Arranged marriage doomed to fail

WHAT WE ARE HEARING

The fixed marriage between coach Adam Gase and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is over. Williams was fired, Dec. 7, as the result of calling an all-out blitz, cover zero, in a Hail-Mary situation against the Las Vegas Raiders. It led to a 46-yard Henry Ruggs III touchdown in the final seconds of a 31-28 loss for Gang Green.

He was fired by Gase, who probably didn’t want Williams in the first place, but was forced to hire him by the former GM, Mike Maccagnan, as a condition to land the job in January 2019.

Former NFL GM Mike Lombardi, who now works for the Vegas Stats & Information Network, said former Baylor coach Matt Rhule wanted the Jets’ job in 2019, but refused to be told who his assistant coaches would be, so he pulled his name out of contention. Rhule is now the coach of the Carolina Panthers.

“The reason Matt Rhule is not the head coach of the New York Jets is Mike Maccagnan, the GM at the time, demanded Gregg Williams be his defensive coordinator; Adam Gase acquiesced to that, and that is how he got the job,” Lombardi said. “Matt Rhule said, ‘I don’t want (Williams) as my defensive coordinator.’”

Gase wasn’t necessarily a hot head coaching candidate in 2019, after he was fired in Miami, so he jumped at a chance to make $20 million guaranteed on a four-year deal, even if he had to hire Williams. A lot people would have done what Gase did. “Take the money and run,” as Steve Miller sang.

Lombardi said Rhule, a native New Yorker, REALLY wanted the Jets job, but the micromanaging of his staff turned him off. Lombardi repeated himself for emphasis.