Adam Gase spent his life preparing for this moment

[gafin]

Yes, he really is only 37 years old. Dolphins fans are still trying to wrap their arms around that, around the idea that this team finished last season with the youngest coach in the league and now is moving on to someone even younger.

Someone who makes the 40-year-old Don Shula look like a grizzled veteran when he took over the Dolphins in 1970.

But to step outside of our cocoon of South Florida is to see this coming a decade or two ago, to see a high school kid named Adam Gase who stuck his foot in every door, never caring that it might get slammed shut.

Whatever work he was asked to do, he did. Work he wasn’t asked to do, he did anyway.

As an athlete himself, Gase wasn’t special, unless you define special as getting out there every afternoon through the Buffalo winter because he had this idea he could pitch (turned out, he was right).

If you enjoy the work you’re doing, it’s not really work, they have long said in the Gase household, where dreaming was encouraged. And so by the time Adam set foot on the Michigan State campus, he was willing to help coaches until late at night, then trudge across the street to the freshman dorm and the welcoming couch of Ryan Van Dyke, who also was his high school quarterback.

“He was always there late at night and he’d be gone before we woke up, and I’m talking every single day,” Van Dyke says.

Rewind a couple of more years, and there was Gase, or “Goose,” as he was known, the fourth- or fifth-best receiver on a Marshall High team that utilized three receivers. Still, he invited himself into the office of Rich Hulkow — a legendary coach, no less — with spreadsheets, schemes and even plays he thought might work against that week’s opponent.

“Having no pride as a good coach,” Hulkow says, “I started looking at those things. Of course, he was drawing up plays for himself, too, I don’t mind telling you.”

So to see Adam Gase at the podium last weekend, assuming his first head coaching role in the NFL?

“Everybody knew it was inevitable one day,” Van Dyke says.

A pro? Dryer has no doubt the Dolphins have that.

“Adam’s the general,” Dryer says. “I watch his demeanor on the sideline. He’s so reserved and focused. He doesn’t look like he’s in crisis.

“When he was hired, people said he had his pick of jobs, but he saw something in Miami. It might be a bit cloudy at this point, but he’ll see through that.

“He’s going to make Miami great again.”

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[Montana-phan]

Good read, thanks.

 

[J. David Wannyheimer]

Wait a second, did they say he's going to make Miami great again?

Think I have to update my sig.

 

[AquaXI]

I admit I wasn't a fan before the hire and now I'm humbled.

 

[gafin]

Trying not to get too hyped, but hearing how smart he is, how hard he works, and that he has a little fire in him makes it hard not to.

 

[uk_dolfan]

wanted this guy for the whole search, can't believe he is actually a Dolphin, as things progressed I assumed he would go somewhere else and beat us for 20 years. Hopefully we can draft a few decent players and put a team together for him.

This could end up being a real homerun hire and even if not its still a hell of a lot better than someone like Mike Smith saying "maybe he learned from his mistakes and will be ok now" if this works it will be a lot better than ok. Or maybe he burns out in 2 years and we have high picks and a new coach. Either way I will take the chance happily

 

[Vaark]

Granted, high school football is nowhere's as impressive as college football which in turn is no where's as impressive as NFL play.

However, this should put to rest once and for all the criticism that Gase never played organized football.

 

[nyashfan]

Granted, high school football is nowhere's as impressive as college football which in turn is no where's as impressive as NFL play.

However, this should put to rest once and for all the criticism that Gase never played organized football.

And Bill Belichick played for Division III powerhouse Wesleyan while Vince Lombardi played for Fordham. Why not be positive and say that Lombardi was the Giants OC before being named Packers head coach?

 

[cuzinvinny]

And Bill Belichick played for Division III powerhouse Wesleyan while Vince Lombardi played for Fordham. Why not be positive and say that Lombardi was the Giants OC before being named Packers head coach?

Don Shula played at John Caroll University.......and was considering Priesthood....

 

[DefensiveEnd76]

Being smart and driven doesn't mean he's going to be successful. It takes more than that to succeed in the NFL. Plenty of smart and driven men have failed as head coach.

 

[nyashfan]

Being smart and driven doesn't mean he's going to be successful. It takes more than that to succeed in the NFL. Plenty of smart and driven men have failed as head coach.

Agreed. But his resume also includes tutelage of several highly regarded football minds - Saban, Mariucci, Martz, Manning to name a few. The Dolphins did their homework and made a logical choice that the entire front office agreed upon. What more can we as fans ask for?

Ross's instincts were accurate regarding Harbaugh and when Ross admitted regret for not trusting his instincts the last time around it appears that Ross wanted to hire Mike Zimmer and his advisors thought otherwise and were wrong.

 

[andyahs]

Being smart and driven doesn't mean he's going to be successful. It takes more than that to succeed in the NFL. Plenty of smart and driven men have failed as head coach.

God forbid for your sake he becomes successful. What would you complain about.

 

[TheWalrus]

Everyone spends their entire life preparing for every next moment of their lives.

 

[AgentXof12]

Being smart and driven doesn't mean he's going to be successful. It takes more than that to succeed in the NFL. Plenty of smart and driven men have failed as head coach.

I agree with that. It does take more than that. It does not require more than that from one person, but it does require more than that. It requires having the right people around a person like that as well as some luck. That is what it takes to be successful.

What can't be argued against Gase is that he has demonstrated a persuasiveness with others. It's not like Gase is some know-it-all bookworm who somehow managed to ride on someone's coattail into the NFL and rested in the shadow of said-someone in the coordinator position ala Joe Philbin. Gase has turned a lot of heads at such an early age. Whether or not he is a leader of NFL football players will be tested, but I would dare say he has been a leader among NFL coaches.

 

[nyashfan]

I agree with that. It does take more than that. It does not require more than that from one person, but it does require more than that. It requires having the right people around a person like that as well as some luck. That is what it takes to be successful.

What can't be argued against Gase is that he has demonstrated a persuasiveness with others. It's not like Gase is some know-it-all bookworm who somehow managed to ride on someone's coattail into the NFL and rested in the shadow of said-someone in the coordinator position ala Joe Philbin. Gase has turned a lot of heads at such an early age. Whether or not he is a leader of NFL football players will be tested, but I would dare say he has been a leader among NFL coaches.

I would agree that Gase exhibits a maturity beyond his years. I am not concerned that the Dolphins hired a coach in the vein of Lane Kiffin or Raheem Morris.