Awful, dreadful, decision.
Mr. Ross must have the worst advisers in the history of pro sports.
http://www.miamidolphins.com/multimedia/videos/Ross_Announces_That_Philbin_Will_Return_In_2015/ed32d77e-ef78-4e22-ad80-35b366a1d0dd
2014-12-21
Reading Between the Lines of the Miami Dolphins
It just baffles me to think that a billionaire has no common sense at all
Ross is terrified of the media picking on him. He got destroyed by the media a few years ago because he wanted to replace Sparano with Harbaugh. So in his mind, he thinks that any time you change coaches, the fans and media will hate you. Wrong!! We will respect him twice as much if he improves the team by improving the coach.
Lol. U gotta post the video of some reporter informing Cameron Wake that Philbin will be back. Poor Cam was polite and professional, but you can just see the depression and disappointment in his face. It was like the fun of beating Minnesota was sapped right out of poor Cam. Poor guy knows so much more than Ross
@ChrisD I watched that video and saw no hidden frustration in his body language or words. He seemed normal and professional, plus he gave Philbin the game ball in the locker room earlier that day. Cam Wake is too wise to even hint towards any feelings he may have personally which could cause division in the locker room from his leadership position. He’s a class act and he himself would probably say he didn’t do enough in the losses to Baltimore and New England. And though I have the utmost respect for Wake I would agree hes been flat lately and the lack of his big plays on D kept the rest of that unit uninspired.
Here is the video:
http://www.miamidolphins.com/multimedia/videos/Wake_Discusses_Win_Philbin_News/44ffcad9-4f03-4f87-a5c0-bda06e08fcea
I agree with PhinsUp and Wake does not seem depressed. However, I see ChrisD’s point too. Wake doesn’t even smile when he hears that Philbin will be back. Instead he’s like “Oh, I didn’t know. That is good news.” He didn’t even say “Really?” with a tone of excitement.
My humble apology to all the Miami Dolphin fans and on this site in saying the Miami Dolphins would be in the SB against Green bay and taught me a lesson to ever put any faith in the Miami Dolphin football team which I have been a fan every since I was a kid watching them in their glory years and Dan Marino’s rookie year which I was in naval boot camp then, and watching him light up the score board in between push ups and all the other boot camp recruit physical exercise therapy but I’m getting old and our world has changed so much over the years and wonder whether there will even be a world of people much longer with all the trouble in it to watch an NFL football game anymore but good bye Miami Dolphins I can’t stand to watch them anymore as a fan for a long time of 40 years since I last seen them win a SB ( Super Bowl ).
Jesse, we figured out in Week 2 when we lost to the horrendous Bills’ offense that we’d be about 8-8. But we appreciated your enthusiasm in thinking we were a Super Bowl caliber team. I don’t think we needed better players this year, but we certainly needed better plays. And that starts with better coaching, which we don’t have.
Do you guys think Ross has any idea how angry us fans are? Seriously, he thinks he is Santa and that we will all love his decision. What happens when he wakes up and learns that all smart fans are angry and the Dolphins players are lukewarm about this decision?
Guys,
I love this site as finally I get to hear some intelligent comments from Old School fans who:
1. Love the Dolphins with a passion, hence they “are mad as hell”.
2. Know a thing or two about football some people in Miami don’t.
When I was talking about a Team DNA (my comment to Andy Cohen in the morning pre-Vikes game) and the secondary role of x’s and o’s, I was talking about something deeper than schemes and pass protection.
I was talking about true grit, like the one displayed by teams like Hawks and Steelers this week.
The real trouble with Miami is that if we carry on like this any longer, no valuable free agent would like to partake the circus anymore. There are already players that need A LOT, but A LOT of money to consider coming to wear aqua. Years of mediocrity and bed shitting in December created such trend.
But no way I can post this anywhere else than here, I’ll have the army of the “Haters will hate…” to bash me.
“Haters will hate…”. What a stupid mantra.
A wise man once said: “If you see fraud and so not say “fraud’, you are fraud”.
I paraphrase: “If you see football shame and don’t say ‘shame’ (and no, you’re not a hater), then shame on you”.
I hate to bring back the Jets, I absolutely do, but geez, they will be finishing how they do but Rex was almost in tears at the press conference after the heartbreaking loss to us (and we got away with murder in NY thanks to two missed FG by their kicker and we know that).
