Joe Philbin: ‘Mentally, We’ve Got to Have a Tougher Team’

[ohall]

I hope quaesy Joe has finally turned the corner and will finally let the players play to their full potential. The uber conservative HC one week to the uber progressive HC the next TWO weeks IMO is what has hurt this team the most in the past. If he ever allows his players to play week in week out he has what it takes to be a good NFL HC.

I'm not holding my breath though.

 

[ohall]

fascinating artilce, can't imagine Joe working in a prison!

As for this bit:



I could never understand why we picked Wallace over Jennings

IMO Jeff Ireland.

I'd be shocked if Joe wanted a one trick pony like Wallace over a multi purpose WR like Jennings.

 

[ohall]

Not sure why people blast Philbin for being weak mentally. Jesus, the guy lost a son and then went right to work as his first time as an nfl head coach without having a lot of pieces in place on that team. I've never seen him break from the plan, tweak it in the offseason, but not break. It takes mental toughness to know that there will be some challenges along the way, but by developing your young QB right and building a team the right way sustained success will follow.

Because overall he has been a weak NFL HC. You can't one week play a certain type of football and then play a totally 180 type of football the next TWO weeks. Players aren't stupid, they understand what that means.

Obviously off the field he's a man, a leader to his family. Someone to be respected for what he has gone through as a a father, husband and a man. This doesn't the fact he's been at least a very wishy-washy NFL HC.

 

[ohall]

I'm convinced that was Ireland's guy all along. I think Ireland convinced Joe that Wallace was the better choice over Jennings based on age and speed and Joe just went with it. We would have been a much better team with Jennings...better for the young WRs, better for Tannehill to have someone he could trust...better, better, better.

It may have been one of the main reasons Philbin distanced himself from Ireland.

 

[FinJay614]

How do you qualify 'tougher'? In my opinion, you have a crisis in leadership and personnel if guys miss assignments or fail to play their best when its most important. I place part of it on the coach and another part on the players who should have enough pride to step up to protect their coaches and their teammates. No player who dogged it when it was necessary to step up (especially in the Broncos and Jets games) should be untouchable.

 

[vinivedivichi]

I've been a staunch critic of Philbin over the past year, but I'm getting the feeling he's really evolving as a coach this time around. Especially his comment about having too narrow of a focus/view during the season, and being distanced from much of the team and staff. I think he realizes now that camaraderie in Miami is vastly different than Green Bay -- it takes more effort than he figured to get everyone on the same football-minded page and play cohesively, especially when Ireland brought in guys just lookin for a sweet pay-day, or rewarding big contracts to marginal players. That's extra obstacles you as a coach have to get through to get your players hungry and team-friendly.

Not sure that will equate to a winning season and playoffs, but, having team-togetherness and rapport is something Miami has desperately needed for some time now. Maybe Joe is the one to bring it back?

I hardly ever post anymore but felt the need to post in this thread. To be frank, I have never been a fan of Philbin. I didn't like the hire, I haven't liked the results, and I thought it was time to move on after last year when we once again showed sign of mental weakness as a team. I'm not sure that this article changes my opinion completely, but I will say that it says a lot about Philbin that he is introspective and able to recognize potential shortcomings and make modifications in order to achieve better results.

As fans, we like to see a change in coaching staff because we get to the point we feel like what we have won't be able to accomplish the ultimate goal so we need to find someone else that may be able to help us achieve that goal. I don't necessarily think that's a wrong way of thinking - especially because many football coaches are rigid in their ways and personality-wise are not programmed to address non-football areas of weakness that may be holding them back from being a better coach. Say what you will about Philbin, but he clearly is trying to change to overcome identified issues that this team has had. And it's way more than the surface level "he makes jokes, etc." sort of thing that you often hear. We are getting change this year without having an overhaul in coaching staff. To me, that's promising even if I'm still not convinced Philbin is the man for the job. Good for him and hopefully it works out for our team this year.

 

[DANTODUPER]

Yea personality wise he is my kind of coach, idk why people dislike him so much for off field stuff

Talent is the issue. I think Lazor wil be a very talented HC one day. I just hope we make him the HC and not other team because we kept Joe.

 

[oasis]

Talent is the issue. I think Lazor wil be a very talented HC one day. I just hope we make him the HC and not other team because we kept Joe.

This is a real problem. The team has to figure out how to keep Lazor. The problem is this, and why I have suggested an ouster of Philbin might be plausible: If you believe in Lazor THAT much, that he's really the HC you want, you can't have Philbin succeed. As long as Philbin succeeds, he remains HC. And the more the team succeeds, the less chance you keep Lazor as OC, assistant HC, or whatever. In fact, I'd go so far as to say the team's success in the immediate future and keeping Lazor are mutually exclusive. It's sort of like sucking for Luck. If you REALLY think Lazor would be that amazing as a HC, then crippling the team with subpar O-line depth is how you do it.

I'm not sure if I believe in Lazor enough to endorse this, but if I did and was in Tannenbaum's shoes, that's exactly how I'd do it. I do think the Dolphins would suffer mightily after Lazor's departure - if you want to keep the same system you're looking at Zac Taylor as OC ( a complete unknown and honestly, not very inspiring), or you bring in someone with a new system and squander some of the strides made.

 

[oasis]

To add to my previous post, I can see a scenario where Ross has committed to and likes Philbin, while Tannenbaum sees Lazor as the coach of the future and the football mind you want to keep around forever. In that sense Philbin is the "progress stopper," if you want to compare to players.

I like Philbin as a person, but I would 100% side with Mike T. in my hypothetical.

 

[Hayden Fox]

I find it funny that I always killed Joe for never getting "his guys" in the locker room. Happy to see four years in he feels the need to do that.

 

[Ruckus45]

Because overall he has been a weak NFL HC. You can't one week play a certain type of football and then play a totally 180 type of football the next TWO weeks. Players aren't stupid, they understand what that means.

So when the pats run the ball one game then go pass happy the next two games Billicheat is a genius but when Philbin does it he is weak? No, I say game adjusting based on your opponent. Then you have to take into accord a limited playbook based on Sherman/young qb and a limited amount of talent. Look, I can have the strongest mindset in the world but I'm not invading China with the Girl Scouts. You have to try to work with what you have.

Point is- leadership and "weak mindset" don't operate in a vacuum. The players obviously rally behind him, as seen in the SD whooping last year. The FO digs him. The team looks much better than ever. Hard to deny the plan is working.

 

[hoops]

sorry joe but it was you and your staffs personnel decisions that beat you during the stretch run not your lockerroom and not mental fortitude...the dallas thomas at tackle (which you seem to have not learned your lesson on) the philip wheeler at lb the standing pat at corner when attrition set in

look yourselves in the mirror...it was your own doing

 

[Brazzi]

It was a weird interview in spots, mainly because he seems still very angry at guys last year but trying to keep himself composed.

 

[hoops]

reads to me like excuses...which annoys the hell out of me...we didnt make the postseason cause this staff stuck with status quo while it killed us

 

[Sherif]

The team looks much better than ever. Hard to deny the plan is working.

Unfortunately with this team it will go into December before I can make this statement. In 2013 we roll into Dec by beating the Jets, Chargers, Steelers and Pats then finish the season by putting up a combined 7 points against the Bills and Jets in the final two games. In 2014 during the second half of the Bronco's game our season turned around and we went 2-4. I would feel much better about the upcoming season if we churned the bottom 5-10 players on the team and got players ranked around 80 rather than 50-60.

http://www.nfl.com/schedules/2013/REG/DOLPHINS
http://www.nfl.com/schedules/2014/REG/DOLPHINS