Adam Gase’s NFL return is latest proof that failing with Jets means nothing

After some rumblings that former New York Jets head coach Adam Gase would be returning to the NFL after a five-year hiatus, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport confirmed the news on Monday, announcing he would be joining the Los Angeles Chargers as their pass game coordinator.

The Gase news is just the latest in a long line of former Jets figures getting second chances across the league this offseason, including former head coaches, two offensive coordinators, and even a general manager.

It's done nothing but prove NFL teams look at someone's failures in New York, and instead of attributing it to the individual, they chalk it up to the fact that no one can succeed with the Jets, and believe that their shortcomings aren't their own doing.

Former Jets figures are getting hired left and right this offseason

Gase landing with the Chargers wasn't even the most egregious of all the former Jets who got second chances this offseason.

Arguably, the most laughable was former offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett landing the Arizona Cardinals OC gig under new head coach Mike LaFleur. Funny enough, LeFleur himself was the previous offensive coordinator in New York before Hackett.

Hackett's Jets were a bottom-of-the-league offense in his first season in New York. The 2023 Jets' offense ranked dead-last in terms of Sumer Sports' EPA/play.

His 2024 Jets were better; they finished 17th in the same statistic, but it's important to note that Hackett was stripped of play-calling duties in favor of Todd Downing halfway through the season.

LaFleur, on the other hand, showed promise in his short stint as offensive coordinator for the Jets. His firing was less about his performance and more about someone needing to be a sacrificial lamb for the failure that was the development of Zach Wilson.

The head coach of all these Jets teams, Robert Saleh, is also getting a second chance this offseason. The Tennessee Titans have hired him to be their next head coach, and he seems to have learned a few lessons since his time in New York.

This time around, Saleh will be calling the defensive plays. A responsibility he passed off to defensive coordinator (and future interim head coach) Jeff Ulbrich during his Jets tenure.

Even Saleh's general manager, Joe Douglas, who was fired after accumulating a 32-68 record in five and a half seasons as the lead decision maker in New York, was interviewed for the Atlanta Falcons general manager job, before it ultimately went to Ian Cunningham.

It just goes to show how little respect the league has for the Jets and their castoffs, and that the thought process is that if it didn't work in New York, it could work elsewhere.

We'll see how all of these former Jets do in their new situations, and if it really was the individual or the environment they were in.