Adam Gase will be looking for work next week after the Jets fired him, which is almost certain. There was a bit of noise from Boston that the Patriots could consider him as their new quarterback coach. Jedd Fisch has just left the role of taking over as head coach at the University of Arizona.
It would make sense to see Gase land in New England. He and Josh McDaniels go back to 1999 when they were both low-level assistants in Nick Saban’s staff in the state of Michigan. Gase worked under McDaniels in Denver as the broad reception coach when McDaniels was the head coach. Patriots coach Bill Belichick is also always very complimentary to Gase, as he was back during a conference with Jets reporters on Tuesday.
“I think Adam did an excellent job this year in continuing the team with coaching,” Belichick said. ‘As usual, his excellent game plan and game-calling are problems for the defense. This is a team that has gotten better. ”
The bigger question than whether the Patriots want Gase is whether Gase could swallow his pride in working under McDaniels. Gase has been head coach for five seasons. His Jets contract lasts another two years, so he will make money. It will surely be a blow to his ego to go back to a position coach, especially among someone for whom he worked ten years ago.
Gase may not have many other options, but it still feels unlikely that Jets fans will see him on the sidelines of New England next year.