Former NFL coach and offensive coordinator Adam Gase will be the Chargers' passing game coordinator. He's had mixed results around the league with high highs and low lows. Now he's back to try to elevate Justin Herbert.
The Chargers coaching staff is shaping up nicely. Adam Gase, the latest addition, has experience as a head coach and coordinator. His teams have played in the playoffs, and he was the coordinator on a prolific offense that made a Super Bowl run. Here's what you need to know about him.
The birth of a Bronco star
When did Gase really make a name for himself? Let's go back to 2013. Not too long after a playoff win in the Tim Tebow era, where he was Quarterbacks coach, his Denver Broncos team set a league record with 606 total points. This was Gase's first year as offensive coordinator. It was the year Peyton Manning threw 55 touchdowns. He had playmakers like the late DeMariyus Thomas, Wes Welker, Eric Decker, Julius Thomas, and Knowshon Moreno. All five of those players tallied over 10 touchdowns that year (Moreno had 10 rushing and three receiving).
That team famously did not win the Super Bowl, though, just like in 2026, Seattle took the crown behind a legion of boom secondary, Marshawn Lynch, and a sophomore season Russell Wilson. Gase's team got smacked 43-8 in the Super Bowl, and he transitioned to a role as offensive coordinator on the Bears. Here, he worked with Jay Cutler on his best passer rating and lowest interception rate at 92.3 and 2.3, respectively.
Responsibilities changed
That was when it was time for Gase to move into the big chair. Miami came calling in 2016, and he led the organization to a playoff birth in his first year at the helm. The team secured this spot with a 10-6 season under Gase. In all his years of head coaching after, he could never quite recapture that magic. Then you think back to how loaded that Manning-led Broncos team was and wonder if he needs a high-caliber offense to really succeed.
In his role at the Chargers, he will be the passing game coordinator, so there will be others making the do-or-die decisions, including Mike McDaniel and ultimately Jim Harbaugh. So he can focus on enhancing Justin Herbert's arsenal and living up to his reputation as a bit of a quarterback whisperer.
The lowlights
In 2020, the Jets under Gase started 0-13. His whisperer reputation came under question as a young Sam Darnold (now Super Bowl champion with an amazing win-rate the last two years) played worse than before after Gase arrived.
Obviously, the Jets are a perpetually struggling franchise, but I can understand that Gase wants to get that taste of the Big Apple out of his mouth. Hence, the return to the NFL after a five-year gap to lick his wounds.