Jets CEO Christopher Johnson had the audacity to do actual research during this most pivotal coaching search rather than dive deep into the social media muck for opinions.
The unmitigated gall!
How dare he not spend these past two weeks mindlessly scrolling through his Twitter timeline, reading some mind-numbingly ill-informed suggestions from folks with avatars of eggs, shirtless selfies or adorable pets?
I’m sure Twitter Tough Guy wearing a baseball cap backwards and six-pack in front of his bathroom mirror had all the answers for this billion-dollar organization. Surely, the Yorkshire Terrier account doled out pearls of wisdom, too.
Johnson smartly didn’t listen to any of that nonsense before hiring Adam Gase to help propel Gang Green into the future during this critical phase. General manager Mike Maccagnan and Johnson spent countless hours putting in real work before choosing Gase, who was formally introduced Monday.
It’s good that social media lunatics didn’t steer this decision. It’s better that Johnson didn’t mince words when explaining his choice to go with Gase. Sure, some fans might not have been coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs with this hire, but it was a smart decision.
“I get it… I have to earn their trust,” Johnson said of disgruntled fans. “We’ve just had a couple of down years. So, I have to earn their trust. I think that they will see this as – if not right now – they’ll see it pretty soon as a great hire. I’m not trying to win Twitter. I’m trying to win football games. I think we’re going to win football games here.”
Gase’s no-nonsense tack and experience working with quarterbacks were particularly appealing for a team hoping to bring out the best in Sam Darnold and establish a more disciplined culture. The driving force behind choosing Gase was his forward-thinking bent.
This coaching search was always more about choosing a new leader who understands where the NFL is going rather than simply where it’s been. Reduced to simplest terms, Johnson and Maccagnan chose the future over the past.
“Adam’s vision synced well with what Mike and I talked about quite extensively before we started the process,” Johnson said. “He is intelligent, forward-thinking, aggressive. To paraphrase Wayne Gretzky, he’s coaching to where football is going. And that really appealed to me.”
It should, because dipping into the past wouldn’t have been the wisest option.
“You always want to be forward looking,” Johnson said. “The game is changing. I think Adam has shown us that he’s part of that change.”
Johnson and Maccagnan wisely didn’t take the path of least resistance. It would have been easy, convenient, and ultimately wrong, to hire former Packers coach Mike McCarthy simply because he had the most accomplished resume.
Truth be told, there were three better choices for the Jets: Gase, former Buccaneers offensive coordinator Todd Monken and Baylor’s Matt Rhule.
Smart folks know that McCarthy was the fourth best option… at best.
“McCarthy is terrific… absolutely,” Johnson said. “I was really impressed by him. Obviously, he had this incredible run with two Hall of Fame quarterbacks with this amazing franchise in Green Bay. To me (and) to Mike, seeing how Adam has gotten the best out of quarterbacks in different stages of their careers is vitally important. He laid out a compelling argument on how we move football along…
“I’m just really convinced that he is the man,” Johnson continued about Gase. “It’s not that there was anything wrong with McCarthy or any of the other guys. They were fantastic. But Adam just took it to a new level.”
But… but… McCarthy has a Super Bowl ring! He surely must be the best candidate! (INSERT EYE ROLL AND SOME PITY FOR PEOPLE STUCK IN THE PAST HERE).
The 40-year-old Gase, of course, is far from perfect. Johnson admitted that Gase “realizes that mistakes were made” during his three seasons with the Dolphins. But here’s a little secret: Believe it or not, you can actually evolve from past missteps.
Gase’s 23-25 record in Miami shouldn’t be entirely dismissed, but a closer look at the realities of his situation (no real quarterbacks and a litany of injuries to key players) gives you a better sense of what happened down there.
“Right now, we’re 0-0,” Gase said. “It’s a fresh start for everybody. I think there’s a lot of good pieces in place. I think we’re going to have a lot of opportunities to add to this.”
Gase is a maniacal worker with no shortage of creativity. He also has plenty of fire.
“When you’re around him a little bit,” Maccagnan said, “He definitely has an energy to him, which the players will respond to and feed off of.”
Gase admitted that his top priority will be filling out his coaching staff, including the critical choice for defensive coordinator (Gregg Williams has the inside track). Then, they’ll all make a thorough evaluation of a roster that clearly needs upgrades.
Although Christopher Johnson said that he’d love to take the Jets to the mountaintop before Woody Johnson returns from the UK, the younger brother made it clear that there will be no playoff mandate for his leadership team. (Real talk: It would be lunacy if there were).
“The fans do deserve better,” Johnson said. “No question about it. I do have high expectations, but there will be no playoff mandate. I’ll never do that.”
I wonder how the guy doing a keg stand in his avatar feels about that?
