Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase was hired by the Miami Dolphins on Saturday to be their new head coach.The team confirmed the news on Twitter.
According to NFL.com, Gase signed a five-year deal with the Dolphins. The Dolphins had interviewed six other candidate for the job, including former interim head coach Dan Campbell and former head coaches Mike Shanahan and Mike Smith. Gase was considered to be the front-runner for the Dolphins job and was the only candidate who got a second interview. He is the Dolphins ninth head coach since 2004 and is the youngest head coach in the NFL, ESPN notes. Gase also interviewed with the Philadelphia Eagles, Cleveland Browns, and the New York Giants.
"We did exhaustive research on all of the candidates ahead of time and conducted thorough and detailed interviews with each person,” Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said in a statement. "In the end, I was convinced and the search committee was unanimous Adam was the right leader for our football team who best met all of our priorities. He has high energy, is competitive and driven to win with a mindset of teaching and developing players."
Gase joined the Denver Broncos coaching staff in 2009. He became the Broncos offensive coordinator in 2013.The Broncos led the NFL in scoring offense (34 points per game), total offense (430.1 yards per game), and passing offense (315.8 yards per game) with Gase as the offensive coordinator. The Bears won just six games with Gase as the coordinator but he helped Jay Cutler post a passer rating of 92.3, which is a career-high, according to the Sun Sentinel.
The Dolphins were 6-10 this season and failed to make the playoffs for the seventh consecutive year.