The Miami Dolphins have hired Bears' offensive coordinator Adam Gase to become their new head coach.
The Dolphins welcomed Gase in a tweet posted Saturday morning:
Welcome to Miami, Adam Gase! #StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/scJQmpFbqJ — Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) January 9, 2016
Gase was the NFL's hottest coaching candidate among assistants. He had also interviewed with the Eagles, Browns and Giants and had been considered the front-runner for the Dolphins job.
At 37, Gase become the league's youngest coach. He has no head coaching experience but has been a target of coaching searches for at least three years.
The Dolphins interviewed former NFL coaches Doug Marrone, Mike Shanahan and Mike Smith, along with Miami interim coach Dan Campbell and two other candidates. But the buzz about Gase had been building in South Florida all week.
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Gase is a protege of Nick Saban, who coached the Dolphins in 2005-06. He is the Dolphins' ninth coach since 2004.
A year ago Gase followed head coach John Fox from Denver to Chicago after interviewing for head jobs with the Bears, 49ers, Bills and Falcons. He hasn't been a head coach but has been a target of NFL head coaching searches for at least three years.
Gase spent six seasons on Denver's staff. He was offensive coordinator when the Broncos and Peyton Manning scored an NFL-record 606 points and advanced to the Super Bowl in 2013, and when they scored 482 points the following season.
Gase worked Saban's staff at Michigan State while a student there. He followed Saban to LSU and was a graduate assistant and recruiting assistant before beginning his NFL career in 2003.
