing for me was the young quarterback,” Gase said, referencing of course no-longer-rookie-QB Sam Darnold, whom he prepared for twice in his third and final year as Miami’s head coach this season. “And I also think the knowledge of playing these guys over the last three years, that was interesting to me … knowing your opponents right out of the gate, staying in the division, to me that was very intriguing.”
(Ethan Greenberg has more on Gase’s thoughts on Darnold going forward in his story on newyorkjets.com.)
How about what he’d do differently after his Dolphins experience?
“Over three years, you’re going to have mistakes that you make, and it can either be a mental note or you start creating that list from year to year. And it’s really starting with this first part of the process — we’re trying to put a coaching staff together. The first thing I learned that first go-round was don’t get impatient, just go through your process. … It’s a long list because in football, there’s a lot of moving parts. And every time we encounter something, we’re going to learn from it, we’re going to move on and we’re going to correct it.”
And what can he bring to the table to help the Jets, who have had trouble finishing games?
“One of the things that I lean on, and I’m just going off my past experience, that was something we [Miami] took a lot of pride in, being 20-6 in one-score games in three years. … It started in practice, it started in our preparation, and really developed in the mindset of when we get to that fourth quarter and we’re in a tight game, we’re going to come out on top. … It all starts with the preparation.”
Some of the adjectives used to describe Gase are fiery, passionate and intelligent. Johnson said all of those things helped “turn on the lights” for him through a process of talking to a number of candidates, all of whom he said “should be head coaches in this league.”
“Adam is very passionate. And on the field, he’s aggressive and I love that. He’s innovative. He will get the job done,” Johnson said. “He’s coaching to where football is going, in my view.”
