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Michael Thomas: Defense was handcuffed by coaching in 2015

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http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nfl/miami-dolphins/article70054557.html

Miami Dolphins coaches “babied” Ryan Tannehill last year, Greg Jennings famously said recently.

But that's old news. Here's something new: the same dynamic might have hurt the team on the other side of the ball

That same coaching staff also “handcuffed” players on defense, Michael Thomas recently told 120 Sports. But new coordinator Vance Joseph has made clear that the group will “not be so vanilla” in 2016.

Appearing as a guest on the webcast, Thomas said that Dolphins defenders “were limited to how many plays we could call, what type of plays we could call.”

As a result, the Dolphins had their worst statistical season on defense in years. Miami ranked 25th in yards allowed (376.2 per game) and 19th in points (24.3) in 2015.

And who was in charge of that defense for the season's last 12 games? Lou Anarumo, who survived the coaching change and has gone back to leading Thomas and the Dolphins' secondary this year.

Some (but certainly not all) of the reason the Dolphins struggled: Ndamukong Suh didn't dominate in the way he had in Detroit. Suh was left out the Pro Bowl for just the second time in his career.

Thomas gave some insight why.

“He wasn't put in position to make plays, like a lot of us,” Thomas explained. “I wasn't put in position to make plays because of injuries, I had to play out of position. We were very vanilla last year. It wasn't all our defensive coaches. We had to work with what we had. It was very vanilla. Other teams knew it was very vanilla.”

Thomas added: “This is going to be an entirely different product you see on the field this year.”

Thomas, one of the team's best special team contributors, was excited about the recent addition of safety Isa Abdul-Quddus, because it will allow him to focus on what he believes is his best position: slot cornerback.
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Thomas, one of the team's best special team contributors, was excited about the recent addition of safety Isa Abdul-Quddus, because it will allow him to focus on what he believes is his best position: slot cornerback.
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That's interesting..
 
Maybe the reason Michael Thomas didn't make plays is because he just isn't that good.
 
First Sparano, then Ireland, now Philbin (along with Coyle and Lazor). Everything's always the fault of the guy that's not here anymore.

Not that the above were good at their jobs; they were all awful and they were all rightfully canned. It's just a little too convenient. And many of the same fans who are heaping scorn upon them now we're all-in and drinking the aqua flavored Kool-aid by the tankerful until the bottom dropped out. Best example being Lazor-- in 2014, he was so revered that people seriously made the argument that Philbin had to be retained strictly to keep Lazor in the fold. Fast-forward to 2015 and he's the second coming of Kippy Brown.

The old adage that "you have to fire the coach because you can't fire all the players" has never been more true.
 
Michael Thomas is a natural leader and we have very few in Miami. He will end up a team captain for Special Teams. He also represented the Dolphins recently at the White House Easter event (probably nominated by Garfinkel or Tannenbaum). He was also the starter of the Dolphin cycling event to raise money for cancer research. He is also in the process of completing his MBA at the University of Miami after graduating from Stanford and he became a Dad last year.
What I am saying is that Mike Thomas is a terrific team guy - he's really smart and articulate - he's also apparently very popular among his teammates. He made some great plays in the final game against New England and really fired the team up with a big tackle. Do not underestimate him, especially his leadership attributes. My prediction is that he will be a terrific success in life and maybe his football has further upside. Listen to what he says and I repeat, do not underestimate him.
 
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spiketex said:
Michael Thomas is a natural leader and we have very few in Miami. He will end up a team captain for Special Teams. He also represented the Dolphins recently at the White House Easter event (probably nominated by Garfinkel or Tannenbaum). He was also the starter of the Dolphin cycling event to raise money for cancer research. He is also in the process of completing his MBA at the University of Miami after graduating from Stanford and he became a Dad last year.
What I am saying is that Mike Thomas is a terrific team guy - he's really smart and articulate - he's also apparently very popular among his teammates. He made some great plays in the final game against New England and really fired the team up with a big tackle. Do not underestimate him, especially his leadership attributes. My prediction is that he will be a terrific success in life and maybe his football has further upside. Listen to what he says and I repeat, do not underestimate him.
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We definitely need all the leadership we can get on the field. That's been lacking severely since philbin came to town. I think gase knows better.
 
Isn't this coming from the same players who were so happy last year that the system was being "dumbed down"...so which is it guys???
 
I don't believe anything I hear about the Dolphins anymore.. First the defense is too complicated, now it was too vanilla, Tannehill couldn't call audibles, Tanmehill could call audibles... Philbin like Tannehill enough to draft him right up until he didn't like Tannehill and didn't have his back. Gase will have final say of the 53 man roster... But The GM and VP of football OPS will be responsible for choosing the people we bring in.. I don't care... Just win
 
Adam Strange said:
ld. Fast-forward to 2015 and he's the second coming of Kippy Brown.

The old adage that "you have to fire the coach because you can't fire all the players" has never been more true.
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Even more true is the old adage " that coach sucked". Okay, that's not an old adage, but it is true.
 
spiketex said:
Michael Thomas is a natural leader and we have very few in Miami. He will end up a team captain for Special Teams. He also represented the Dolphins recently at the White House Easter event (probably nominated by Garfinkel or Tannenbaum). He was also the starter of the Dolphin cycling event to raise money for cancer research. He is also in the process of completing his MBA at the University of Miami after graduating from Stanford and he became a Dad last year.
What I am saying is that Mike Thomas is a terrific team guy - he's really smart and articulate - he's also apparently very popular among his teammates. He made some great plays in the final game against New England and really fired the team up with a big tackle. Do not underestimate him, especially his leadership attributes. My prediction is that he will be a terrific success in life and maybe his football has further upside. Listen to what he says and I repeat, do not underestimate him.
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Yes. Thank you. Michael Thomas is very limited as a player but most certainly is great depth, spot starter, and excellent core ST player. Love seeing him make the fins sign when he makes a ST tackle.
 
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