The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

A team ultimately takes on the personality of its coach.  There is no right way; coaches can be successful in any number of ways.  You can be Bellichek, relentless in a quest for domination.  You can be Sean Payton, the smartest guy in the room.  You can be a guy who played and is reaching the players by knowing what they're going through.  You can just be a regular guy who connects on a personal level.  You can be Rex Ryan, the great motivator.  You can be Coughlin, the strict disciplinarian.

Or you can be Philbin.  You can be emotionless, relatively competent but without the spine to put your boot to the throat of your opponent, unwilling to take a chance against teams that you should be, unable to effectively outsmart the opposing coach in a gameplan.  He plays to his own weaknesses.  He has no identity, thus we have none.

We have an improved roster and we look like exactly the same team.

Only two games in, it's apparent that he needs to go.

he needed to go after last year.

As i said, back to back loses to the Bills and Jets (with this o-line and secondary I fully expect) heading into the Bye week and I think Philibin is gone by Columbus Day.

Hate to say it, but if Miami gets blown out by both the Bills and Jets you are probably right.  But I think Miami will at least eek out a win against the Jets.

I think after these past 2 games against mediocre to bad teams it is evident this team is not prepared and Philbin should take the fall for that!!!!!!

Lets just hope when it does happen that Ross is not picking the new coach. After the 2011 season Ireland wanted to hire McCoy but Ross wanted Philbin so that's who we got.

Who would be available in Week 4 and the offseason anyway? I imagine Lazor gets the promotion because no one respects Coyle. If he doesn't do a good job, then who is available?

I am not convinced our GM is honest.

Could he be trying to sabotage the team?

Why do you extend such a stupid coach after two disappointing seasons?

I think if this season ends in failure, obviously Philbin has to go.  After 4, 5, etc games, I don't know if we can him or not.  Like someone said, who would be available and if you do fire him, the interim coach knows he's not getting the job, so you might as well end the season with him.  Don't get me wrong, I think it would suck, but it what it is.

What you have in Philbin is a passion-less coach, a coach that plays the number, soft-spoken and not aggressive.  His team seems to take on his personae.  Regular season:    24–26 (.480)  That says it all right there.  That is the epitome of mediocrity.

I have a scoring system for the rest of the year with regards to wins & loses.  On a scale from +3 to -3.  A great win or dominant win would be max +3 pts.  A real shitty loss is worth -3. And anything else would be between those nos.

I look at the WAS win as a 0.  Nice to get a win, but it did nothing for the over all look of the team.  Now, the loss on Sunday? That's a -3 game fore sure.

So right now, Philbin's in the hole -3 pts.  I think in order for him to keep his job and show he's moving in the right direction, he's got to be in the + high teens to 20s.  Anything in the negative realm -10 or higher, he's got to go.

That's my .02

I get the points about the interim coach probably not keeping the job, but what do you have to lose? Philbin was stupidly extended, I think everyone agrees on that by this point. So far, looks like another lost season. Let's just say we lose the next 2 and go into the bye at 1-3, what do we have to lose by firing Philbin? At that point, it should be obvious to everyone he sucks and has to go. So, you turn a guaranteed 6-8 win season and perhaps get lucky and turn it around. Maybe Lazor is a good head coach and the players respond. If not....so what? What did we lose?

I will always take the unknown over the known failure.

The GM didn't give the coach the contract. He has no say in who the coach is

This is not an overreaction. More like a delayed reaction.

Philbin should have not been the coach this season.

Welcome to the party, pal. It will be especially devastating to lose to The Jets, because Todd Bowles was Miami's Head Coach, and we basically fired him to hire Joe "The Ostrich." The players simply do not want to play for this guy. Ross announced Clueless Joe would return for 2015 in week 16 last year, after the Fins managed to pull out a win versus the Vikes, who were playing with a Rookie QB and no AP. The next week we get blown out by Geno Smith and the Jets. I'd say that should've been the first clue, but that was really Clue 37 or 38.

ALL. OF. THIS.

Could be the players are showing their dissatisfaction with the coach by not winning or trying hard as hell to lose.

Ross is still trying to rehabilitate his image after the debacle with Sparano and Harbaugh.  I don't think he'll fire Philbin mid-season, under any (football-related) circumstance.

