I'm so torn on the fact Philbin is returning.

[Phinatic8u]

The way I see it, Joe isn't a good coach. But... Jeff Ireland was really, really bad at his job. Jeff Ireland did far more to hinder this 2014 Dolphins team from beyond the grave than Joe did, even counting that awful coaching job he did at the end of the Packers game. From that point of view, I can move on with the hope that Joe improves as a coach and does better with better talent.

To me the wild card is Bill Lazor. If I see more of what I saw next week from our offensive game plan and play-calling, we are going to torch the Jets. And that will give me a lot more hope for what this team can do next season. It's like a light went on for Bill today and he realized that you can do things other than run a spread offense throwing 3 yard garbage from the shotgun with some read option looks tossed in.

That's why I'm hopeful for next year.

---------- Post added at 10:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:59 PM ----------

I'm not going to recount the reasons why I think he should have been gone. I'm just going to try and embrace the positives of him being around and hope that the excuses were actually reasons. We can hope that continuity in an offense that showed potential and the injuries were the reason we couldn't survive what was a tough schedule.

That's my thought process.

I'm probably crazy though.

 

[J. David Wannyheimer]

Yup, that's all we got. The HOPE that Joe can learn from his mistakes and that Dennis Hickey knows what he's doing.

Make no mistake about it, Steve Ross did not double down on Joe Philbin right here. Steve Ross just doubled down on DENNIS HICKEY. If Billy Turner works out, and if Hickey pulls off some kind of great move like signing Orlando Franklin, and finds two more quality starters in next year's draft... we could be a legit playoff team. But that's what it will take, make no mistake about it.

Hope the Silver Fox can pull it off.

 

[Hayden Fox]

Joe needs some big time leaders in FA to come on the roster. If not, he is done.

 

[thaemcee2]

im torn...while he has been upsetting esp. the last 2 games we lost, the team is pretty disciplined...the coach doesnt miss tackles drop passes or get pushed off the LOS...then you could go back to bullygate, coming up flat in 2nd half, and ultimately a .500 record...so you know what we can complain and cry all we want but the reality is here is here again so lets focus on fixing this atrocious defense...
goodbye wheeler ellerbe JO Finnegan = we need a 330lb+ defensive tackle who eats space and can demand double teams....also need a shutdown CB and run stuffing MLB i like misi but he is not reliable health-wise...prob a safety too
offense goodbye hartline s smith dalthomas we need another BIG TARGET WR and TE,few OL and BIG physical RB maybe d williams can stay

 

[KTOWNFINFAN]

See I don't get this. If grown ass men need motivation to go make plays then there useless as football players.

That's the most overused statement around.

I can't possibly believe people actually think this way. Great leaders can take their men FAR above their reasonable expectations. Look at some of the great war leaders that were able to overcome enormous odds to achieve victory. You don't have to be a loud cheerleader type to be a leader but you have to inspire men to be more than they would normally be.

It is amazing to me when people say things like "these guys make X amount of money they shouldn't need motivation". Really?? So do you think money is worth more than their lives?? If soldiers need motivation and can be greatly influenced by it when their life is on the line, what makes you think football players would some how be immune??

Humans are emotional beings and are affected more by emotions than most think. Having a leader that instills confidence in his players can overcome a lot of deficiencies in a team's personal. To think otherwise is kinda silly.

 

[hoops]

Tempo next year or all their heads should be lopped off...no damn excuses...from the route combos to the run game emphasis scheme wise to you name it this offense screams play freaking fast..

From week 1 dammit...let's dictate to the opposition

 

[Pickle]

it was important to keep Philbin so that Hickey and Lazor could be retained. Gotta give those two another year, Moreno stays healthy and this is a much different/better team. If the offense explodes again next weekend and RT17 goes nuts then it'll do wonders for their outlook and mentality going into next season. Also a lot of you hate Coyle and I will admit he has struggled at times but just look at our defense this year, injuries to our starting LBs and DBs throughout the year to the point we were picking guys up from the street to start at CB. Lazor and RT17 with another offseason and some more pickups along the line will be sexy next year. Most of the work this offseason needs to be directed towards the defense.

I trust in Hickey and Lazor/Tannehill.

 

[ATL_PHIN_FAN]

The way I see it is, if Tannehill is what I think he is, I can be the coach.

The Defense is gonna probably be the same unless Miami gets some run suffers in the middle. Jenkins will improve even more so that's a bonus.

Add some talent, young and old, and this team with Ryan Tannehill at qb can win a lot of games.

I think Hoops is right. The reason our defensive line has looked so bad this year has been the very poor line backer play. We are gonna have to get us a MLB. That means a high draft pick spent, or a free agent. I'd much rather spend that draft pick or money on fixing our offensive line, but this is getting critical. If we get the MLB in the draft, I'm thinking 1st or 2nd round at minimum. The other two picks in the first 3 rounds better be offensive line, or Tannehill's career will be a short one.

 

[roy_miami]

Yup, that's all we got. The HOPE that Joe can learn from his mistakes and that Dennis Hickey knows what he's doing.

Make no mistake about it, Steve Ross did not double down on Joe Philbin right here. Steve Ross just doubled down on DENNIS HICKEY. If Billy Turner works out, and if Hickey pulls off some kind of great move like signing Orlando Franklin, and finds two more quality starters in next year's draft... we could be a legit playoff team. But that's what it will take, make no mistake about it.