How I wish we will finish even 8-8 but fighting tooth and nails!!!
How I wish other teams heading into January would look at their schedule and go like “Shiiiiittttttttt, we gotta go play the Dolphins in Miami….”
So much I had to say,
NM
I agree – this is a great place to be critical (in the dictionary sense) of our beloved Miami Dolphins, without being called a ‘hater’!
How can basic fans like Nicola be so much smarter than our owner Stephen Ross? A smart fan knows we got lucky against the last-place Jets when they missed two field goals, but Stephen Ross sees that as a dominating win.
A smart fan knows we squeaked by last-place Minnesota because their long snapper tossed a grounder back to the punter, but Stephen Ross sees that as a championship.
A smart fan knows we barely defeated last-place Jaguars because our defense outscored our offense that day, otherwise we lose. But Stephen Ross sees that as a mighty win against a fierce Florida foe and praises Philbin.
Ross thinks that lucky wins like these merit an extra season for Joe Philbin. He is blinded.
Here’s a take from another blog on the Philbin news that I think most of us would agree with (I think!): http://www.stableytimes.com/news/fire-joe-philbin-miami-dolphins-owner-steve-ross-forfeits-2015-season/22942/
A great article that many of us will agree with. However, the one point where the writer was incorrect is when he said that Philbin will be more desperate in 2015 and make desperate moves to salvage the team. I fully disagree.
Philbin has NEVER made a desperate move. No matter what, he sticks to the plan. He will not change nor adjust (nor win). He will keep the same bland philosophy that keeps us in mediocrity.
First time commenting on this site but man I was hoping for a lose yesterday, this is my worst nightmare come true. Miami barely gets by the Vikings a bad team playing with a rookie quarterback. And philbin gets rewarded by keeping his job even though he made the same mistakes in this game that he had made all year. Looks like next year is gonna be another 8-8 year
Welcome, Zach. You will find many folks who agree with you on this board, including us the administrators. It’s not like this is a site filled with nothing but Philbin haters. But we’re generally well-informed and fair fans who know when it’s time to get rid of an unproductive coach.
It’s going to be painful to see how empty the stadium will be next year. I predict a record low in attendance.
Ross has no idea whatsoever how many fans hate this decision.
I am sure that Ross knows exactly what fans think of this decision to keep Philbin, and I am also sure he doesn’t really care.
This is his side project- he makes billions in real estate and owning the Dolphins is merely a feather in his cap.
THE REAL REASON:
Notice how when asked if he is going to extend Philbin’s contract, he hasn’t said yes.
Ross isn’t about to burn $3,000,000 -4,000,000 by firing Philbin now. Ross is way too parsimonious to do that.
Remember, people like Ross that don’t celebrate Christmas (if you catch my drift) have a reputation for being cheap…..
Sorry guys I would love to join you in the disappointment and jeering but I cant. My sports background simply wont accept change as the solution. I favor development and polish and yes that too means for Philbin. If we let Lamar Miller go when we should have we would never ever get to reap the benefits of his improvement. Its like 2 different running backs from last year to this one. Mike Wallace never made plays like this year from last. Same goes for Tannehill, Odrick, Shelby, and so on. One of my close friends is a bigger Cowboy fan than I am a Dolphin fan. And that’s saying a lot. The Cowboys coach Garret was in the same exact position last year. 3 years in, mediocrity, and the fans calling for his head. Now in year 4 everything has changed. The Cowboy fans are now rewarded for their tolerance and patience with a damn good team they can be proud of.
I see many of upset fans are actually misplacing their disappointment and focusing it on the HC because its cliché to do so. Im not claiming that anybody here is but many comments and opinions I’ve read elsewhere are bogus and only serve to continue a needless and strategically wrong idea. We had a way more difficult schedule than last year and may still improve our record vs last season. I call that substantive improvement only lacking in the Win/Loss column. And I feel less capable coaches would have collapsed given all of the injuries to key players we’ve suffered . A lesser coach would be 5-10 right now in my opinion. So there are many intangibles that I feel can be attributed to Philbin and the public aren’t giving him a fair review due to some of his obvious and bone headed mistakes which cloud their overall judgment.
