Odds to Be First NFL Coach Fired After Week 1 – Gase Listed as Slight Favorite Over Patricia
By Robert Duff in NFL Football
Updated: March 9, 2021 at 3:08 pm ESTPublished:
- Adam Gase of the New York Jets is the +325 favorite to be the first head coach fired this season
- Matt Patricia of the Detroit Lions is a close second at +350
- Atlanta’s Dan Quinn (+600) and Jacksonville’s Doug Marrone (+750) are other strong contenders
The oddsmakers gazed into their crystal ball and saw Adam Gase staring back at them.
Gase, the embattled head coach of the New York Jets, jumped to the forefront in the odds to be the first NFL head coach fired this season.
After sitting third in the opening line, Gase catapulted over Doug Marrone of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Matt Patricia of the Detroit Lions to become the chalk in terms of first to end up feeling the sting of the axe.
Odds on First NFL Coach to Permanently Leave Position
| Coach (Team) | Odds |
|---|---|
| Adam Gase (Jets) | +325 |
| Matt Patricia (Lions) | +350 |
| Dan Quinn (Falcons) | +600 |
| Doug Marrone (Jaguars) | +750 |
| Bill O’Brien (Texans) | +1100 |
| Anthony Lynn (Chargers) | +2500 |
| Matt Nagy (Bears) | +2500 |
| Zak Taylor (Bengals) | +3000 |
| Bruce Arians (Buccaneers) | +3300 |
| Vic Fangio (Broncos) | +3300 |
| Brian Flores (Dolphins) | +3300 |
| Mike Zimmer (Vikings) | +3300 |
| Joe Judge (Giants) | +4000 |
| Kliff Kingsbury (Cardinals) | +4000 |
| Bull Belichick (Patriots) | +5000 |
| Pete Carroll (Seahawks) | +5000 |
| Jon Gruden (Raiders) | +5000 |
| John Harbaugh (Ravens) | +5000 |
| Matt LaFleur (Packers) | +5000 |
| Mike McCarthy (Cowboys) | +5000 |
| Sean Payton (Saints) | +5000 |
| Doug Peterson (Eagles) | +5000 |
| Frank Reich (Colts) | +5000 |
| Andy Reid (Chiefs) | +5000 |
| Ron Rivera (Washington) | +5000 |
| Kevin Stefanski (Browns) | +5000 |
| Mike Tomlin (Steelers) | +5000 |
| Sean McDermott (Bills) | +6600 |
| Sean McVay (Rams) | +6600 |
| Matt Rhule (Panthers) | +5000 |
| Mike Vrabel (Titans) | +6600 |
| Kyle Shanahan (49ers) | +10000 |
Odds as of Sept. 15th.
Curiously, three of the top seven coaches in this betting market actually guided their teams to Week 1 victories – Marrone, Matt Nagy of the Chicago Bears, and Anthony Lynn of the Los Angeles Chargers.
Gase Getting Grief
You won’t get Jets and Miami Dolphins fans to agree on much. Bring up the subject of Gase’s tenure as head coach of their favorite football team, though, and they’ll join forces in launching the vitriol.
After Sunday’s 27-17 season-opening loss to the Buffalo Bills, Gase acknowledged that he’d put an injured Le’Veon Bell back in the game. That decision ended up with Bell aggravating his hamstring injury to the point where the Jets’ feature running back isn’t expected to play for the next few weeks.
“Adam Gase IS the problem with the Jets!”@Espngreeny was FIRED UP this morning over how terrible the Jets looked yesterday. #KJZ #Greeny pic.twitter.com/CUP6WcyzQv
— UNSPORTSMANLIKE Radio (@UnSportsESPN) September 14, 2020
In Miami, Gase went 10-6 in his first season in charge and made the playoffs as an AFC Wild Card team. Then it steadily got worse. The Dolphins were 13-19 over the next two seasons and he was fired.
Substandard Patricia
In 2017, the Lions went 9-7 under head coach Jim Caldwell. That wasn’t good enough for management and Caldwell was sent packing.
In two seasons plus a game with Patricia in charge, Detroit is 9-23-1.
Matt Patricia and Jim Caldwell both got to 9 wins for the Lions … it just took one of them a little longer to get there. pic.twitter.com/d5nSB3SAl6
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) September 14, 2020
Sunday, the Lions squandered a 20-3 lead and lost at home to the Bears.
In last year’s season opener at Arizona, Detroit let a 24-6 lead slip away and settled for a 27-27 tie.
Racing for a Pink Slip
As bad a franchise as they are, the Lions traditionally don’t fire coaches in the midst of a season. They haven’t in 14 years and only did so once over the last 19 seasons.
The Jets are even less likely to do so. The last time they switched coaches midseason was when Mike Holovak replaced Lou Holtz for the final game of the 1976 season.
| 2 | Regular Season Record | 4 |
| 0-1 | Playoff Record | 0-0 |
| 3 | Longest Winning Streak | 2 |
| 4 | Longest Losing Streak | 10 |
| 32 | Offense Rank (2019) | 18 |
| 16 | Defense Rank (2019) | 26 |
Before he was dealt by the Jets to the Seattle Seahawks, All-Pro safety Jamal Adams offered up the opinion that he didn’t think Gase was the right guy for the job. Viewed as an offensive guru, Gase’s Jets gained an NFL-low 273 yards per game last season.
If you ever look at a job description and think "oh, I'm not qualified," please remember that Adam Gase continues to coach the New York Jets every day.
Send that application. Chase your dreams.
— Andrew Goldstein (@AndyGold24) September 13, 2020
Gase was Denver’s offensive coordinator in 2013-14. However, when Peyton Manning isn’t his quarterback, Gase’s NFL offenses as both a head coach and an offensive coordinator have finished 23rd, 17th, 28th, 26th, and 31st in the NFL.
Patricia is viewed as a defensive genius, yet the Lions were the NFL’s #26 defense last season. Detroit has blown seven fourth-quarter leads since the beginning of the 2019 season.
Lions head coach Matt Patricia was asked if there's something in his coaching "that isn't happening enough in the fourth quarter."
"Yeah, I don't think so," Patricia said. "I think I got probably one of the biggest plays in the fourth quarter in the history of the NFL." pic.twitter.com/chcqBLXF6U
— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) September 13, 2020
Last season, the Jets started 0-4 and 1-7 under Gase. It’s doubtful that he gets a second chance to stumble so badly out of the gate.
Pick: Adam Gase (+325)
Sports Writer
An industry veteran, Bob literally taught the course on the history of sports at Elder College. He has worked as a Sports Columnist for Postmedia, appeared as a guest on several radio stations, was the Vice President of the Society For International Hockey Research in Ontario, and written 25 books.