Hope the Silver Fox can pull it off.

I think Ross had a plan and stuck with it. The plan seemed pretty obvious to me and I remained confident the staff was safe, up until the Patriots loss that is, I started to doubt myself a bit then. I think as long as the team showed progress, and the team never quit Philbin and company would be given two years post-Ireland.

Another prediction of mine was Brady would have one last hoorah this year then he would start to falter. Brady is not going to go away quietly but I think the division is legitimately within reach next year. The Bills still don't have a QB. The Jets are a mess. And I predict Brady will start to look pedestrian. So if Tannehill continues to develop we should have a good shot at the division.

Its not going to be easy. It'll never be easy. But if we can get on the opposite side of the coin on a few of those tough losses, and get a little less unlucky on the injury front we could make some noise.

Philbin does need to retain/bring in some great leadership though. Head coaches don't have unlimited time for players to buy in and he's probably getting dangerously close to losing the team for good. And that goes for anybody, I don't care how good you are, if Bruce Ariens doesn't get a real QB sooner than later what his team is doing is unsustainable. And the problem for him is I don't know if Carson Palmer qualifies as a real QB.

---------- Post added at 02:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:02 AM ----------

Joe needs some big time leaders in FA to come on the roster. If not, he is done.

Beat me to it.

 

[finfan54]

Wrong. The reason we got run on is teams started to double team Odrick/old man Starks/smaller Mitchell. Yes the LB's were weaker but they started with our smaller DT's with the LB's in mind.

Zach Thomas could run around and be Zach because of Tim Bowens.

I think Terrance Knighton and Danny Shelton would solve that problem. I also would think Tripp will be ready to go but we need two more LB's and Jordon is a fish out of water.

 

[Danny]

I was upset yesterday when I heard about it but there's nothing I can do about it other than to hope it works. I'm not one to blame everything on the coaches. Like some people here always blaming Coyle for the defense. It's not his fault they keep missing tackles. It's always a combination of things. The thing that bothers me about Philbin is the team seems to lack passion at times and we never seem ready after a bye week. But he's our HC and I'm rooting for him.

 

[Bob512]

I was listening to the opening drive on Sirius this morning and an interesting take on Joe Philbin by Bob Papa and Solomon Wilcox.....

Bob Papa brought up that Ross announced Philbin was staying and that he was checking out social media and it appears a lot of the fans aren't happy about it. (Finheaven perhaps?). Both Bob and Solomon had the opinion that keeping Philbin was the right move and that the "team" here in Miami had made good strides this year and should be kept together. The emphasized the need to keep RT in the same offensive system and how well he is playing and that coaching staff continuity with a young team was very important. Wilcox went on to say "what exactly do the fans down there want......if you want to flip coaches every two or three years.....you would wind up like the Raiders".

Just another perspective I thought I would share.....

 

[FrankP]

I'm not super-thrilled for this announcement either. I'm not pissed either.

What I would have liked though is for Ross to stay the heck out of it and have Hickey announce it. Show that the football structure is in place and that there is a chain of command. Now it just shows again the mess of an owner meddling and all that. I don't like that part

As for him staying, I don't really mind. I think what did the season in is the lack of depth.

 

[SkapePhin]

Ross is an idiot if he really decided Philbin was safe after the Patriots loss, without the benefit of more information. He potentially would be bringing back a coach that went 7-9, 8-8, and 7-9. I don't think Philbin should be back even at 9-7, but to bring back a coach who actually regressed back to 7-9 after going 8-8?

Pathetic.

 

[Canadianfishfan]

I understand the need for continuity. I also think it's important. And Yes, I've said all along it was playoffs or bust.

There was a point where I even backed off that ledge and said perhaps 9-7 would be enough to keep his job. (Not many coaches lose their jobs with winning records.)

But the thing that irks me about Philbin beyond his lack of leadership ability is his stubbornness. It seems like beat writers and people on this forum can identify problem areas with this team, yet this coaching staff insists on sticking with players who are failing badly. And when changes are finally made, improvements happen.

I am perplexed as to why Miller doesn't get more carries. Would it have been too hard for him to get over 100 yrds rushing? Why replac him with Thomas? They guy never gets to carry the load. And that's a shame.

Why are they insisting Dion Jordan is a DE. He's bulked up to 290 lbs reportedly. Are you serious? He was drafted at 230! Can't expect him to do what he does best at that weight. If he played at LB he would be a pro bowler IMO. Doubt we see it though.

Not starting Jason Fox until yesterday is inexcusable. Certainly not playing to win. Evaluations are done in August.

Every week there is an opportunity to take a chance on 4th down. If we lost the game yesterday against the Vikings I would've been even more pissed. They chose to punt at mid field and the Vikings walked right down the field to score anyway. It was 2 freakin yards. Cmon Philbin, you have zero faith this team can't get 2 yards? really? Good coaches give their team respect and inspiration by having trust in them by putting the game in their hands. He simply doesn't do that enough, unless it's so bloody safe to do so. BORING!

Those are just a few observations. And I don't expect Philbin to be any better next year. We win in spite of him. Not because of him.