Even if we do get a new HC how are we sure they will stay long enough to deliver? How can we know they wont destroy us and then leave and coach for one of our competitors? We know Philbin is too honorable to pull a dirty move like that and we also know he has the humility to improve on his weaknesses. We need people like that in our organization to foster improvement and forge ahead.
Next year Landry will be in year 2, Tannehill will be in year 4, Wallace will be in year 4, Miller will be in year 3 or 4. Albert will be back, Delmas might be, Grimes, Wake, Pouncey, Clay, Juwan James, and so on. This unit is beginning to gel and may be so damn good that we wont need a coach with clock skills or situational awareness. The score will be too high for that to matter. Stay the course guys this journey isn’t over and we are headed in the right direction but slower than expected.
PhinsUp, we may just have to agree to disagree on this one, but one point I need to make is this: I am not calling for change just for the sake of change. I am calling for change because Philbin’s track record proves he is not championship-caliber. He’s not new…he has had three full years to accomplish something, anything, and he’s given us nothing.
I think “change is the solution” is generally not a good practice, and I agree with you there. I think that if something works, stick with it. Never ever change a successful pattern. Let sleeping dogs lie and don’t try to stir the pot when you’re having your way.
Remember the MNF game when the Jets would have beaten us if their kicker didn’t blow 2 easy field goals? The Jets rushed the ball a million times and we could not stop it. Gruden and Terico were almost laughing at them because they weren’t passing. But Rex Ryan was following a sound game plan and running it down our throat. It wasn’t broke, so Rex didn’t fix it.
All that to say that we should not make a change just as an experiment, and I agree with you.
BUT…we are not advocating change as an experiment or a temporary solution. We are advocating change because we are stuck in a 3-year mediocre funk under Philbin, and there are no signs of improvement. It IS indeed strategically wrong to fire a solid, winning coach midstream. But Philbin is not that man, and his .500 record proves it. This isn’t an opinion but a factual statement on Philbin’s record.
It seems to me like you think Philbin is a good coach and he’s kinda new, been successful, so we should ride it out another year. I must disagree with you on all points. You of all people should know how many mistakes Philbin makes, as we point them out weekly. Yes, some are my opinionated mistakes, but others are just plain ignorance of strategy. I will never ever let people forget about the time when Green Bay was staggering to the line of scrimmage on 4th down, exhausted and sunstroked, and confused…only to be bailed out by Coach Philbin. This is not a rookie coaching mistake. This was a mistake by a man in the middle of his THIRD year. He is NOT NEW. Philbin defenders often cite that he hasn’t had enough time, but then what IS enough time?
I often cite Philbin mistakes, but I open it up here for Philbin accomplishments. Can anyone name one great thing that Philbin did? A play call? A personnel decision? A gutsy strategy that really turned the tide of his Dolphin tenure? I can’t. He went for it on 4th down a few times last year that helped us win games (like the 2nd New England game last year), but those were normal football calls (losing late in a game, you have to go for it).
Anyway, I just don’t see champion when I look into his confused old eyes on Sundays. I just don’t. I wonder what Mr. Ross sees in him, and perhaps it’s just a patience that Ross and yourself share. I hope I’m wrong. (incidentally, at the end of the season, I plan to review Dolphins Truth and analyze ourselves. I will point out all the things I was right about and admit all the things I was wrong about). I was certainly wrong about Tannehill early on, and I’d love to be wrong about Philbin.
And one more thing… 🙂 I am envious of your friend the Cowboy fan, by the way! The Dallas coach was a real NFL football player before he became a coach. When he was an offensive coordinator, he was allowed to make decisions. And after all that hard work, he has the Cowboys where they want to be. Joe Philbin had none of that kind of experience, and look where we are.
The debate rages on…
I will respond by saying that I agree with all of your points and frustrations including the infamous time out vs green bay. That decision remains somewhat ambiguous because if the defense held then he would have been praised for calling it. But from a situational standpoint given all of the other factors, tired offense, time running out, running no huddle, our defense at the time was doing ok, annnnnnnd it being 4th damn down. Yes wrong. So I do advocate change and replacing Philbin is the right move. Instead I want a better and more improved version and invest in his development as a coach rather than gamble on a new guy.
