Does Cardinals coaching candidate Gase like QB Rosen or not?

This is the point in the Arizona Cardinals’ coaching search where likely draft-day misinformation has clouded the likelihood of landing a candidate. At least, that’s the case outside of the Cardinals’ facility.

That candidate is former Miami Dolphins coach Adam Gase, a quarterback specialist with head coaching experience who might be exactly what Cardinals GM Steve Keim and president Michael Bidwill are searching for in replacing fired coach Steve Wilks.

Gase interviewed with Arizona on Wednesday, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, and has a series of other interviews lined up after being fired as Dolphins head coach this week.

“I’m very curious with the Adam Gase situation,” said NFL insider John Clayon while joining Doug & Wolf on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station. “I don’t know if he’s the biggest Josh Rosen guy, at least from the comments he made with the Miami media in the past year. You kind of wonder about that.”

Let’s jump back to early April.

Gase and the Dolphins, who had the No. 11 overall pick, looked like they’d be in the market for a quarterback before the 2018 NFL Draft. That’s where this confusion begins, because Gase’s opinion on Cardinals quarterback Josh Rosen will surely play a part in how interested he is in taking on the job of grooming the signal-caller.

In April, the Miami Herald’s Adam Beasley reported that an informed source told the newspaper that “Gase is ‘obsessed’ with Rosen.”

ESPN’s Field Yates tweeted this week that “many believed Gase was a fan of Rosen” and also that the UCLA product could be a target with Miami’s 11th overall pick.

But months later came a New Year’s Day tweet from the Miami Herald’s Armando Salguero, who suggested quite the opposite of what Yates and Salguero’s colleague, Beasley, each said about Gase’s opinion of Rosen.

He had serious issues with misgivings about Josh Rosen coming out of the draft last year but an interview is an interview, I guess. https://t.co/WCEq21CXPK

— Armando Salguero (@ArmandoSalguero) January 1, 2019

Yes.

— Armando Salguero (@ArmandoSalguero) January 1, 2019

The easy rebuttle to posit, then, is why Gase would bother interviewing with Arizona if he didn’t at least view Rosen with some intrigue.

If Gase didn’t like Rosen why would he take the interview knowing that Rosen is going to be the guy? I think Gase may have learned something about Rosen, like we all have: he’s not a malcontent.

— Ron Wolfley (@wolf987FM) January 1, 2019

Of course, the Cardinals didn’t let us find out Gase’s true feelings. They jumped from 15th to draft Rosen 10th in a trade with the Oakland Raiders, and the Dolphins selected safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, who also was believed to be a favorite of Miami at the 11th slot.

Clayton said Gase remains an interesting candidate to keep an eye on regarding the Arizona job.

“I don’t really have one guy,” who is a favorite for the position, Clayton said Friday. “I think I can see the profile of what they’re probably going to try to do, and I think it’s probably going to be somebody with head coaching experience. I can see the type of coach they’re going to hire. I just don’t know which one.”

Clayton included even former Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury in the conversation to land with the Cardinals.

In any case, Clayton said a head coach in Arizona must be able to build a strong coaching staff, “because I think that was one of the weaknesses that (former Cardinals coach) Steve Wilks had. He did have some holes in his coaching staff.”

Gase and the other candidates, of course, might find concerns outside of Rosen when it comes down to it.

As for how he views Rosen specifically, the conflicting reports suggest that we know one thing: there’s a good chance purposefully spread misinformation regarding the Dolphins’ opinion of Rosen in April have clouded how Gase might view the opportunity to land with the Cardinals.

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