Dolphins Fire Adam Gase

Another coach has lost his job, and this one is far more of a surprise than the others. The Dolphins have fired Adam Gase, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link).

In a separate tweet, Rapoport notes it’s the “biggest surprise of the coaching carousel”, and that Gase will “immediately emerge as a top candidate for several openings.” While recent reports indicated his job was in serious jeopardy, just a couple of months ago it would’ve been shocking to think he could be fired. Gase’s tenure in Miami started out with great fanfare, but ended up lasting just three seasons. With Gase gone, Eagles coach Doug Pederson is now the lone remaining member of the seven man 2016 head coaching class.

Interestingly, Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk tweets that a source told him “Dolphins owner Stephen Ross had planned to take some time to make a decision on Adam Gase, but something happened that caused Ross to accelerate his timetable.” It’s unclear what exactly happened, but we should know more on that soon.

Gase received a ton of praise for his work as the Broncos’ offensive coordinator, and was hailed as a quarterback whisperer when he got to Miami. His first season with the team he went 10-6 and made the playoffs despite having journeyman Matt Moore as his quarterback due to a Ryan Tannehill injury, and was a Coach of the Year candidate. Last year he was without Tannehill again, and limped to a 6-10 record with Jay Cutler.

In what was supposed to be a breakout year this season, Tannehill was once again hurt and wasn’t very good when healthy, and Miami finished 7-9. With the team also set to move on from Tannehill and front office head Mike Tannebaum, it’ll be an offseason of major change for the Dolphins. As Rapoport mentioned, Gase should be an immediate candidate for head coaching vacancies including the Browns, who he’s been linked to, and will be a near lock to at least land an offensive coordinator job.

Gase was apparently asked to give up his contractual control over the 53-man roster, and balked at the request, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Jackson notes that Gase has told associates he’s fine with the outcome and isn’t really upset, and knows that he “will be wanted by other teams.” Given how he’s still managed to win a good amount of games with injury depleted rosters, it’s not at all surprising that he’ll be sought after.

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