The New York Jets finished the season at 2-14, picking up the 2nd overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft in the process, and that closing record is actually a major improvement after starting the season 0-13.
Still, after such a dismal season in which the New York offense once again failed to ever get off the ground consistently, the writing was on the wall for head coach Adam Gase. The rumblings out of the Meadowlands began earlier this week that Gase’s tenure as coach was done after their game against the Patriots, and sure enough, late Sunday night the Jets made his firing official.
Statement from Christopher Johnson.
📰 https://t.co/nQzQfwl1f8 pic.twitter.com/c6zPER9m7U
— New York Jets (@nyjets) January 4, 2021
Gase went 9-23 over two seasons in New York, as the Jets regressed from a 7-9 team his first year to the 2-14 disaster that was this season. Sam Darnold never took the step forward expected or at least hoped for in Gase’s offense and for a coach whose calling card was supposed to be a creative, imaginative, and, most importantly, explosive offensive attack, what the Jets produced over two years simply didn’t match up. With the 2nd pick, the Jets seem likely to make a new quarterback the face of their franchise to pair with a new coach, as they’ll have their pick of Justin Fields, Zach Wilson, or Trey Lance come April.
As for Gase, he’ll almost assuredly find himself back as an offensive coordinator somewhere in the near future, but one would think this will be his last head coaching job for at least a little while. The Jets, meanwhile, will join the Falcons, Lions, and Texans on the coaching market, with others possible to join the fray, and one would expect New York to be like so many others and add Chiefs OC Eric Bienemy and Niners DC Robert Saleh to the top of their wishlist, but they’ll have to expand their choices beyond those two as they are the hottest commodities on the market.
