Just wanted to point out, the only two times we've made the playoffs since 2001 were with first year head coaches. 2008 it was Sparano and 2016 it was in Gase's first year. And for all intents in purposes, that means our last two head coaches who actually tried to win their first year made the playoffs. 2019 Flores punted on everything which is a marvelous way to lower expectations to where everything you do feels like a victory. 2013 was Philbin's first year and we entered full rebuild mode, traded Brandon Marshall in the offseason and then Vontae in camp so Ireland could have "money and picks". It was Tannehill's first year.
I don't get where this sense of a coaching change means you are tearing down everything good about the team. Sure, sometimes that happens, but the past indicates that's not the best strategy for success. And I highly doubt that happens with a mostly young roster. The biggest issue with the team wasn't that there weren't some things in place that could be a part of future success. I'm sure we all like the pass rush and the general playmaking ability in the secondary. We all like what a Waddle brings to the table and what he should get even better at in the future. But the offensive line in 2021 wasn't better than it was with street free agents in 2019. We can all bemoan that we didn't draft or sign better running backs, but at the end of the day Flores has had on this roster two former 1,000 yard backs in Howard and Lindsey, one guy who had been dynamic in the league in Breida, another who had been dynamic though erratic for the Dolphins in Drake, a very productive receiving back in the past in Duke Johnson....in the end, the other thing that made Flores go away from marginally talented guys Myles Gaskin and Salvon Ahmed three years in is that he literally had no other choice. OC- I mean we all know that after firing one and undercutting a second who "resigned" nobody else wanted to coach for him and he had to promote within....laughably. It needed to be better but nobody wanted to work with Flores and the organization's statement on the firing confirms what most of us knew all along - he was toxic within the organization. OL could clear have gotten better coaching, that our current coach thought the solution to bad tackle play was just moving bad tackles to guard summed it up (NOT JUST TALKING ABOUT THE AUSTIN JACKSON MOVE). You really couldn't have managed the QB situation more questionably in every year of his tenure - and the reporters talking about this are indicating that Flores was more connected to Watson than anyone.
So relax. If there are pieces of this team you like there's no assurance that they go away. What I feel a heck of a lot better about is that problems I was entirely certain were never going to get addressed under Flores now have a chance of getting shored up. Add better running game, better line, better offensive staff, and more sensible handling of the QB, this team can go a long way. And hey, we're all gonna miss the way we felt like this team could absolutely embarrass Ian Book, and maybe it won't be the same with a different defensive staff. But maybe that staff manages to use the defensive playmakers in such a way that they won't give up 40-50 points every time they face a Josh Allen or Brady's Bucs.
I don't get where this sense of a coaching change means you are tearing down everything good about the team. Sure, sometimes that happens, but the past indicates that's not the best strategy for success. And I highly doubt that happens with a mostly young roster. The biggest issue with the team wasn't that there weren't some things in place that could be a part of future success. I'm sure we all like the pass rush and the general playmaking ability in the secondary. We all like what a Waddle brings to the table and what he should get even better at in the future. But the offensive line in 2021 wasn't better than it was with street free agents in 2019. We can all bemoan that we didn't draft or sign better running backs, but at the end of the day Flores has had on this roster two former 1,000 yard backs in Howard and Lindsey, one guy who had been dynamic in the league in Breida, another who had been dynamic though erratic for the Dolphins in Drake, a very productive receiving back in the past in Duke Johnson....in the end, the other thing that made Flores go away from marginally talented guys Myles Gaskin and Salvon Ahmed three years in is that he literally had no other choice. OC- I mean we all know that after firing one and undercutting a second who "resigned" nobody else wanted to coach for him and he had to promote within....laughably. It needed to be better but nobody wanted to work with Flores and the organization's statement on the firing confirms what most of us knew all along - he was toxic within the organization. OL could clear have gotten better coaching, that our current coach thought the solution to bad tackle play was just moving bad tackles to guard summed it up (NOT JUST TALKING ABOUT THE AUSTIN JACKSON MOVE). You really couldn't have managed the QB situation more questionably in every year of his tenure - and the reporters talking about this are indicating that Flores was more connected to Watson than anyone.
So relax. If there are pieces of this team you like there's no assurance that they go away. What I feel a heck of a lot better about is that problems I was entirely certain were never going to get addressed under Flores now have a chance of getting shored up. Add better running game, better line, better offensive staff, and more sensible handling of the QB, this team can go a long way. And hey, we're all gonna miss the way we felt like this team could absolutely embarrass Ian Book, and maybe it won't be the same with a different defensive staff. But maybe that staff manages to use the defensive playmakers in such a way that they won't give up 40-50 points every time they face a Josh Allen or Brady's Bucs.
