APAs Dolphins owner Stephen Ross continues to decide what to do with his underachieving football team, he currently is considering undershooting the primary target when making changes.
Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald reports that Ross currently is believed to be more likely to fire defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle than head coach Joe Philbin. Per Salguero, Ross and Philbin are expected to meet and discuss the situation as soon as this afternoon.
Philbin said after Sunday’s 27-14 loss to the Jets that he won’t fire Coyle. If Philbin takes a stand when discussing the situation with Ross, that could be enough, in theory, for Ross to move on from both of them.
As PFT reported Sunday night, Ross is expected to make a decision on Philbin’s status on Monday. One major factor will be the owner’s desire to demonstrate to players that he is willing to make changes aimed at improving the team. Coyle could end up being the half measure implemented now, with Philbin’s departure after the end of what likely will be a fourth season with no playoff berth a mere inevitability.
Firing Philbin now, despite the absence of a clear in-house candidate to take over for the final 12 games, would give the Dolphins a head start on looking for a permanent hire. But the perception that the franchise has cried “uncle” on the season could make it very hard to sell tickets to six remaining games at Sun Life Stadium — with four of the team’s final five games to be played there.
Hopefully Philbin refuses to fire Coyle. After all Philbin decided to bring him back from last year.
Phire Philbin.
Sounds like philbin is throwing Coyle under the buss. What a weasel. Coyle isn’t responsible for the team problem, that’s on philbin.
If any assistant coaches are fired shouldn’t that be Philbin’s decison? Letting Coyle go has been overdue.
As a 30+ year season ticket holder this team may be even worse than Cam Cameron’s one win team.
The truth is that with two weeks to prepare you could hire the 10 best high school coaches in Broward County to prepare for Tennessee and they could do no worse than the current staff.
Ross needs to do Dolphins fans a favor and sell the team. Nothing he has done has been the right decision.
you know what also fails to sell tickets? Losing.
That’s such a poor excuse – “if we fire the coach, we’re giving up on the season”. You’re 1-3 and look like a tire fire that already has given up on the season.
It’s gonna be very hard to sell tickets to the six remaining home games when they have 1-2 wins on their record, regardless of who is the coach.
It’s a good thing Ross made his billions in real estate because he wouldn’t make a dime dealing with people.
Yea it’s Coyle’s fault
I am done following the Dolphins after 40 years, until Philbin is gone. Or preferably Ross.
Fire Coyle.
Strip Philbin’s offensive authority.
Hire for Lions coach Jim Schwartz as DC.
3 of the next 5 games are against 1 win teams,
If we still look this bad, fire Philbin’s & let Schwartz be the interim.
Nothing creates a change in urgency, than people losing jobs.
Ross needs to make the bold move. With four of the next five games on the road, it gives the team the chance to turn things around. If they flounder under Philban for those games…that’s gonna be one empty stadium.
Now is not the time to be timid. That half-hearted approach is why Miami is still in the same mess they were.
Clean house, and call in a professional.
Al Golden will be available soon.
Does Joe Philbin have pictures on Stephen Ross?
Great owner in terms of spending and wanting to produce a winning product. However very clueless and loyal to a fault. Still scratching head on.how Mike tannebum or whatever his name is got hired here. Hickey did a wonderful job first draft.why bring this guy in to undermine him??
“But the perception that the franchise has cried “uncle” on the season could make it very hard to sell tickets to six remaining games at Sun Life Stadium — with four of the team’s final five games to be played there.”
Yea, but if no changes happen… Maybe MORE people will avoid the home games and they lose more money!
It’s idiotic to consider firing an NFL coach at this point. Unless the successor is on staff or unemployed, there’s no upside to firing Philbin today. Ross firing Coyle is also dumb. Staff decisions should be made by the head coach not the GM or owner.
The best decision day for Miami is after their Monday Night Football game hosting the Giants on Dec 16. At that point the season’s results will be clear. Meantime the Dolphins could use a headhunting firm to line up viable candidates without disrupting their own operations.
But that won’t happen. It makes too much sense.
Ross is a businessman, he bought the team to make money and he’s making money.
He’ll continue to make NFL money regardless of the team’s fortunes. Ross is laughing all the way to the bank.
This team has been carefully crafted into a loser.
