Philbin could stay even if we do not make the playoffs

[MikeO]

What? Tannehill is the ONLY guy that we can't lose at this point. He's the closest thing Miami has to a star. He's not a star but neither is anyone on the team. ANYONE. Wake has disappeared lately. It's not all his fault, he can't do it on his own, but he can't put the defense on his back just like Tannehill can't put the offense on his. The real problem with Wake is that his star isn't rising anymore, it's set and on it's way down at least Tannehill's star is still on the rise.

If you asked me to take one player from this team to start a new team with it would have to be Tannehill for me. Grimes might be my second pick but unfortunately it's tough to build a team around a cornerback.

Wake is old. Wrong side of 30. And has hit the wall this year. I knew it was coming but I didn't think he would fall off the cliff like he did. Ireland had the right idea in drafting a  DE (ie Dion Jordan) to put opposite Wake cause Wake's window was closing a few years back and now is slamming shut before our eyes. Unfortunately he just picked the wrong guy in Jordan. The thought process was correct, the player was wrong.  Only consolation is that he hit on Vernon and Vernon can hopefully be that guy.

[masterfins]

As I was thinking about Philbin, I started thinking of prior Miami HC's since the team went on a landslide under Wannstedt.  Philbin is better than Wanny was, then there was Jim Bates who was interim for (7) games so you can't compare to him (although I liked Bates).  Philbin is better than Nick Saban was (15-17 record) left the team without a very good roster.  Tough to compare him to Cameron, since Cameron was only here a year, but probably better than him.  Definitely better than Sparano (29-32 record). Can't compare to 3 game interim Todd Bowles.  So...over the past 15 years he's probably the best coach Miami has seen.  Keeping him around another year or two wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen.

[MikeO]

Philbin is better than Wanny was,

Wannstedt won a division and made the playoffs a few times, and won a playoff game. Until Philbin does can't put him ahead of Wannstedt

[Spider-Dan]

You can't be serious.  Wannstedt was light years better than Philbin.

Philbin hasn't even finished above .500 yet, much less won the division or a playoff game.

[CF DolFan]

Not sure where the Wanny love is coming from. He had a much better team and did nothing with them. Run, run, bad pass, punt.  Unless Not coaching is a talent I fail to see where he did anything.

With that said ... I like the guy but a coach he is not.

[Rich]

Wannstedt had similar talent on defense, a better running game but a lesser QB.

[CF DolFan]

Wanny had the QB he wanted as he was the GM and refused to budge. that was most people's biggest contention with him. I'd argue that Wanny's defense was much better too. Put Sam Madison, Patrick Surtain, Zach Thomas, Jason Taylor, Tim Bowens, Daryl Gardner and Ricky Williams on this team and see what happens to the coaching. We have a couple of those but not all of them.

[masterfins]

Wannstedt won a division and made the playoffs a few times, and won a playoff game. Until Philbin does can't put him ahead of Wannstedt

You know darn well that Wannstedt inherited a decent team.  As soon as Wannstedt took over from Johnson he starting bringing in all his buddy coaches he had at Chicago (miserable Chicago Bears Teams), and the team went downhill.

[Tenshot13]

^^^Top ranked defense, and the best running back in the NFL at the time, and he still messed it up.

[Spider-Dan]

I'd say Wannstedt had significantly inferior talent on offense, particularly when he was making the playoffs.  But more to the point, Wanny's record absolutely OBLITERATES Philbin's.

Through his first four seasons, Wanny was 41-23 (.640).
To date, Philbin is 22-23 (.489).

You might say that it's skewing the comparison to exclude Wanny's last (partial) season before he was fired; I humbly submit that in Philbin's eventual last season before he gets fired, his total win % will go down, too.  So let's compare the meat of the work.

And just in case you might claim that Wanny only rode JJ's coattails: Wanny's win % was better than JJ's, and JJ had Dan freaking Marino.  Wanny won a division title, and JJ did not.  In comparison (again, ignoring the final season for now), Philbin has had a worse win % than his predecessor Sparano, and Sparano inherited a 1-15 team.

Wanny vs. Philbin is not even remotely close.  Anyone who thinks so is looking through the opposite of rose-colored glasses, skewed heavily by past expectations.  JJ made the playoffs three years in a row, Wanny made the playoffs for two more years in a row after that (while winning a division title), both of them won in the playoffs, and people on this forum have nominated both of them for the Hall of Shame.  Philbin would be a regional hero if he won a playoff game.

[hordman]

Not sure where the Wanny love is coming from. He had a much better team and did nothing with them. Run, run, bad pass, punt.  Unless Not coaching is a talent I fail to see where he did anything.

With that said ... I like the guy but a coach he is not.

Funny, I agree with you too.  I like the guy personally, but he wasn't cut out to be a HC, good defense coord though

[Dave Gray]

I felt that Wanny was leading a team that was regressing year after year.  Philbin seems to be on a team that is (slightly) improving yearly.

[Brian Fein]

Wannstedt inherited a very good team from Jimmy Johnson and drove it into the ground.  Wannstedt is the reason why the team has been terrible the past 10 or so years. 

Wannstedt's first season as coach, his team went 11-5 and lost in the 2nd round (the 27-0 drubbing against Oakland).  Next season, 11-5 again, and lost in the wild card.  After that, the team went 10-6, 9-7, 4-12 and he got fired.  Only one playoff appearance since then, in 2008, when they got embarrassed by Baltimore in our own house.

I can't say that Wannstedt was a great coach, or if he just rode along with a talented team that won despite his coaching.  But, the fact that his 5th season (once he was fully removed from Jimmy's shadow), the team imploded.

[Spider-Dan]

How can it be that Wanny "drove JJ's team into the ground" when he had a better record than JJ, despite losing Dan Marino?  Please explain.

If you want to talk about who is at fault for this team being bad for the last 10 years, offhand I would probably select the guy who chose Ronnie Brown over Aaron Rodgers and Daunte Culpepper over Drew Brees.  But that's me.

[Brian Fein]

^^ 21 GM's chose [insert player here] over Aaron Rodgers.  Can't really single out Ronnie Brown there.  I do agree with you about Drew Brees, though.

However, you can't overlook the fact that the amount of skill position players the Dolphins currently have under contract which were drafted by the Dolphins is shockingly low (not Wanny's fault).  The drafting (which I know Wannstedt isn't solely responsible, for but certainly had an influence in) during that era was abysmal at best.  When your best draft pick is Yeremiah Bell, that's pretty sad.  The list of names in that category is a recipe for why the Dolphins have been so terrible.

I'm more commenting on the Dolphins' lack of success IMMEDIATLY FOLLOWING and DURING Wannstedt's term as head coach, and how the team declined in performance during his tenure.