Joe Philbin is a bad coach.
Situations crop up for every team in the league, coaches are judged by how they handle them. Granted, Philbin's tenure has been marred by things others hadnt dealt with, but his handling of the situations has been atrocious. You dont want to blame him for the Incognito mess? Fair enough, i'll allow that. Why didnt Philbin know what was going on? Because when he asked that positions coach what was going on the coach lied to his face. When it came out, what did Philbin do about that blatant (and compromising) lie? Did he fire the coach? Suspend him? Dock his pay? How about raise his voice? To the best of my knowledge, he chose none of the above. Instead, Philbin kept him on for the rest of the season. And then proceeded to (successfully) fight for that coach to continue receiving paychecks for the next 2 years. Oh, and that position coaches unit was responsible for a historical awful performance. Cheers.
Moving on, it was clear to everyone that Mike Sherman was a problem. His play calling was horrific and his inability to play into the strengths of our team cost us. Our damn quarterback leaked it the media that he had totally lost his faith in the man. How did Philbin handle this? By fighting tooth and nail against the owner to keep Sherman. Then, when interviewing general managers, he reportedly told them he could bench Tannehill. Brilliant priorities.
That doesnt even cover his gameday performances, which are thoroughly average. He cant adapt or elevate the play of our players. When everything goes exactly according to the game plan, we will win. If Philbin has misjudged the other team or they do something unexpected, we are screwed. Ultimately Philbin will take an .500 roster and carve out a 8-8 season. He is completely dependent on the very players he is quick to throw under the bus. He isnt Jim Harbaugh, who will make his quarterbacks look great while breathing fire at anyone who even glances at "his guys" wrong.
When everyone on our leadership council was being shown the door early in Philbin's tenure i didnt necessarily believe he was trying to censure the team. It might have been a coincidence. Guys like Long had issues and Dansby had a big contract. I was reserved and willing to let things play out. Now? Theres no doubt in my mind that Philbin considered speaking out to be threatening. He wants his players to toe the line. Yet coaches can apparently do whatever the **** they want and there are no consequences. If im a player in the locker room im only listening with half an ear. Why play my ass off and risk a career ending injury for this scrub? Do the bare minimum, collect my paycheck, and wait for the next staff. Id have that attitude because Philbin is a poor coach.