Keeping Philben is going to make tickets sales easier? Really?
So glad I stopped buying season tickets. What a joke.
It has to start somewhere, for it to end where it is needed.
If they fire Philbin now, what options would they have for an interim HC?? The Owner must evaluate everything, you should never make a decision on emotion.
I take no glee in seeing a person losing their job.
However when a person appears to continuously make the same mistakes, when after years continues to not be able to adapt to changing situations and more importantly fails to see the obvious, it’s time to part ways.
If I had the same results in handling my job as Joe Philbin has had in handling his, I would have been out on my keester 3 years ago.
I agree with Armando Salguero, Joe is delusional. After every loss its the same scripted diatribe, “we have to look at the film and figure out how to make this team better”, he’s had 4 years now, and still can’t seem to “figure” it out.
So long Joe, good luck with your coaching career, I’m sure there’s a high school or JC out there that would allow you to attempt to figure it out with their team.
OVER REACTION
great, keep philbin
—-afc east fans
They may be MORE likely to sell tickets with Philbin gone.
Ross never completely cleans house. That’s the problem.
Either Philbin is a cat with nine lives or Stephen Ross should not be an NFL owner. How in the world do you let this happen? A coaching staff with no experience or leadership.
Philbin has to go. He looks lost, he’s not assertive, he just doesn’t look like a good coach.
If you’re seriously considering firing your head coach, then that should tell you it’s already time to find a new head coach.
Did Suh come off as a complete d-bag in that postgame presser or what? The guys on the NBC pregame were just ripping on him, and rightly so. Combine that with his total lack of effort on the field and it makes me mighty glad my team never got into the bidding for him.
Another issue only halfway fixed. The Dolphins owner is awful. Philbin should have been canned last year but instead was given a 2 year extension.
Jim Schwartz for Defensive Coordinator at Miami..
Told – you… It’d SO be like the fins to sign Philbin to an extension 😉
Actually though, I get it. Philbin filled his staff with guys who would never threaten for a HC position – the proof is in the pudding of their record!
For that reason alone Philbin should be fired but I can see mass chaos breaking out unless there were a strong personality able to come in and whip everyone into shape (what’s Bill Parcells up to these days? 😉
So for now, as crazy as it sounds, there’s some logic to keeping Philbin in place with the full intention of beginning the process of finding a new coaching staff as soon as this one is over
“Firing Philbin now, despite the absence of a clear in-house candidate to take over for the final 12 games, would give the Dolphins a head start on looking for a permanent hire.”
________________________
How does that give them any more of a head start than knowing they are going to fire him anyway? Firing him now without a clear cut replacement would seem like cutting one’s nose off to spite one’s face
Might as well get an early jump on figuring out if Lazor can manage the top seat.
It’s doubtful, but promoting him would give a clear picture of what he wants the offense to look like. If there is no change in performance, then we’ll know Philbin wasn’t holding him back …
Dolphans are obviously stuck with this owner, so not much can be done about that.. He may be football ignorant, but he spends money.. As for HC, he should stay on and receive all the hate and disgust he deserves all season long.. DC should absolutely be fired and Jim Schwartz should be hired as DC.. OC keeps his job for now.. At end of season, fire HC and hire Kyle Shanahan as HC/play caller and hire best offensive line coach available as new OC.. Tananbaum stays on as financial capacity ONLY, handling all cap space and contracts.. Hickey fired at end of season and Brian Gutekunst hired for all player personnel moves.. Give all existing players and contracts the chance of proving themselves to want to be part of Dolphins future..
Fire Coyle???
I watched that offense …. Ross should fire EVERYBODY
Hey Ross, Grow a SET and doing something. Have you ever had a thought of hiring someone with a proven track record & not someone else’s retreads. The only person I have any respect for is Dennis Hickey. I think Hickey did a pretty good job of thinning out Irelands bad decisions. I highly doubt Hickey was really on board with the Suh signing. Ross is worse than Huizenga.
Firing someone to get everybody’s attention rarely works.
Sure the defense is badly underachieving and changing coaching personal in such regard might be appropriate. But is anyone really supposed to accept that the qb and offensive scheme deserve anything beyond a failing grade? What offensive stats that might impress anyone come each weak when the opposition (with a huge lead) allow their defenses to soften up. Never have I seen such a poor red-zone scheme where the lowest percentage of throws are utilized to try and get the touchdowns. Note to the head coach and o-coordinator–the force out rule was taken out of the rule book awhile back. No need in throwing all those red zone jump balls to the endzone borders.
