Former NFL Head Coach Thinks Jets Should Bring Back Adam Gase Next Season

The Jets fired head coach Adam Gase on Sunday, hours after finishing off one of the worst seasons in franchise history. 

If former NFL head coach June Jones was in charge, however, Gase wouldn't be packing up his bags just yet.

In an exclusive interview with Jets Country, Jones explained why he thinks—contrary to popular belief—that the Jets should bring back their embattled head coach for a third year.

"I would hope that they give him another year," Jones said in a phone interview this week. "The reason being is you've already struggled changing systems, changing coaches in the past. I'm not sure how many systems [Sam] Donald has been in already. But the consistency of doing the same things over and over allows the quarterback to improve every year, every game."

The Jets have gone 9-22 over Gase's two seasons at the helm. Under a head coach that was brought in to revitalize this offense, New York has had the worst offensive unit in the NFL in both campaigns.

If it wasn't for back-to-back upset victories against postseason contenders over the last two weeks, Gase and Gang Green would have been facing an 0-16 season.

Jones' argument in endorsing Gase is rooted in continuity heading into 2021. The same goes for quarterback Sam Darnold. Jones said he would add BYU's quarterback Zach Wilson with the No. 2 pick of next spring's draft, but would keep Darnold around as well, giving the third-year signal-caller another chance to grow with Gase.

Former NFL Head Coach Says Jets Should Draft BYU's Zach Wilson and Keep Sam Darnold

By winning their last two games, Jones added, Darnold and his teammates are "making a statement" that they believe in their head coach and can carry this momentum into training camp and beyond.

"When all odds were against them, with the defensive coordinator situation all those different things weighing against them, they battled through all that and I think they're making a statement that they believe in each other and they believe in what they're doing," he said. "This last game will be very important and it does carry over to the offseason, to the training camps, to the spring workouts. It's all important to get all that positivity going."

Jones served as the Atlanta Falcons head coach for three years, and led the San Diego Chargers for one more, before the turn of the century. Across close to four decades coaching at different levels in his career, Jones has been an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in the NFL before working as a head coach at the college level (at Hawaii and SMU) and most recently in the XFL.

To Jones, if Gase were to stick around (and if New York takes advantage of an opportunity to bolster their young roster with the right prospects in the draft), then this team can make the playoffs as soon as next season.

"I think they can do it next year. I don't think any team is that far off," Jones said. "Adam Gase is an offensive guy that knows how to move the football. And as he gets his people in position, he will have that team competitive offensively against anybody ... If you're not winning in the league passing the football. Well guess what, you're not gonna win at all."

Speaking of how the game has evolved over the last several decades, Jones is working with CoachTube.com where he has a certification course on the Run & Shoot offense. 

Jones, 67, said that he's been able to interact with users through his new online class, giving coaches at any level a chance to learn from some of the most experienced football minds the internet has to offer. 

"It's pretty thorough," he explained. "I have NFL films up there, college films, we've got Canadian film where you teach the routes and then they can see it against all the different coverages. I don't think there's another website you can do that with."

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