The sun was still rising as Adam Gase settled in behind the wheel of his Chevy Tahoe at 6:30 a.m. Thursday to begin his five-mile drive to the Jets’ training center and the first day of training camp.

The new Jets coach has the radio tuned to SiriusXM’s “Pearl Jam Radio,” but Eddie Vedder has been silenced this morning as Gase chatted with The Post about the beginning of his first season in charge of the Jets.

The Jets took the field for their first training camp practice Thursday morning and begin their grind toward the opener against the Bills on Sept. 8.

“I would say this is the good part,” Gase said. “This is the part that you really enjoy. We talk about process. I know everyone wants to get to the games. ‘How’s it going to look? What’s going to be the result?’ But this is the process part that we’re talking about.

“This step has to be accomplished before you get to the next one. Our guys have to embrace this process. They have to love this as much as they love winning or they love winning a championship. If you don’t improve here and grind through all this stuff, the other stuff is never going to happen.”

It has been a long road to this point for Gase this offseason. He was fired by the Dolphins after three years as their head coach on Dec. 31. The Jets hired him on Jan. 9. The offseason has not been a smooth one with general manager Mike Maccagnan getting fired in May with accusations that Gase pushed him out.

Then, there was moving his family and adjusting from South Florida to North Jersey. He moved into his new house in June and then took a vacation in early July before zeroing back in on the 2019 season.

This week, he has been anxious to get started. He addressed his team on Wednesday night to set the tone for camp. He emphasized team chemistry and the need for everyone to come together as a group.

“We talked about how we have to know each other in and out,” Gase said. “We have to create a tight locker room and a tight building. That’s how you win those one-score games in the fourth quarter. When your team is tight and guys trust each other and a guy goes down, it’s not a ‘here we go again’ mentality. It’s, ‘We’ve been here before. We know what to do. That guy’s going to step up. I trust that he’s going to do his job.’

“When that happens, that’s when you win those games that are tight. The whole league is one score or less. When it comes down to those one-score games, you put yourself in position and everyone is working together and on the same page, that’s how you win those.”

Gase inherits a team that has not made the playoffs in eight seasons and has been downright dismal for the last three years, winning just 14 games combined. He must turn around a losing culture. That began with bringing in free agents from winning teams such as C.J. Mosley (Ravens) and Le’Veon Bell (Steelers). They also drafted Quinnen Williams with the third-overall pick out of Alabama, which has won a few games in recent years.

“There are a lot of guys on this roster that have been part of a winning program in college and might not have experienced it in the pros if they’ve just been in this spot,” Gase said as he drove down Park Avenue in Madison. “But the Steve McLendons of the world who have experienced it and are hungry to get back and experience that again, that’s beneficial to where we’re at right now. He’s one of the spark plugs that is reminding guys that we don’t want this feeling anymore. We want to get to the next part. That’s been big for us all spring. You can tell by the way they work that whatever’s been going on, they’re done with that. They want a different experience.”

Gase has been coaching in the NFL since 2003 and knows how hard it is to get to the playoffs and the Super Bowl. He was the Broncos’ offensive coordinator in 2013 when they had the best offense in NFL history but lost Super Bowl XLVIII to the Seahawks, 43-8.

“It doesn’t even feel like I even went there because we got slaughtered,” Gase said. “We were never in the game.”

Since then, he has been chasing a return. That is now beginning again with the Jets, who have not been to a Super Bowl in 51 years.

“It’s hard to win in this league,” Gase said. “I know that seems like a cliché and everyone says that, but unless you’ve been in the day-in and day-out grind, it’s hard to explain. The talent level across the league is so tight. It’s not college where you have warm-up games. The first game of the year is a division rival. You’re getting thrown right into the thing. Every week is going to be tough. You can’t relax.”

Gase pulls into his parking spot with “HC” painted on it. As he walks to his office, quarterback Sam Darnold asks him if he has eaten the egg whites in the cafeteria that morning.

“Why?” Gase said, jokingly. “What did you do to them?”

Darnold gives him a smile and Gase is on his way.

Training camp is starting. Gase has to get to work.