Gase Latest Former Dolphins Coach to Join Media

A former Miami Dolphins head coach has a new venture.

Adam Gase is joining The 33rd Team, a media and technology company, as a strategic advisor. Gase will be joined in his role by former New England Patriots coaches Bill Belichick and Matt Patricia, along with a host of other retired players, coaches, and executives.

The 33rd Team was founded by former Dolphins senior vice president of football operations Mike Tannenbaum, who also hired Gase to the Dolphins before the 2016 season.

Gase isn’t the first former Dolphins head coach to enter the media business.

Dave Wannstedt will work with Gase at The 33rd Team and contribute to NBCSports Chicago. Nick Saban recently joined ESPN on College GameDay, and Jimmy Johnson has worked on Fox’s NFL pregame show since 2002.

Although most Dolphins fans probably don’t have many fond memories of Gase’s tenure, it did start well. Miami finished 10-6 in 2016, making the playoffs behind an impressive running game that helped Jay Ajayi produce 1,272 yards and eight touchdowns.

Ironically, Gase’s first season mirrored Mike McDaniel’s in some ways. The Dolphins made the playoffs and lost in the first round while being forced to start a backup quarterback.

For Gase, it was starting Matt Moore instead of the injured Ryan Tannehill against the Pittsburgh Steelers. McDaniel was forced to start Skylar Thompson — the third-string quarterback — against the Buffalo Bills after Tua Tagovailoa and Teddy Bridgewater went down.

Both McDaniel and Gase’s teams lost those games, but one was much closer than the other. Miami lost 30-12 to the Steelers, but McDaniel’s Dolphins lost 34-31 in a closely contested game.

After the playoff appearance, it was all downhill for Gase. The Dolphins finished 6-10 in 2017 and 7-9 in 2018. Miami was mired by injuries to Tannehill in both seasons. The quarterback missed all of 2017 (forcing the team to sign Jay Cutler) and five games in 2018.

Gase did help produce one major highlight in his final season as Dolphins head coach, designing the play that would deliver the famous “Miami Miracle” against the New England Patriots.

Gase was fired Dec. 31, 2018, one day after Miami lost 42-17 to the Buffalo Bills, as part of sweeping organizational changes. He finished with a 23-25 regular-season record as Miami’s head coach.

Current general manager Chris Grier took over football operations, and Tannenbaum was “reassigned” but quickly left the team to join ESPN and start The 33rd Team.