When Le’Veon Bell took to Twitter on Sunday night to passive aggressively vent his frustrations, it would’ve been ground-shaking news in some other organizations. For the Jets, it was familiar.
For Adam Gase, it was more of the same.
It’s a problem, whether the 42-year-old head coach wants to admit it or not, that Bell is just the latest high-profile player to go public with a dispute with his head coach. And he joins a long line of players who ended up elsewhere at least in part because their relationship with Gase couldn’t work. It happened just a few months ago in New York with Jamal Adams. It happened in Miami with several players, including receiver Jarvis Landry.
And that’s something that absolutely can’t keep happening to an NFL head coach.
Not surprisingly, Gase didn’t want to address any of that on Wednesday, just hours after the Jets cut Bell at least in part because he was unhappy with how he was being used in Gase’s offense. Bell made that clear by “liking” posts on Twitter that were critical of Gase.
Said Gase: “For whatever reason it didn’t work out.”
There are more reasons that it didn’t work out than just the head coach, of course. Signing Bell to a four-year, $52.5 million contract was never Gase’s idea, or preference, anyway. And Bell was saddled behind a poor offensive line, with few other legitimate weapons, and with a quarterback situation that was messy. It also didn’t help that Bell, at 28, clearly wasn’t the player he was in Pittsburgh a few years ago.
But it was still up to Gase to find a way to make it work. And when it didn’t, it was his responsibility to calm Bell down, to manage his star running back and make sure their dispute stayed in-house. Gase failed at that with Adams last season, before and after the safety became furious with the Jets for listening to trade offers. Gase deferred to GM Joe Douglas back then because he took the trade calls, but that was at least a partial cop out because Gase is the one managing the locker room and his team.
He failed in that same way with the team’s dispute over offensive lineman Kelechi Osemele’s injury last year, cornerback Trumaine Johnson’s constant discipline issues, and even injured receiver Quincy Enunwa’s fines. Examined individually, none of those situations were solely Gase’s fault and the players shared plenty (and in some cases most) of the blame. But Gase didn’t quell those uprisings before they affected his team and his players. It’s not that much different from what happened in Miami with players like Landry, Jay Ajayi and Kenyan Drake.
That’s all part of the question Douglas and CEO Christopher Johnson have to be asking themselves right now, as they ponder this 0-5 start and Gase’s 7-14 record with the Jets (and 30-39 overall). It’s not just about whether he’s had a chance to prove he’s a “brilliant offensive mind,” as Johnson called him. It’s about whether he’s cut out to be a head coach in the NFL.
Or to put it more simply: Can he lead?
The evidence is beginning to pile up against him. Of course, if the losing continues, the Jets might not need it. But if his player relationships keep falling apart, then even a strong finish to the season might not be enough to save him. Because if Douglas really wants to build “the best culture in sports,” as he promised, he needs a head coach for whom players – particularly star players -- want to play.
That will matter in free agency, where the Jets have a recent history of having to overspend to get their men. It might matter in the draft if they end up with the No. 1 overall pick and they’re hoping to convince quarterback Trevor Lawrence not to pull a Peyton Manning and return to school for one more season.
And it matters in the locker room where coaches do more than coach. They manage personalities. They massage egos. They keep the peace so the “culture” keeps building. The best coaches build a team filled with players willing to run through walls for them.
It’s damning that so many players under Gase have tried instead to climb the walls to get out.
For Adam Gase, it was more of the same.
It’s a problem, whether the 42-year-old head coach wants to admit it or not, that Bell is just the latest high-profile player to go public with a dispute with his head coach. And he joins a long line of players who ended up elsewhere at least in part because their relationship with Gase couldn’t work. It happened just a few months ago in New York with Jamal Adams. It happened in Miami with several players, including receiver Jarvis Landry.
And that’s something that absolutely can’t keep happening to an NFL head coach.
Not surprisingly, Gase didn’t want to address any of that on Wednesday, just hours after the Jets cut Bell at least in part because he was unhappy with how he was being used in Gase’s offense. Bell made that clear by “liking” posts on Twitter that were critical of Gase.
Said Gase: “For whatever reason it didn’t work out.”
There are more reasons that it didn’t work out than just the head coach, of course. Signing Bell to a four-year, $52.5 million contract was never Gase’s idea, or preference, anyway. And Bell was saddled behind a poor offensive line, with few other legitimate weapons, and with a quarterback situation that was messy. It also didn’t help that Bell, at 28, clearly wasn’t the player he was in Pittsburgh a few years ago.
But it was still up to Gase to find a way to make it work. And when it didn’t, it was his responsibility to calm Bell down, to manage his star running back and make sure their dispute stayed in-house. Gase failed at that with Adams last season, before and after the safety became furious with the Jets for listening to trade offers. Gase deferred to GM Joe Douglas back then because he took the trade calls, but that was at least a partial cop out because Gase is the one managing the locker room and his team.
He failed in that same way with the team’s dispute over offensive lineman Kelechi Osemele’s injury last year, cornerback Trumaine Johnson’s constant discipline issues, and even injured receiver Quincy Enunwa’s fines. Examined individually, none of those situations were solely Gase’s fault and the players shared plenty (and in some cases most) of the blame. But Gase didn’t quell those uprisings before they affected his team and his players. It’s not that much different from what happened in Miami with players like Landry, Jay Ajayi and Kenyan Drake.
That’s all part of the question Douglas and CEO Christopher Johnson have to be asking themselves right now, as they ponder this 0-5 start and Gase’s 7-14 record with the Jets (and 30-39 overall). It’s not just about whether he’s had a chance to prove he’s a “brilliant offensive mind,” as Johnson called him. It’s about whether he’s cut out to be a head coach in the NFL.
Or to put it more simply: Can he lead?
The evidence is beginning to pile up against him. Of course, if the losing continues, the Jets might not need it. But if his player relationships keep falling apart, then even a strong finish to the season might not be enough to save him. Because if Douglas really wants to build “the best culture in sports,” as he promised, he needs a head coach for whom players – particularly star players -- want to play.
That will matter in free agency, where the Jets have a recent history of having to overspend to get their men. It might matter in the draft if they end up with the No. 1 overall pick and they’re hoping to convince quarterback Trevor Lawrence not to pull a Peyton Manning and return to school for one more season.
And it matters in the locker room where coaches do more than coach. They manage personalities. They massage egos. They keep the peace so the “culture” keeps building. The best coaches build a team filled with players willing to run through walls for them.
It’s damning that so many players under Gase have tried instead to climb the walls to get out.