Agree. But if they are 1-7 or 2-9....then he can fire him and nobody would bat an eyelash and it would be understandable. Not like Philbin just got here its year 4

I think Philbin is a fine coach.

I think if we lose to both the Bills and Jets and start 1-3, that you should swing the axe right there.

I was kidding when I said Philbin was a fine coach, but man, that's an overreaction. At least give him until the middle of the season.

I have never asked for a coach to be fired in the middle of a season...ever.  (And I'm not asking for it now.)  But this is year 4.  Under normal circumstances, I would agree that you wait.  But if you wait the whole year, that means Tannehill starts fresh again next year.  I'd rather jump-start that now and send a message that we demand more.  The last time we canned a guy mid-season, the interim did pretty well.  Now he coaches the Jets.

I manage people and am responsible for firing.  I've learned over the years that once you realize that someone is not salvageable, that it's better to move on that decision as quickly as possible.  Waiting to get rid of someone that you know is not a good fit just slows down everything and makes the transition harder.  Do it like a Band-Aid.

I expect Lazer would be the interim and I wouldn't expect him to get the head job so Tannehill starts over anyway. The only thing you are doing is showing you demand more.

That said, if we start 1-3, I'm ready to make the change. I've never been a big Philbin supporter but have been short of yelling for his head.

Fires usually come around BYE Weeks. A 1-3 start then a bye week is the perfect time to send him packing.

if not at that point then I would suspect after the Thursday night game AT New England. Cause its a 10 day stretch till the next game

I don't see Bill Lazor taking over as head coach.  Like Phish said, there's no jump start benefit and you're mailing it in at week 5.  Remember how miserable the Patriots were the first 4 weeks of last season?

We aren't the Patriots, I know, but what do you gain from having a stop-gap coach for 11 weeks, and then finding some hot shot college a-hole or some retread coordinator?

So are you proposing never firing Philbin?

I want to stress that I never think this way.  I never have called for a coach's head during the season in any sport.  But, record aside, even -- this team has an improved roster, without improved play.  Philbin doesn't have the results, he doesn't have the love of his players, it seems...and if he goes 1-3, you'll have full understanding of the media and the fans -- it's a clean break.  Once you know it's a certainty...and let's be real.  If you have a poor showing at Washington, then lose to Jacksonville unimpressively, then in-division losses to the Bills and Jets, at home (or London...whatever),  then it's apparent that you're not going to keep the guy.  Get it over with.  At least that way, the media won't be in every player's face for the rest of the year asking about their coach.

It's not improved roster in many areas. And the o-line is what matters most. Also the LB's aren't improved, same group as last year really, just moved Misi to the outside. With no Delmas secondary is worse.


Three of the biggest flaws from last year and Hickey did little to noting. No safety depth, had faith in Billy Turner/Dallas Thomas, and didn't add one quality LB who could possibly start.

Hickey rolled the dice on a 2nd year Safety from LIBERTY to be the answer. A 2nd year offensive linemen from NORTH DAKOTA ST who sucked so bad last year he couldn't sniff the field even after all the injuries we had. Nothing against small school guys but you can't count on them this much where you think "your set" and just ignore the position.

WR and TE's are improved. D-line and d-line depth (when healthy) is improved. Even the CB depth is improved to be honest. Rest of the areas were not upgraded. O-line being the one that you can't overcome

I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Miami sweep the Bills and Jets in the next 2 games. At some point they have to start playing better and the Dolphins usually start playing better when they aren't the favorite because they all get big heads when the media starts picking them to win. When they are picked to lose is usually when they show up to play. The Jets and Bills are both playing over their heads. If there's one thing I know about the NFL is that it stands for not for long. I see a change in fortunes coming the next 2 weeks.

A lot of Bucs fans think that Lovie Smith is the same way.  No emotion or personality.  After the debacle against Tennessee, they wanted him gone right there.  They miss the days of John Gruden who coached with passion and fire. 

I think more miss Dungy who had no emotion or personality.

Nope. I'm proposing to fire him after another miserable season.  To fire him in Week 5 is giving up with 70% of the season left to play, unless you think he is the reason why they are losing and firing him is the only way to recover. 

I was just emphasizing that Dave's contention of "getting a head start" on next season is a fallacy.

It's this as well.  The season is still salvageable after 4 weeks.  A new coach can provide a spark.  It also keeps the cameras out of a developing QB's face about his coach.