Adam Gase: The NFL Coach of The Year
I’ll spare you my reasons why Jason Garrett, Jack Del Rio, or Bill Belichick shouldn’t be the NFL’s Coach of the Year.
But I will tell you why first-year head coach Adam Gase deserves it.
The Miami Dolphins franchise was in disarray.
Quarterback Ryan Tannehill was coming off his worst season in 2015. Questions at running back plagued the rush game. After Lamar Miller left for the Houston Texans, the team relied on beaten-up veteran Arian Foster and unproven Jay Ajayi.
The offensive line was also not helping. The unit allowed more sacks than any other group from 2012–2015.
At defense, star pass rusher Cameron Wake was coming off an achilles tear suffered in 2015, which negatively affected a front-seven who egregiously struggled against the run. To top it off, the cornerbacks were young and, frankly, not good.
Now, that is not to say Gase didn’t inherit any talent when he arrived in Miami. Veterans such as Branden Albert, Mike Pouncey, Wake, Ndamukong Suh, the receiver corp, and Reshad Jones provided a base for Gase to build on.
But, even so, the Dolphins had glaring holes coming into the 2016 season — making a winning season a pipe dream.
These holes were evident through their first five games. The Dolphins racked up a 1–4 record, with their sole win coming at home against the Cleveland Browns — thanks to their kicker, who missed three field goals.
A common theme of mediocrity had plagued the franchise since Dan Marino retired. After an embarrassing loss to the Tennessee Titans in week 5, the Dolphins sat at 1–4. It was at this time the hiring of Gase began to be questioned by critics and fans.
At this point, Gase made drastically crucial changes. He released two of his offensive lineman: Billy Turner and Dallas Thomas. He made it known that if you don’t do things Gase’s way, he will have no issue getting rid of you.
The releasing of the two lineman didn’t seem like much at the time, and with the 4–2 Pittsburgh Steelers coming to Miami that weekend, it seemed like a 1–5 start was inevitable. Instead, the Dolphins dominated the Steelers and won by a score of 30–15, with running back Jay Ajayi rushing for over 200 yards, Ryan Tannehill playing sound football, and an opportunistic defense emerging.
You think you know the rest of the story, right? The Dolphins ride this Steelers win and finish 9–2 in their last eleven games and find themselves as the sixth seed in the AFC playoffs. If only it were that simple.
The journey to win nine of their last eleven games, to finish 10–6, and find themselves in the playoffs for the first time since 2008 was a road full of drama, excitement, and injuries. Lots of injuries.
Gase was without key players throughout the season. The Dolphins lost Pro Bowlers Jones, Pouncey, and Albert to shoulder and hip injuries. Starting tight end Jordan Cameron missed the final eleven games of the season due to concussion issues. Linebacker Koa Misi sat out 13 games with a neck injury.
Defensive tackle Earl Mitchell, linebacker Jelani Jenkins, defensive end Mario Williams, rookie cornerback Xavien Howard, cornerback Byron Maxwell, and safety Isa Abdul-Quddus all missed games throughout the season. Arian Foster retired after week seven. Lastly, as if that wasn’t enough, quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who was the midst of best NFL season, missed the final four games.
This meant the Dolphins were playing with merely 50% of their cap space. Yet, they still found a way to finish the regular season 10–6 and make the playoffs for the first time since 2008.
Chalk that success up to Gase, who truly instilled a “next-man-up” mentality in the locker room. Instead of complaining about injuries, players would instead welcome the challenge of stepping up in someone else’s place.
The Dolphins ability to win close games is something Dolphins fans haven’t felt since the Marino years. Under recent coaching regimes, blowing leads and coming up short in the fourth quarter have become common. The capability to consistently win fourth quarter games comes down to players trusting that their coaches will put them in the best position to succeeded in crucial moments — which Gase did again and again.
Whether it was a Jay Ajayi touchdown run in overtime to beat the Browns, a Kenyan Drake kickoff return for a touchdown to beat the Jets, a Kiko Alonso pick six to beat the Chargers, scoring 14 points in the final four minutes to beat the Rams, or other key moments, Gase’s Dolphins came up clutch when it mattered most. That is the mark of a great head coach who is trusted by his players.
Gase’s biggest accomplishment this season was the positive change made in Ryan Tannehill’s career path.
Although he missed the final four games of the season due to an ACL/MCL sprain, Tannehill finished the season 8–5; his first winning record as an NFL quarterback. Tannehill was on pace for career highs in completion percentage (67.1% at time of injury), yards per attempt (7.7 YPA at time of injury, and passer rating (93.5 at time of injury).
Tannehill’s slowly progressed as a quarterback once he became more comfortable with Gase’s offense. Among these improvements, he demonstrated vastly better pocket presence — he was sacked 12 times in his final eight games compared to 17 times in the first five games.
Unlike head coach Joe Philbin, Gase was never critical of Tannehill publicly, even when supplies optimism were short. He ensured fans Tannehill would be the starter for the remainder of the 2016 season, and gave him the freedom he needed to make the types of throws he never made.
This is the kind of culture Adam Gase has created in Miami already: a winning culture predicated by resilience and trusting the man next to you.
The job he has done in Miami is remarkable and more than warrants Gase of winning the NFL Coach of the Year.
