Miami Dolphins

Dolphins Adam Gase is not like other Dolphins coaches

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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When Adam Gase become the new Miami Dolphins head coach this past off-season, some fans loved the idea, others hated the idea, and some had their reservations. Adam Gase is winning over his detractors within the Dolphins fanbase.

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In years past I have had an opportunity to meet each of the Dolphins coaches. Cam Cameron, Tony Sparano, Joe Philbin, even Dan Campbell. This year I was looking forward to meeting and speaking with Adam Gase, just as I have the other coaches over the past 10 seasons.

That didn’t happen and while I was disappointed at first I understood later.

2016 has been an interesting season for the first year head coach. He started 1-4 and many believe that the Dolphins should have beaten both the Seahawks and the Patriots but there is no question they should not have beaten the Cleveland Browns. After the loss to Tennessee the Dolphins began a six game winning streak.

Without being able to talk with this new head coach how could I formulate an opinion on him? Well if you really want to know my opinion of Gase from a personal experience level, then keep reading because while I didn’t get to ask him any questions or listen to him talk to our group, I did get to see him in action nonetheless, off the game day field.

Before I go into that it’s important that I lay a foundation of previous first and even second and third impressions. When I first met Cam Cameron I was surprised by how casual he was. He came off far more as a guy who really didn’t know what direction he wanted to go in, only that he wanted to “convince” you he knew what he was doing.

The first time I met Tony Sparano was actually unforgettable and funny. He was all business. He arrived in the teams auditorium wearing a goldish yellow suit and came off far more as a New York mob boss than an NFL head coach. A good friend of mine from Newfoundland, Paul Brothers, raised his hand and simply said, “you scare me.”

Sparano didn’t laugh, didn’t even crack a smile. He simply replied, “Good, then i’m doing my job. Any other comments or questions from you?”. He was a very gracious guest and took the time to answer all of our questions. In his final season he was far more agitated and showed even with us. When asked about the Wild Cat being a problem for his offense, Sparano simply quipped, “you loved it when it was working right now you want to criticize it.”

If Cameron was aloof, and Sparano was more disciplined, then Joe Philbin was far too laid back. Philbin was soft spoken and at times you had to strain to hear him. He was also very monotone and one note. Pleasant for sure and no one would say he wasn’t easy to respect. But Philbin had some issues.

For starters, Philbin didn’t always seem to know the answers to the questions, sometimes simple questions and he and Jeff Ireland were not always on the same page which could have created issues but luckily didn’t. At times it was hard to believe Philbin because frankly, it was hard to know if Philbin believed himself sometimes.

Dan Campbell was fun. He was brooding, strong, and towering. I sat in the very front row and when I asked him about changing the culture and getting the players to change how they play after Philbin, he took offense to it.

“I’m tired of people trying to throw Philbin under the bus” he said directly at me, about two to three feet away.

This is a seriously big guy and you could see the Oklahoma Drill style of coaching when he talked. There was an old school-new school vibe about him that was infectious. When Campbell left the room, everyone in the room wanted to suit up and play on Sunday.

And then came Adam Gase.

Nov 20, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Miami Dolphins head coach Adam Gase during the second half of a NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Over the years as I have said, I have met with the coaches but I have also stayed at the same hotel that the team has stayed at on Saturday nights and through that I have seen the coaches outside of the facility. With their players.

Cam Cameron I didn’t see but Sparano was often holed up in his office or in a conference room as the players made their way to their rooms. Philbin was almost always leaving the players with his coaching staff at the hotel. While I’m sure he was there, I never saw Philbin with the players themselves. Not at the hotel.

My first glimpse of Gase came two days before the San Francisco game on Friday. While at the training facility, Gase passed by me on his way to the media room adjacent to the practice field. His head was down looking at something and he was talking with an assistant but I wasn’t sure who it was.

Gase is a lot taller than I thought he was. I’m around 5’9 or 5’10” depending on whether you ask me or my wife. Gase easily, even with his down was taller than I was. I simply said, “Hi coach”, as I passed by. Gase looked up saw a bunch of us walking in the opposite direction and returned it with, “Hey guys!”. Then back to work.

Typically we meet with the coaches as I said but this weekend and perhaps subsequent weekends won’t come with a coaches visit. His schedule last weekend was such that he couldn’t fit us in and that is fine. Better to see him preparing to face his next opponent rather than taking that important time to talk with a bunch of web-heads.

On Saturday night however Gase made an even bigger impression, simply because our Friday exchange wasn’t really much of an impression other than that he took a second to acknowledge. As I pulled into the hotel the drive was blocked by a horde of men laughing and jumping around.

Players had finished their pre-game team meetings and were spilling into the driveway as they made their way across the street to their rooms. The players were not quiet by any means and we slowed down considerably to give them the freedom to move out-of-the-way at their own will.

As the players laughed it up and chatted we passed by and to our surprise Adam Gase was in the middle of them. Playbook in hand going over who knows what while his players whooped it up next to him. “Give ’em hell boys!” I said out the window. Gase threw a quick thumbs up and went back to work.

What was impressive was not the fact that Gase acknowledged someone speaking to him it was the fact that unlike previous coaches, Gase has made himself part of the team. He is not the nickel and dime attention to detail coach that Joe “tie your shoes and pick up the gum wrapper” Philbin was. With his staff and players Gase is a mix of business and pleasure and his players have taken to that.

Andre Branch spoke to us on Friday and was asked about Gase and he beamed when he spoke about the coach who gets down into it with the players. He doesn’t command or demand respect, he simply earns it. It’s something that has reverberated through most of the players all season long since his arrival. I think it was Jarvis Landry who said, “Not one player has anything bad to say about Adam Gase or the way he coaches this team”.

Coaches this team? Interesting indeed and long overdue.

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