I note that the Shanahan’s agent is posting here again.
There is no reason to fire Philbin now. Our season is already over. The only benefit would be if there was an internal candidate and Ross could let them coach the remainder of the season as a trial run. We might as well let Philbin lose as many games as possible and fire him in mid December
The fact that Philbin refuses to fire Coyle should be grounds for dismissal in it of itself.
This whole entire staff should’ve been fired last year. If Ross really sticks with Philbin, he’ll be confirming that he is completely clueless. That type of half-measured response gets you nowhere. Philbin is the head coach. He is responsible for this team’s performance.
Darren Rizzi would be a good interim HC if Philbin is shown the door.
I disagree. Firing Philbin now would breathe life into the franchise, and even if postseason is now a dream, fans would support Ross and the team for making the bold move. Of course this won’t happen because Ross is loyal to a fault. The anti-Snyder, but still just as terrible.
this is a prime example of why teams should not give guaranteed contracts, players realize their gonna get paid regardless of how good or bad they play. all contracts should be performance based from here on out and it can be called the “suh factor”.
I’d love to see Tannenbaum convince Westhoff to come out of retirement as interim coach the rest of the year. He’d bring some motivation to the coaches and the players for sure.
Joe Philbin is absolutely one of the worst head coaches I have ever seen. I’ve never seen a worse decision maker. If he doesn’t get fired there is no justice in the world.
Who to blame:
1- first would be the GM(Hicky or Tannabaum)everyone knew this team would go nowhere with no pass protection or any form of running game. Tackles and guards were never a thought which should help Miami break another record for most sacks given up.
2- Coyle has no clue,the defense has shown no improvement in his three years
3- Philbin is a X and O guy,but you cannot coach without emotions and his players are taking on his personality
It’s sad but I’m starting to get used to it,new coach and new system every three years, and same old sorry team with no light at the end of tunnel.
I would start by firing Philbin and Coyle,bring in a pop warner kids coach to teach the defense how to tackle and then maybe we could win a game or two
This is what happens when you overpay one DLineman. What’s his cap hit next? 20+ million? Excellent player but it straps the team from putting other very good players around him. Bad business decision
The bottom line is simple. Philbin has lost this team. You can tell by watching the players on the sidelines. They have zero respect for him and don’t even acknowledge him. He doesn’t even look like he belongs there.
A shame they can’t fire that slug Suh. Talk about going thru the motions, he was pathetic yesterday. Got his contract and decided to go “Albert Haynesworth”.
When has Philbin shown any legitimate sign of being a competent head coach?
The fact that the offense came around for a portion of last year, does that outweigh the fact that for the rest of his tenure the Dolphins have been a poorly coached football team?
The schizo Phin fan base out in force I see. Always thinking they are smarter than those in charge. From Cameron on, the fan base is loaded with whiners who support nyj Pennington and making every excuse to defend Tannehill.
From Aponte to Tannenbaum to the Coaching staff….fire them all. And this off season… Some one has to challenge Tannehill. His play or lack of play has mediocre written all over it.
I hear Shula’s available. Might as well go with the guy who won it all last at Miami back in the 1973 season. 1973? OMG 42 years? hehehehe, Suh was the final piece, Dolphins were going to win the division, blah, blah, blah.
I say fire Philbin NOW. Let Lazer finish out the season as interim head coach. If he keeps Philbin he’ll end up winning just enough MEANINGLESS games to get us a crappy draft pick and fool Ross into giving him another season.
I would fire their GM and Philbin.
Their offseason moves were crazy on offense. Too many new pieces to integrate into the offense. Sometimes too many new pieces are too many new pieces.
RE: Suh, you can’t pay DTs that much money. its a grueling position and once you pay these guys, they slow down. period.
The once proud Dolphin franchise has become a complete joke. From the Nick Saban fiasco to the Cam Cameron fiasco to Tony Sporano fist pumping field goals to the Ritchie Incognito Bullygate, it’s a never ending circus.
Never. Ending.