Like it or not , mistakes and all, we do have some competence here given our mediocre but far from the basement record these past few years. I would rather spend the time and effort putting new tires on a car I know to be reliable than and new engine in a car I’ve never owned. And there are many intangibles I believe highlight his excellence as a coach that we never appreciate because they go un noticed. As I said in my previous post. The injuries were devastating this year yet we remained competitive mostly and never strayed too far off course. This is praise to Philbins ability to manage difficult situations and never show frustration or emotion which can easily infect the mentality of the locker room. Why hasn’t this translated into his sideline abilities? I have no idea but he seems to be improving. And for those whom say he isn’t emotional enough. Did you see him yelling and consoling players on the sideline last game? Especially during the Jarvis Landry penalty in which the defender bumped him? Maybe he is slowly finding his comfort level . Similarly Tannehill has finally relaxed a bit and is playing far more decisive. It takes time to develop. Its painful time but that’s the price for success.
Im my sports past that I use often evaluate people. One trait more than any other I always looked for was character. Derived from this was humility and dedication. But above all else was a positive mental attitude. If I could find players with all of these traits it was only a matter of time before they became great. Once I found a 350lb person who came to me and asked if I could help him get good enough to play in tournaments. At that weight and his height at about 5ft 9in he was about 170lbs over weight and slower than a parked car. Other players used to laugh when he would step on the field and would start licking their chops in the anticipation for an easy lunch. This was the case for months but he kept at it. Strangely enough he never lost the weight but improved to a god like level . I was never easy on him during training, I was terribly critical, and any time he made a mistake I made him pay. But I knew he had the traits to withstand the constant disappointment and humiliation on his way to greatness. He had the right stuff mentally and simply would not be denied even given his huge disadvantage of being obese. But it wasn’t an easy path and it took far more shows of his abilities before he gained respect. Respect which with time gave way to genuine fear from his opponents. But it took time and I never stopped believing in him and kept nurturing his journey. But if at any time he showed lack of character, I would have abandoned him as a waste of time. And many other players tried to get me to do this, but I knew something they didn’t and also was rewarded for my decision to train and develop him.
I see this character in Philbin and I also see it in Tannehill and Wake. It simply isn’t always fair to judge our coach whom has far more background moves than a player does in the foreground. When Tannehill throws a pick, he gets another chance to make up for it. If Philbin makes a mistake he lives with it for eternity. Rightfully he should but there are no balancing positives that we know about because most of his moves aren’t as obvious as a long pass or run for 1st down. I honestly believe that a lesser coach would have caved already given the early suspensions of key players, and unforgiving amount of injuries. Not to mention the loss of his father mid season. Talk about over coming adversity while every week facing a combative press? You should have heard the terrible questions they were asking him after our win vs the Vikings. Sure bring up some negatives but right after the damn game? Is there any time to at least minimally allow this guy to smile every now and then? Maybe some positive reinforcement from the press and fans could go a long way in improving his performance? But no all we do is bitch this guy to death. Yes he earned some of it but doesn’t deserve to be tortured by it either.
So hypothetically I think we agree but are one year apart. If by sometime in year 4 we don’t see any difference or worse regression. Then I will join the fire Philbin bandwagon. But for now Ive seen over and over again the template for success in the person Philbin is and many of the intangibles I am sure hes owed some credit for. Not to mention he has the public support of Shula and if I’m not mistaken Dan Marino was present when Ross made his announcement. In the video you briefly see the camera pan showing Mario in Ross’s entourage. This leads me to believe that Marino also privately supports Philbin for now. And Marino does see the inner workings of this team and I am sure no matter his job description, he does hold sway over Ross’s opinion whether they admit it or not. That should tell you something.
We need stability, continuity , and improvement. And in Ross’s statement I think he summarized it all well when he said he likes what we are building here. He understands our team is still a work in progress.
I am going to hold you to that…we will be 8-8 next year, probably 7-9 with a harder schedule upcoming.
I expect you to be on our bandwagon then. Hopefully sooner, but we’ll check in with you same time next year!
Also, Phins, I think it’s terribly unfair/incorrect of you to compare Philbin to a reliable car. To me, a reliable car gets you to your destination. Philbin has never gotten us anywhere, and we fall short of our destination every single year. Reliable? Sorry, but no way.
PhinsUp, just re-reading your post, and some things you say make sense as always. We can agree to disagree about Philbin’s value and the value of continuity. But at any rate, the year is done, and we’re stuck watching other teams play for what we want. And it sucks that it’s the same old teams again.
