GASE MAY BE MADE FOR THE TV
Jets coach can talk a good game but needs to connect with team — or else
Adam Gase will be a superstar in the TV booth one day, breaking down plays, analyzing tendencies and correctly predicting the future on gamedays. For all the warranted criticism heaped on the mercurial Jets coach, he can hold your attention when talking shop. Gase is an All-Pro gabber and football junkie, who can spin a yarn with the best of them. He’s an entertaining storyteller with amazing recall. He could be a stud in that line of work like Tony Romo.
Alas, Gase has been empowered to run a wobbly franchise right now.
The results have been decidedly ghoulish for the Jets. Gase has turned a star-crossed outfit into the NFL’s undisputed laughingstock through the first two weeks.
“We got to put everything in hyperdrive,” Gase said Monday after his team was undressed by the injury-ravaged 49ers. “Do a better job this week and improve quickly.”
Gase might be one of the hardest workers in the NFL, but his post-blowout-loss spin routine has gotten stale fast.
“We got to figure out a way to convert on third downs,” he maintained.
“We need to apply what we’re doing in practice and execute the same way on Sunday,” he insisted.
It’s white noise at the point, more blathering signifying nothing.
Although Gase is smart enough to know that no rational Jets follower actually believes what he’s selling, he also understands that it’s his only way to mitigate the impending avalanche.
Gase’s modus operandi was summed up perfectly when asked how he’ll prevent his team’s nightmarish 0-2 start from spiraling out of control.
“We go back to work,” he said. “The guys that we got that are healthy, we get those guys playing as well as we can. Keep finding ways to improve each week. We did some things better than the week before, but it just wasn’t enough, obviously.”
“We got to make sure that we’re applying what we learned from the week before to the next week,” the coach continued. “If we do that… and keep our heads down and keep working hard and preparing the right way, then we’ll put ourselves in position to win a football game on Sunday.”
Therein lies one giant problem: He lives in a cocoon.
Gase has always believed that holing himself up in his office and grinding tape for hours is the right way to win. He has virtually divorced himself from all the other critical elements of his job that require interpersonal skills. He’ll crack a joke here and there in one-on-one settings, but he has very few real relationships with his players (especially non-quarterbacks).
He doesn’t galvanize. He doesn’t inspire. He doesn’t think on his feet.
Here’s what he’s terrific at: Studying how an upcoming opponent plays against specific formations. When he wants to hone in, he can watch cut-ups all day and night. His co-workers are quite impressed, but there’s so much more to being a successful head coach that staring at film in isolation.
It’s unfair to question Gase’s work ethic though.
He might have been lampooned for working through last Thanksgiving only to get embarrassed by the winless Bengals, but he put in the time like he always does.
The unescapable problem is that all his preparation doesn’t typically translate on gamedays. His plans might look good on paper, but something is amiss when the bullets start flying.
Some players have privately said that Gase’s scheme is too complex for it’s own good. Other players consistently hated the game-plans during the week.
When things go haywire, Gase always has a built-in excuse. He has a catalogue of them for every occasion.
His explanation for why Sam Darnold was dinking-and-dunking for the better part of the Jets’ 31-13 loss to the depleted 49ers was par for the course.
“It was our game-plan going in that we wanted to make sure that we attacked to keep it third-and-manageable,” Gase said. “We had (deeper) shots that we were going to run later in the game, but then we had injuries and those kind of went out the window…. Unfortunately, once that happened, the guy that’s able to stretch the field for us (Breshad Perriman) was out of the game.”
If Perriman is the only person who can stretch the field, the head coach probably should huddle with team brass to chat about why it didn’t add more team speed at wideout or running back. Letting Robby Anderson walk in free agency was a clear miscalculation by decision makers. Signing a 37-year-old running back instead of someone who can actually threaten defenses with speed also wasn’t a sound choice.
There’s a long season ahead. Gase might be able to change his team’s fortunes if he opens his mind to new ideas. If they don’t, he might be headed to a TV booth near you.