The New England Patriots should absolutely not hire Adam Gase

The New England Patriots are going to have some significant turnover in their coaching staff and front office this offseason. Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler both left for the Las Vegas Raiders, and you figure the first item on the offseason to-do list is going to be finding replacements for them.

Of the two vacant positions, McDaniels’ post of offensive coordinator has certainly drawn some interest in the media, as this is the first time in nearly 10 years that the Pats have needed to fill this position. There isn’t really a prime internal candidate to fill this role, so there will most likely be an outside hire for the position. On the other hand, Ziegler’s vacant director of player personnel position will probably be filled internally.

There have been some interesting names tossed around for the Patriots offensive coordinator so far, with the leader appearing to be Bill O’Brien at this point. However, one name that reportedly “keeps popping up” is Adam Gase. If Gase somehow finds his way into New England’s offensive coordinator position, this team is going to be in a lot of trouble.

The New England Patriots need to stay away from Adam Gase

Gase established himself as a solid coach during the 2013 and 2014 seasons with the Denver Broncos as their offensive coordinator. Gase got praise for his work there, but it’s a bit overdramatic truthfully. He ended up working with Peyton Manning, who was throwing to the likes of Demaryius Thomas, Julius Thomas, Eric Decker, Wes Welker, and Emmanuel Sanders over those two seasons. You don’t have to do too much work when you have that crew on offense.

Gase would take over as offensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears in 2015 before becoming the head coach of the Miami Dolphins. Gase led the Dolphins to the playoffs in his first season, but things fell apart over the next two seasons, and he was fired after the 2018 season. Gase was quickly scooped up by the New York Jets, and it probably would have been better for him if his Jets stint never happened.

Gase and the Jets posted a respectable 7-9 record in 2019, but the 2020 season was absolutely horrid for Gase. The team lost their first 13 games of the season, Gase had a public power struggle over the offensive playcalling duties with his offensive coordinator, Dowell Loggains, and he fired his defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams, after he called a play that directly led to a loss against the Las Vegas Raiders. Gase was unsurprisingly fired after the season ended.

This past season, Gase was out of the NFL, coaching high school football instead. His recent head coaching struggles show that he is not cut out for head coaching in the NFL. Even his experience as an offensive coordinator isn’t exactly that glamorous. There’s really no reason for the Patriots to even be considering Gase, yet here they are.

Now I understand that coaches who struggle as head coaches aren’t necessarily bad coordinators. McDaniels’ first stint as head coach for the Broncos was an absolute mess, but he came back to New England and helped lead the team win three more Super Bowls. Even O’Brien, who is considered the leading candidate at this point, had a miserable ending to his head coaching tenure with the Houston Texans.

But there’s a clear difference between these two and Gase, and that’s that both of those guys had experience in the New England Patriots system. McDaniels came back and succeeded because he was already so familiar with the offense that he really was able to pick everything up very quickly again. The expectation is that a guy like O’Brien or Joe Judge, another candidate to fill the position, could do the same thing.

Gase is not the offensive wizard people seem to think he is. Mac Jones is no Peyton Manning, and it’s not a surprise that his only two successful seasons came with Broncos teams that were loaded with talent. The Patriots offense has some talent, but it’s a far cry from the record breaking 2013 unit the Broncos had.

The fact that we are even having this discussion is a big red flag for the New England Patriots search for a new offensive coordinator. I don’t really care if the new hire has experience with the Patriots already, although it would be a plus.

But at least have the new coordinator be a competent coach. Just the mention of Gase’s name in NFL circles makes people laugh, because his time with the Dolphins and Jets was so bad. Gase is not the coach the Patriots need in order for Jones and the offense to take the next step forward, and hiring him would be a huge mistake by the Patriots front office.