Marty Lyons Says Direction Of New York Jets Rebuild Under Adam Gase Is Solid

Marty Lyons defends the return of Adam Gase for 2020

It may not be a popular opinion, but Marty Lyons is convinced that the New York Jets did the right thing in retaining head coach Adam Gase. It gives the team stability, Lyons said, as the organization carries its rebuild into 2020. 

After a 1-7 start in his first year with the Jets, Gase was understandably under fire from the media and the team’s fanbase. It was so bad that a fan movement created a considerable stir in its protest to fire Gase, grabbing headlines with several stunts to question the viability of Gase as the head coach. 

Some of the furor died down after the team finished the year going 6-2, with solid wins over the Oakland Raiders, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the playoff-bound Buffalo Bills in the final half of the season. These wins, to many fans, validated that the Jets under Gase are headed in the right direction. 

Lyons, who serves as the analyst on ESPN New York for the Jets radio broadcasts, sees the return of Gase in 2020 as not just good for continuity. He sees it as deserved, given the course of the Jets year and how they finished. 

Gase came to the Jets after three years with the Miami Dolphins where the team failed to make the playoffs. His background, though, as an offensive mastermind, held appeal to the Jets during the hiring process. 

“There is only one starter who went all 16 games for him: Marcus Maye. Everybody else, they were trying to plug roles,” Lyons told SportsIllustrated.com.  

“At 7-9, it is like the commercial…’They Did OK.’ Just OK. You have to give this group, the coaching staff, Adam Gase and Joe Douglas and all these scouts an opportunity to say ‘Now, we can evaluate this team. Now we can evaluate the personnel.’ We’ve had the coach for one year. How can we get better? How are we going to get better? Who are we going to target? What players are we going to keep? Who are we going to let go?” 

The career of Lyons with the Jets has touched nearly four decades. A former standout defensive lineman for the Jets since being a first round pick of the team in 1979, Lyons has remained close to the organization in a television role and now currently on the radio. 

Currently, he is heavily engaged in fundraising for the Marty Lyons Foundation, which grants wishes to children diagnosed with terminal life-altering illnesses. Over 7,800 wishes have been granted since the foundation started 38 years ago. 

Of outstanding need, Lyons said, is more contributions to help grant further wishes to a wider range of children. He proudly said that “90 cents out of every dollar donated goes towards the wish.” 

As for the Jets, Lyons is confident from the evidence he saw in 2019 that the Jets and their rebuild is heading in the right direction. 

“Without a doubt, they’re heading in the right direction,” Lyons said.  

“If it wasn’t heading in the right direction at 1-7, this team would have packed their bags. They would have said ‘You know what, we’re going to go 2-14 or whatever and get rid of Adam.’ You know what? Adam did a great job with the coaching staff.”