I’m on the fence as continuity is huge especially in football. We also have to admit that Lazor was also in his first year and made some bad mistakes. Mistakes were made just due to a new offense. As mentioned above don’t underestimate the injuries they were bad and the depth isn’t there yet. One more solid offseason and let’s find out how everything shakes out. I just hope that Philbin is learning from his mistakes…
Continuity of a good and promising regime is a wise philosophy. But continuing with an inept old man who has zero accomplishments in three years? Sorry, but I just don’t see why you guys want to continue that.
Injuries truly hurt us, yes. But every single team has them and great leaders overcome them. The Cardinals are 11-4 for God’s sake with a fourth-string quarterback. Now THOSE are some serious injuries!
There is a bog difference in letting players develop and a letting a head coach develop. Jason Garrett proved himself to be a quality coordinator before becoming head coach. He’s been hamstrung by questionable personnel, but has otherwise been a good coach. The same can’t be said for Philbin.
He’s never called plays, never been a head coach at any level. The worst part is he beat our Mike McCoy and Todd Bowles. I bet neither of those two would touch the Dolphins with a 10 foot pole today.
I think most coaches in this league would beat Philbin with their team, and if they were able to switch coaches, turn around and beat him with his own team.
Anyone defending Philbin for “continuity” sake is misguided. Actually, they are a tool. What happened last year tells me all I need to know. That bullsh*t would never happen in a locker room run by a quality coach.
Ross found out (through Jim’s agent) that he had no chance at Harbaugh. It’s the only reason he kept Philbin…..
Philbin sucks, and if you like Philbin, you suck too.
Merry Christmas everyone!
I don’t think Philbin-supporters suck. I just think they are misguided as far as one little question:
“How much time do you give a head coach to prove himself?”
Philbin supporters think they answer is 4+ years.
Philbin haters think the answer is 3 years.
Me personally, I was done with him after 2 years.
Ross watched the Dolphins implode LAST December with Philbin, yet he stuck with him. That loyalty was rewarded with yet another December implosion and yet another mediocre season. Misplaced loyalty. Misplaced stress on continuity. Misplace judgment of leadership.
Philbin makes the same horrible mistakes over and over. I can see keeping him if he learns from his mistakes, but come on. The guy is absolutely horrible. I wouldn’t even trust him as a towel boy.
I was also for firing Philbin but now that i’ve thought about it i’m for letting him stay through his contract. If we did fire him, who would we get? No high-demand coach wants to coach us because of our questionable front office structure. Let’s see what Hickey does in free agency as far as addressing the needs on the o-line and at the defensive tackle position and other need areas. Give Philbin a chance with a more complete team since he has been handicapped with Ireland for two years. Philbin’s gameplan are decent but his stubbornness is his biggest downfall. All in all I still say that Philbin is another Coughlin and if Coughlin can win it due to having a great roster so can Philbin. Give Philbin a deeper, better roster and see what he can do. If he does nothing then his contract won’t be renewed anyway. A lot of things go into a winning team. And one main thing accountability. If bad clock management, situational game management,and lack of understanding momentum is costing games then it’s on the players, GM, and team personnel to point these things out. It’s not all Philbin’s fault he keeps repeating the same mistakes. It’s on the organization as a whole to hold each other accountable.
“It’s not all Philbin’s fault he keeps repeating the same mistakes.”
Sorry, D-Gang, but I have to disagree with you on two points. First, of course it is Philbin’s fault when he makes the same mistakes. Is it Cameron Wake’s fault that Philbin calls timeouts on defense? Is it Mike Wallace’s fault that Philbin won’t go for a 4th and 2 from the opponents’ 20-yard line?
Second…and this bothers me more…is that Philbin doesn’t even recognize his decisions are indeed MISTAKES. He does not think that he makes mistakes, so why would he correct them? He tells you that 1+1=7, and then tells you why he is right.
For example, every single time he makes a poor decision, he defends himself with same old excuses every single time. “It was the right call at the time.” “I liked where we were at, so I stand behind that decision.” “We thought about all the options and realized that the decision we made would give us the best chance to win.”
JUST ONCE, I’d like to see the old man put his head down and admit how wrong he was. Just once.
