Ex-Fresno City quarterback relishes new start as coach with NFL’s Dolphins

Clyde Christensen felt it was time to move on.

For 14 seasons, Christensen was an assistant with the Indianapolis Colts, helping develop among others star quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck.

But his tenure there is over.

The Miami Dolphins hired the former Fresno City College quarterback to be their offensive coordinator under Adam Gase, who took over as the new head coach Jan. 9.

Gase had said he plans on handling the offensive play-calling but indicated he would consider ceding some control.

“I’ll call the offensive plays,” Gase said. “I’ve been doing it for the last three years. I really enjoy it. If I end up finding the right offensive coordinator and eventually I feel like turning the play-calling over, that’s the direction we’ll head, but as far as right now, I will be the play-caller.”

The “right” choice turned out to be Christensen. He said Gase used to call for tips on coaching Manning in Denver.

“I wasn’t looking to take over the whole enchilada,” Christensen said from his Dolphins office Wednesday. “I really wanted to do something more of a leadership role but yet help and support, and that’s what I’ve always enjoyed doing. I was in Indy for 14 years, and this one felt good and felt right and a good time to do something like this. Kind of excited about it.”

This is not Christensen’s first offensive coordinator job. He had that role with Tampa Bay (2001) and the Colts (2009-11). He helped Indianapolis to a Super Bowl title in 2007 as a receivers coach. Christensen joined the Colts under then-coach Tony Dungy in 2002.

Christensen, who turns 60 on Jan. 28, thought he would finish his career in Indianapolis, but says working with Gase just seemed all too right.

“I got to know Adam Gase through the years when Peyton went to Denver,” said Christensen, who was inducted onto the Fresno City Wall of Fame in 2014 after playing there in 1974-75. “We talked a lot about the offense and him and different things like that. We just sparked up a friendship and relationship. He had a role for me that fit me here and he was looking for someone to help him and it turned out to be a neat deal.”

Christensen admitted that it was an emotional time leading up to when he cleaned out his Colts office Tuesday.

“Last four days were special and really hard and probably a bucket worth of tears and thousands of hugs and trillions of memories and great relationships,” he said. “Just a unique 14 years. It was a neat deal for me to have that experience with a bunch of great people football-wise and operation-wise. It was tearful. I was emotionally tied to the place and it will be friends for life and 14 years I’ll never forget.”

Christensen is looking forward to getting started in Miami.

“He’s a sharp young guy and a good football coach and a good man,” Christensen said of Gase. “I’ll try to supplement and complement his style and help in any way I can in this thing. They’re not far off here and they have a fine young quarterback (Ryan Tannehill). We do share some funny stories and I always tease him that he lost all his hair and I still have all of mine, and I had Peyton three times longer than he did. I tell him he got the softer, nice Peyton when he has a family, and I had him when all he had was his football and no family life. He didn’t do the hard labor then like I did. I don’t let him forget that.”

Kendricks on All-Rookie team — Former Hoover High star Eric Kendricks was named to the Pro Football Writers of America All-Rookie team. The Minnesota Vikings middle linebacker, selected in the second round in the 2015 NFL Draft out of UCLA, led the team with 92 combined tackles and had four four sacks despite missing two games because of a rib injury.

This story was originally published January 20, 2016 at 5:28 PM with the headline "Ex-Fresno City quarterback relishes new start as coach with NFL’s Dolphins."