Adam Gase’s ranking on worst NFL coaches list is shockingly generous

The New York Jets are no stranger to hiring terrible head coaches, as those who saw the Rich Kotite era can attest. However, there is a very strong case to be made that Adam Gase stands the test of time as the worst coach to ever put on Jets colors.

Gase went from an up-and-coming offensive mind who had made it to the postseason as the head coach of the rival Miami Dolphins to a playoff birth to someone who was so bad that his name is still spoken in hushed tones by this fanbase.

CBS Sports ranked Gase as the 12th-worst coaching hire of the century. Gase came right in behind Cleveland's Hue Jackson and Detroit's Rod Marinelli, while barely beating out San Francisco's Dennis Erickson and Jacksonville's Gus Bradley for his spot in the Top 12.

Gase's win-loss record with the Jets is horrid, but it doesn't look all-time bad from 1,000 feet away. However, anyone who saw the Jets when Gase was in charge can attest to the fact that his style of football was so wretched it should never be replicated ever again.

Adam Gase ranked as 12th-worst NFL head coach of last 25 years

Gase has two factors working in his favor. He was handed a wretched roster that even the most astute NFL head coaches would struggle to get anything out of, and he did go 7-9 in his first of two Jets seasons. However, that roster was not "9-23 in 2 years" bad, and that 7-9 season came after New York won meaningless games following a 1-7 start.

Gase's 2020 season was as poor an individual season as there has been in recent NFL history. Not only did he lose his first 13 games in spectacular fashion (who remembers Gregg Williams calling an all-out blitz on a Hail Mary?), but he won two games at the end, giving the Jets Zach Wilson instead of Trevor Lawrence.

Mix those results with a 31st-ranked offense (which was Gase's alleged specialty), a confrontational attitude with the media, and a prickly personality that can suck all the motivation out of the room, and you have a recipe for one of the worst head coaching decisions in NFL history.

The Jets now have a perfect roadmap to finding the next coach that can turn this team around. All he has to do is be the complete opposite of Gase (which Aaron Glenn appears to be so far), and that hypothetical coach will immediately be set on a path to success.

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