The Chicago Bears could’ve made a notable change to their coaching staff back in 2016. Though the team had just gone 6-10 in 2015, a minor improvement on the previous year, it was becoming clear that then-offensive coordinator Adam Gase was going to leave for a head coaching job. The only way for the Bears to stop that from happening was to promote him and fire John Fox.
It’s not an unprecedented maneuver. Tampa Bay would do it that same offseason, firing Lovie Smith in order to prevent offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter from leaving. The reason? Same as the Bears had at that time. Continuity with the quarterback. Gase had gotten a solid season out of Jay Cutler that year including a career-high 92.3 passer rating.
He’d already been a hot head coaching candidate for the past couple of years. Odds are most people wouldn’t have batted an eye at the promotion, though it would’ve been a harsh move to Fox. In the end, GM Ryan Pace kept the status quo. Fox remained in charge while Gase left to become head coach of the Miami Dolphins.
Five years later, time has proven Pace made the right call.
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Adam Gase has proven little in his time running the show
Gase had a good first year in Miami, going 10-6 and making the playoffs. However, his team was clobbered in the opener against Pittsburgh. After that, the Dolphins were little more than a middle of the road team that played well early in seasons but faded down the stretch. Some might blame that on limited personnel. Others think Gase is overrated.
His reputation took a further hit with what’s been happening since he took over as head coach of the New York Jets. GM Mike Maccagnan, the man who hired him, has been fired and many feel Gase was a primary driving force behind it.
Albert Breer of the MMQB went into even further detail.
“There was a widespread belief in the organization that the pursuit of Bell was spurred by ownership—or moreso that Maccagnan conducted it because he knew that’s what the Johnsons wanted. In the process, Gase informed others in the building that he didn’t want Bell, but said that, if Bell signed, he’d be fine coaching him. Fair or not, some saw that as Gase distancing himself from the decision, while lining himself up for credit if it worked, in large part because that matched up with his reputation in Miami.”
Sounds like Gase isn’t exactly the most trustworthy sort. One can imagine he would’ve tried pulling similar antics had he gotten the job in Chicago. Working to undermine Pace at every opportunity. How might the Bears roster look today if that had happened?
That is not a world fans want to live in.
