How much of the 2018 Miami Dolphins was Adam Gase’s fault?
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins did not live up to expectations in 2018 even with Ryan Tannehill back behind center but how much of it was the fault of Adam Gase?
Adam Gase is now with the New York Jets and there has been increasing talk that there is some friction already surfacing. For the Miami Dolphins, this off-season has been pretty quiet.
In 2018 the Miami Dolphins were supposed to make a jump in the standings. They did not. There has been a lot of talk and speculation on why that is and the fingers all point in the direction of former head coach Adam Gase.
The finger-pointing is justified.
Adam Gase has had his share of first time head coaching problems and they actually began in year one, 2016. Gase was a coach that demanded others to listen to him. He thought of himself as the smartest football person in the room according to some. It is a thought that has been mentioned already in New York.
Gase’s ego was the biggest issue. He traded away Jay Ajayi because he didn’t really like him. Ajayi is a free agent after two seasons with the Eagles where he did little. He may have a Super Bowl ring but it wasn’t because of his efforts. In hindsight the trade made a lot of sense. More now than then.
Gase was heralded for moving on from Dallas Thomas, Billy Turner, and Jamil Douglas but is vilified for not fighting to keep Jarvis Landry. Those were all personnel moves and frankly moves happen all the time. Gase’s failures and thus the teams came at how he managed games.
Many want to think that Mike Gesicki was a bust but in reality, Gase didn’t use Gesicki or any other tight-end the way they should have been. Gesicki was forced to block most of the time, a weakness in his game. By the time he started to get more involved in the route running, the rest of the offense was collapsing.
The bigger question however comes with the usage of Kenyan Drake. Drake should have been the workhorse running back but that job went to Frank Gore. Gore was very good so for a while it made sense but late in the season when Gore was out, Gase turned to Kalen Ballage instead.
The fact that Gase was unable to maximize the potential on his offense and the reliance on Matt Burke to completely run the defense was a critical mistake. When questioned about those decisions, Gase took offense.
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Gase wasn’t the right coach for the Dolphins and he may not be the right one for the Jets either. He is very head strong and that can be a detriment. Brian Flores now controls the team and it will be interesting to see if he and his coaching staff can maximize the talent on the team and build around that instead of benching or not using talent.
The same can be said about DeVante Parker who never matured under Gase. The Dolphins surprisingly renegotiated his contract to a team friendly two-year deal. It will be up to Chad O’Shea, the teams OC to get him involved and playing at the level expected.
Gase is gone but his fingerprint on the last three seasons is telling. Of course if Flores and company don’t use these players either, we should start to question whether or not the talent was or is really there. I get the feeling the talent is fine.