Now that the Dolphins have drafted Ryan Tannehill, a lot of people are expecting Joe Philbin to help turn him into the franchise quarterback that the Dolphins have been missing since Dan Marino retired.
That expectation comes from the fact that Philbin was in Green Bay while Aaron Rodgers became one of the best quarterbacks in football and Matt Flynn became a hot commodity despite starting just two games. Philbin, whose background was as an offensive line coach before moving up to offensive coordinator, is trying to dial things down on that front, though.
Ben Volin of the Palm Beach Post reports that Philbin is backing away from credit for Rodgers’ ascension by giving it to Tom Clements, his replacement as offensive coordinator in Green Bay and the team’s former quarterbacks coach. According to Philbin, Tannehill is going to be almost exclusively in the hands of offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Mike Sherman and assistant quarterbacks coach Zac Taylor. Both of them worked with Tannehill at Texas A&M and that should help make for a smoother transition to the NFL.
“The position coach is the lifeblood of the football program here,” Philbin said. “I believed that when I was a position coach, I believed that when I was an offensive coordinator and I believe it as the head coach.”
Philbin’s honesty in deflecting credit for Rodgers and willingness to delegate speak well of his ability to interact with members of his staff. The end result of Tannehill’s progression is still going to determine how long Philbin is running the Dolphins, though.