Philbin knows most of the time when he makes mistakes. Can you think of the headlines it would generate if he said publicly he cost us the game? Can you imagine the embarrassment it would create for Ross? It would be a media storm and likened to him falling on his sword. Head Coaches cant do that and D-Truth you know this. So C’mon be real how many players like T-Hill or Landry, Damien Williams, ect. Sit in interviews and say “yeah if I would have or if I didn’t do this or that, we would have won.” Teams never air their dirty laundry and that goes for coaches too. Yes Philbin has made some costly mistakes I don’t even minimize that. But its not justification for blowing up the franchise. Many players have made terrible mistakes and we aren’t firing them. Jarvis Landry, wow talk about timing last Sunday! But we know hes better than his mistakes and we have a short list of costly mistakes Philbin has made too. Should we fire both of them? This about perception of which cant be equated as easily between player and coach performance. The coach’s performance isn’t always measured by on field mistakes but by the many potential mistakes that never occurred. This skews the judgment. Stop viewing Philbin like and NFL player for plusses and minuses. There are many plusses he never gets credit for.
I agree with that wholeheartedly. My post was in reference to apparently know one in the organization from the players on up calling him out for his bullshit. Publicly if need be. Sometimes when coaches/players are called out in the media then they are finally forced to reevaluate. Apparently our locker room leadership and organizational leadership are lacking. I never said i thought Philbin would correct his own. I simply stated that accountability from others could give him the kick he needs.
Instead of defending keeping Philbin. I would also like to hear the arguments of support of his possible replacement. What will they bring to our team? Are they honestly attainable and will they choose our team if the money is right? Where is the guarantee we will see the playoffs in 2 years?
I think the fire Phibin argument is fundamentally flawed because we don’t have an honest plug and play candidate that I am aware of. We only have our disappointment driving this hasty idea. Like if your terribly unhappy living in a particular place. Do you simply move out without having first looked at different places to live? Of course not. And if you did, what are your chances of finding something better? Who is the better person all of the supporters of firing Philbin are talking about ? Did you ever consider we could end up with something worse ? Who is this savior whom has at the very least hinted at wanting the Miami HC job? And why is he better than what we already have?
Making moves out of haste usually backfire. I’ve been there before too many times in my sports past to count. Ive given many kindly disregarded examples to this point. But I have many more examples of people and players rising to levels never thought possible given their incompetence and lack of performance up to that point. Tannehill looked like he deserved benching up to the Raiders game. And how is he playing now? I guess in all fairness we should also start a fire Tannehill campaign. I mean Aaron Rogers would surely be an upgrade and given all of the close losses , surely Tannehill also shoulders some of the blame. Right? Lets fire him too. And while we are at it. Grimes played like sh*t vs Minnesota, we should fire him for giving up 2 touchdown passes.
Sorry if my tone isn’t the most polite in this post. But for all the effort to support firing Philbin. WHO is his replacement? WHO! Name it! I am open minded and if you can give some credible candidates I will honestly and without bias read about them and consider your side. But not once yet has anybody mentioned any names other than Harbaugh and Mahlzon. And we have no idea if the latter will even leave Auburn to coach us. Its all distant speculation. Do you really want to burn the house down just to get an unruly guest to leave? You gotta be smart and if you have no other better alternatives, then why make things worse by setting fire to the building? Don’t let your frustration guide your decision making. I would say that statement would be Ross’s catch all response to many of the questions offered.
Sometimes your the dealer and sometimes the cards are dealt to you. Even for NFL owners this saying applies.
Now please! I am waiting. Prove me wrong! Name the candidate who we have a legitimate chance of signing. And sorry Rex Ryan does not count.
Honestly to me, I would replace him with ANYONE. The 31 other hc are so much better then Philbin. Shoot, I would settle for an assistant coach, even a former player with no coaching experience whatsoever. Philbin knows nothing about the game of football…let alone how to run a team. While we are on the topic I will also say that Mr. Ross also knows nothing about football. Makes me think who is worse…Philbin or Ross? The short answer is they both suck in so many painful ways. It’s a no brained that Philbin will go down as the worst HC in Dolphins history and Ross the worst owner in Dolphins history. They might even be the worst duo in NFL history. 100 years from now it will still be in the record books.
