The New York Jets have officially fired head coach Adam Gase after two unsuccessful seasons at the helm of the franchise, owner Christopher Johnson announced Sunday night.
“This evening, I informed Adam Gase he will no longer serve as the head coach of the Jets,” he wrote. “During his time here I had the pleasure to get to know Adam and his wonderful family and wish them nothing but the best moving forward. 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.
“We knew there was a lot of work that needed to be done when Adam joined us in 2019. Our strong finish last year was encouraging, but unfortunately, we did not sustain that positive momentum or see the progress we all expected this season.
“To our fans, it is obvious we have not been good enough. We are committed to building a strong organization, on and off the field, and will continue to provide the necessary resources to field a team that you can be proud of.”
The announcement was a foregone conclusion, coming just hours after the Jets finished a dismal 2-14 campaign for the second-worst record in the entire league.
After a 7-9 2019 season, the Jets dropped their first 13 games of 2020 for their worst start in franchise history after Gase helped run star safety Jamal Adams and running back Le’Veon Bell out of town. Both are now contributors for teams going to the playoffs (Seahawks, Chiefs).
His headlining contribution — and not in a good way — was an inability to develop Sam Darnold into the franchise quarterback that he was once perceived to be. That was one of his top responsibilities upon his hiring where his quarterback nurturing was one of the main reasons why he got the job in the first place; even though he almost derailed Ryan Tannehill’s career while with the Miami Dolphins.
Following a season of major regressions, Darnold’s future with the Jets is uncertain as they hold the No. 2 pick of the draft where they could take either Ohio State’s Justin Fields or BYU’s Zach Wilson.
Gase’s final record as Jets coach came out to 9-23, which provides the second-worst winning percentage of any head coach who lasted at least two seasons in franchise history behind only Rich Kotite.