It’s not the coaching staff’s fault that the team spent all their money on a QB who can’t complete a pass for more than 3 yards and a DT who is a complete sociopath. If anything, the coaching staff should be commended for giving Tannehill 3 years to prove that he’s not very good and not deserving of a contract extension.
Maybe they could reach out to Nick Saban…..oh wait……
Fire Coyle and hire Jim Schwartz. He may be lacking as a HC but he is a good DC and has a fiery attitude that this team sorely lacks. Maybe he will play the guys best suited to play as a team instead of arbitrarily ignoring the young guys.
I like Philbin but his personality as a HC needs to be augmented by strong-willed coordinators to crack the whip when needed. He is not bombastic or fiery. He is level-headed. That’s fine but he needs some help or he will be ignored. It may be best to fire him as well but there is nobody on that staff that would be any better.
We have a guy (Tannenbaum) who extended Mark Sanchez and then traded for Tim Tebow. Then traded Will Davis when we have only one solid CB. Drafted zero OL for the worst OL in the league the last two years. Gave Tannehill a big deal instead of franchising him and waiting out the year. Where was Tannehill going to go? I also said we should have drafted Teddy Bridgewater in 2014 to provide some competition at the position. I have been a fan for 50 years and this might be the worst I feel about my team. Time to clean house from Tannenbaum down to Philbin. Name a player coach or let Dan Marino come in and put a foot in their collective asses!!!!
Organizationally the team is is totally dysfunctional.
First, us who is accountable for what? Management by committee dilutes that question along with Ross overstepping his manager’s decision making by firing his defensive coordinator. That’s the manager’s job. Also, what is Tannebaum’s role and why is he adding to the layers of management?
Nothing wrong at all by obtaining input from the players regarding the defensive schemes. Except it should be done as a matter of daily procedure not to fix a very dire performance problem. Employee input is important for optimal performance as well as maximizing positive attitudes and involvement.
I won’t delve into executives lacking basic technical football knowledge, overlapping of responsibilities, yadda, yadda, yadda……
Ross if you are reading this, contact me. I am a management consultant that deals with organizational development and renewal and I can help you.
The NFL should really move the Dolphins into the AFC South as it is the weakest division in the NFL. Besides, Miami is about as “South” as a city can get in the USA anyway. Move the soft Colts back to the AFC East where the Patriots can shred them twice each season. Maybe they can raise a banner to commemorate each game they keep the score within 20 points!
You can list every single fact and statistic in existence, but until you address the fact The Dolphins have been at best an 8-8 team for the past 25 years since they left The Orange Bowl and don’t acknowledge they are a cursed franchise you will never be at the root of the problem. Want proof, look at The University of Miami since they left the Orange Bowl. The Fact is Both the Dolphins and the Hurricanes are cursed and the only solution is to rebuild the orange bowl, and since that isn’t going to ever happen live with the knowledge neither team will ever win again. find a new hobby.
Ross is so clueless, it wouldn’t surprise me if he gave both Philbin & Coyle extensions.
Shula and Schnellenberger and Johnson and Erickson won nothing. The Orange Bowl won everything!
The players tried to stop Philbin from getting on the plane to go home but the defense let him walk right through.
Starts at the top Mr.Ross
– Niners Fan
The Dolphins “won” in free agency when they signed Wallace and again when they signed Suh. That’s what they told us and the media told us. The the old goat Shula told everyone Belichick only wins because he cheats. Guys that love football don’t go to Miami; guys that want a social life do.
Maybe it is time to stop living in the 1970s, stop lying to yourselves and model what Belichick does instead pretending he’s not a great coach and GM.
The mind that created the problem is incapable of solving the problem otherwise it wouldn’t have created the problem in the first place. This applies to Elmer Philbin, Hickey and Ross. Anything short of firing Philbin and the fans are done (if not already). I refuse to watch any more games coached by dead weight. At least a new head coach would give some spark to ANOTHER lost season perhaps.
If the owner hires and fires assistant coachest your franchise will never ever be a success. Head coaches are hired by the GM. Assistants are hired by the Head Coach.
When the owner starts meddling you end up like Cleveland and Oakland.
But I thought fins up and the Pats down??? You guys are always pathetic! We’ll let you know about 5 Super Bowl wins and how great it is in about 4 months fish fans
Philbin reminds me of Childress without a mustache…not good.