Ryan Kalil explains why Adam Gase-Sam Darnold pairing was unsuccessful

There wasn’t much at all that Adam Gase accomplished, which is a big part of why New York has been undergoing a major rebuild, and one of the team’s former centers recently spoke about why he believes the ex-Jets head coach didn’t have success grooming their then-quarterback.

Gase will likely never coach at the NFL level again, as he compiled a 32-48 record during his time with the Dolphins and Jets. And it’s not as much as how one starts, but how they finish, and Gase’s team was 9-23 in New York. Not only that, similar to the situation in Miami, it seemed like Gase lost the locker room the moment he first walked into it, with a number of veterans opposing his authoritative, sometimes condescending, even, coaching style. That style can work at the college ranks, but it rarely flies at the professional level.

It sure seems like former Jets center Ryan Kalil wasn’t a fan of Gase, either. given what he recently said. Kalil played for the Jets in 2019, suiting up in front of Sam Darnold. And while Darnold is no longer with the team, Kalil shared some interesting thoughts on why the former No. 3 overall pick never developed under Gase.

“It was a system that didn’t allow a lot of individual freedom. It was very, ‘You do it this way and that’s it,'” Kalil said, via Joseph Person of The Athletic. “A lot of the scheme was pre-determined (plays) based on what they thought they were seeing from the sideline.”

He continued:

“It didn’t give Sam a lot of room to grow, in my opinion, to make decisions on the fly,” Kalil said of Gase’s system. “It worked in some instances, but it handicapped him in the long run.”

Kalil’s reasoning does make sense, as it does seem like Gase babied Darnold. It will be interesting to see how the 23-year-old fares under a new coaching staff in Carolina — a competent one. Many are wondering how Darnold will fare as a reclamation project, and time will tell.

[Yardbarker]