Philbin is a mixed bag (which is a step up from Sparano who was downright terrible). Philbin is well organized, has a disciplined albeit cautious squad, and has kept the team together. So he deserves credit in some respects.
But Philbin is certainly worthy of significant criticism. Just to name a couple of points:
1. Philbin is the opposite of Shula in adapting his system to the talent a his disposal. Philbin stubbornly clings to his system even when he doesn't have good scheme fits. For example, he runs a ZBS with guys who are not athletic or move well enough. I mean, look at John Jerry. He can't run block to save his life in this system. Secondly, this defensive personnel is set up for a 34 defense.
2. The team consistently lays a big fat egg at times. Last year against Tennessee. WTH was that? Wasn't it like 37-3 against a sub-par team. This year Buffalo at home. Tampa. You can't just expect Miami to win games they are supposed to like you could with Shula. Philbin is an unbelievably slow learner on getting his team prepared to play EVERYONE. Whatever he is doing, he needs to see what he is doing wrong and fix it. But we haven't seen that as we all saw last week. In general, the guy seems stubborn to his beliefs and in denial on coaching corrections that need to be made.
3. The stubbornness further manifests itself in the lack of game day adjustments. I mean, on game day we on this site were complaining about how Buffalo was perfectly timing the snap count. Then our concerns were validated by McKinnie's post game comments. How they can't fix this during the game is beyond me. Further, Miami stops running the ball if it doesn't work initially. But if passing isn't working, in heavy winds no less, Miami sticks with passing. That is so incongruous. It was fatal that Miami deserted the running game. Statistically Buffalo is not good against the run. That stubbornness was absurd. Moreover, Miami's lack of production offensively in the 4th quarter is alarming. Again, this reflects poor coaching with respect to scheming and in-game adjustments.
Even with all the mistakes Ireland has made, you could argue Philbin has made as many mistakes. The difference might be that Philbin makes a better overall impression based on intelligence and presence. But Philbin needs to make drastic improvement. I think we are looking at another year of Philbin so let's hope the light bulb goes on the way it sometimes does for a raw athlete.