These are comments out of frustration @Jimbo. Worst coach in Dolphins history? Does Cam Cameron come to mind? Replace with anybody. Okay I’ll throw one out there , Mark Trestman? You would take him over Philbin? Lets be honest with ourselves and honest with our situation. Please for the sake of a balanced debate.
Things could be worse and you cant blow up our team’s chances because you want retribution for Philbin’s failures. This is the foundation of my argument to keep him on. There are no better candidates and simply taking anybody who is available is a worse decision by a mile. And to prove that point. Many philbin haters repeatedly state Philbin was hired because he was the only available and willing coach. Which I feel is more true and speculation.
You have to approach this like very delicate surgery as the HC is a very important and globally effecting figure. This is a heart transplant operation not an amputation. You have to plan for his replacement before you lead the charge to remove him. The fire Philbin argument is without that crucial 2nd part. Conversely the bench Tannehill campaign did and had a qualified and available candidate in Matt Moore. So at least that failed argument had logical merit.
So please ask your self honestly these questions. Do you really want what’s best for the Dolphins? If so, do you really feel that firing Philbin without the prospect of a promising candidate is the best choice? If you answer yes , then I say our record should be 2-13 and I would agree. But its not and we may just finish at 9-7. Yes its disappointing but tell that to the Jets, Jags, Raiders and so on.
Now to be fair I will agree with a hypothetical. Lets say today Belechick says he is leaving New England and will either retire or only coach for the Dolphins period. Yes I would support that move in a Miami minute. So Im no Philbin homer but given the realistic options at the present time, I want only want the best possible situation and wont reshuffle the deck and risk a worse outcome.
Yes I honestly would take Trestman over Philbin (the Bears team just sucks). Cam Cameron wasn’t the best coach, but I never hated the guy as much as I dislike Philbin. Cameron’s team wasn’t that good. Our string of QB’s were horrible. This team we have right now is gifted all over the place, but our coach doesn’t utilize them good. You think a new coach would bring a 2-14 record and I don’t believe that to be true. We could have no HC and the team would be a .500 team. If our coach didn’t make the same boneheaded mistakes we would’ve finished around 12-4 this year. I think anything below 10-6 is a huge dissapointment with this talented team. Me expectations this year was for the team to go 10-6 or 9-7, but that was before Tannehill blossomed…and no I don’t think he got better because of Philbin. He got better because of Lazor and Marino. Clock management is the biggest issue Philbin has no idea how to control and he has proven that he will not get any better at it. The Jets, Jags and Raiders need a lot more then a HC. All we need is an average HC and possibly a better DC.
Sorry, PhinsUp, but Jimbo is making some good points. Scam Cameron was the pits, but he had Cleo Lemon as his #1 QB, Travis Minor as his #1 RB, and Greg Camarillo as his #1 WR. Not quite an all-star team there.
Mark Trestman is a guy who I personally wouldn’t hire…BUT he is a 2-time CHAMPION in the CFL. When the Bears hired him, he HAD EXPERIENCE making play calls, making personnel decisions, creating winning adjustments, and dictating leadership. Those are all qualities of experience that Philbin had zero of. Remember though…as bad as Philbin is, this mess we’re in is Ross’s fault. Ross sought out a kindly old man instead of a fiercely aggressive coach, and look where we are. I gave Ross the benefit of the doubt for 3 straight years, but when he recently foisted Philbin upon us for a 4th year, it was time to change our tune around here.
Enough is enough.
I think you’re misguided if you feel that 4 years is enough time to see Phibin’s value, but 3 years is not enough time. It’s just a respectful difference of opinion we share.
Okay so using your logic we’re not allowed to use the excuse of injuries for Philbin but yet were allowed to use the excuse of lack of quality talent for Cam Cameron do you understand that you can’t have it both ways.
I understand what you are trying to say, but even with the injuries this team is much better then Cam Cameron’s. Tannehill and Moore are better then Cleo Lemon, K Moreno and Miller are better then Minor, Wallace is better then Camerillo, etc. The clock management issue has nothing to do with the players. Same goes for never willing to go for it on 4th and 1 or his inability to throw a flag on an obvious bad call. Also for the record… no, Trestman wouldn’t be on the top of my list of replacements for Philbin, but if it came down to only those two then yes I would for sure take him. I agree with Admin, that we need a coach under 50 who has fire in him.