I consider the Johnson and Wanny years successful compared to anything following that. But....
2000-2003 - Wanny/Rick Spielman combo couldn't draft, went all-in on Jay Fiedler at QB, and ran Lamar Smith and Ricky Williams into the ground. But at least it was successful for a little while when combined with the quality defense left over from the JJ years. Poor drafting/lack of picks starting to take toll on the roster. 2002 had the potential to be the Dolphins best team in a long time if Fiedler (imagine that) and Chambers hadn't gotten hurt down the stretch.
2004 - The blown/traded draft picks, lack of QB quality, Ricky Williams departure, strange decisions (A.J. Feely, Lamar Gordon) and subsequent lack of quality depth, started coming home to roost and the team bottomed out. Jim Bates finishes out the year.
2005-2006 - Saban took over in 05 and immediately shored up the defense and significantly improved the team in areas of strategy and preparation. This resulted in a winning record in 05, but with the Brees/Culpepper fiasco and apparent inability to identify talent in the draft, Saban realized the NFL was too much work and went back to college after 06.
2007 - Cameron/Randy Meuller combo flopped. The disturbing lack of quality depth caused by bad drafting of previous regimes, and the ongoing inability of this franchise to find/develop a quarterback, were on full display. Cameron had no locker room presence or respect, and he could not elevate a bad roster to anything above 1-15. The Ginn/Beck draft was bad, but there wasn't much that would have saved 2007.
2008-2010 - Parcells/Ireland/Sparano - Ross takes over from Huizenga. Good offseason moves (Pennington/Jake Long), luck in the injury department, and a weak schedule, led to an 11-5 record in 2008 - (Which is why I think there is no such thing as a "rebuilding year" in the NFL). Sparano could never elevate this team to anything beyond the Wildcat offense strategy-wise, and the reliance on questionable free agents (Gove/Smiley/Gibril Wilson) propelled this team backwards in 2009 and 2010. Oh, and again, failures in developing/finding a quality quarterback (Henne).
2011-2012 - Sparano/Ireland/Philbin - Steve Ross botches the Harbaugh hire and Ireland/Sparano get one more crack at it. Despite Matt Moore becoming a minor revelation down the stretch, the complete no-show act during the first half of the season finally sinks Sparano and Todd Bowles finishes out 2011. Despite some hints that Bowles may be appropriate to retain as the head coach, Ross gets dissed by Jeff Fisher (and, in a way, Peyton Manning) and settles for Joe Philbin to start 2012. Philbin jettisons Brandon Marshall and Vontae Davis, two of the teams best talents.
2012-2013 - Philbin/Ireland - Despite a 7-9 record, Philbin kind of/sort of got things going in the right direction in 2012 on the back of a quality defense, and Tannehill is anointed the permanent solution at quarterback. Organization allows Sean Smith to walk. In 2013, the salary cap situation was good and the draft position was excellent, but Ireland botched basically the entire draft and his roster "upgrades" (Elerbe/Wheeler/Wallace) were flops. Tannehill showed some improvement (enough to guide the team into playoff position) but he fell flat the last two weeks of the season when a playoff spot was all but a certainty. Philbin survives, Ireland does not. Oh yeah.....there was that Martin/Incognito thing that Philbin handled so well.
2014 - Philbin/Hickey - After another of Ross' keystone cops hiring attempts, he settles for Hickey as GM who puts together an "ok" draft. Tannehill improves statistically, but the offensive line is now beyond dreadful for various reasons (poor drafting/ignoring the position in free agency/not developing talent) and the defense is officially in regression mode. Once again, the team is in playoff position post-Thanksgiving, but loses 3 of its last 4 and Philbin astoundingly keeps his job after a meaningless win over Minnesota.
2015 - Philbin/Hickey/Tannenbaum - Suh is a nice splash, but roster depth sucks, o-line still sucks, defense bottomed out, and Tannehill regressed (notice I'm not saying he sucks, he just didn't look as if he improved very much). Philbin proved he should have been fired after 2014, maybe 2013, and Dan Campbell was left to clean up a mess many years in the making.
