So you want to fire Philbin ...

[CF DolFan]

 ... who is going to be your new head coach? you can't replace him with Coyle because he is even more hated than Philbin. Do you replace him with Lazor whose offense has been going backwards with him focusing full time?  I want the whole staff fired but for the life of me I can't see a situation that makes things better.

[MikeO]

Darren Rizzi

You can't replace and fire every assistant. So just Philbin goes  now and make Rizzi the head coach till the end of the year. The team isn't getting better this year. It's just about finding someone to hold the fort till Week 17

[Spider-Dan]

You can't make the special teams coach the HC.  If you have that little confidence in your OC/DC, why even bother firing Philbin in the first place?  Might as well just ride out the season.

[MikeO]

You can't make the special teams coach the HC.  If you have that little confidence in your OC/DC, why even bother firing Philbin in the first place?  Might as well just ride out the season.

Why not? It's happened before. John Harbaugh went from Special Teams coordinator to head coach. Hell SF just hired a defensive line coach with no head coaching experience rbrt as their head coach full time. Your telling me a special teams coach in Rizzi who has interviewed for multiple head coaching jobs in the college ranks can't take over for a couple months and play out the season as the head coach?

Rizzi has interviewed for various head coaching jobs in college, Rutgers probably being the biggest one. And he has served as an assistant head coach before as well. He isn't getting the job for good, just needs to hold the fort for 12 games or so.

[Spider-Dan]

John Harbaugh did not go from ST coach to interim head coach for the team he was ST coaching, which is what you are talking about.

Rizzi can certainly become the head coach of another team.  And he could become the HC of the Dolphins in the offseason.  But you cannot elevate a ST coach over the OC and DC.  It's arguably even worse than what Ross did to Sparano.

[Dave Gray]

I'd promote Lazor or Coyle or a positions coach.  ...I don't care.  It's a matter of principle.  And I'd do it now.  I wouldn't wait another day. If you can steal a win against the Jets, it gives you 3 weeks to get something together before the next stretch.

At this point, it's a motivation problem.  Any coach should be capable of it.

[Spider-Dan]

So who do you think is worthy of that promotion, Lazor or Coyle?  Which one of them is any better at his job than Philbin is at his?

I'm not in favor of making moves just to make them.  If Lazor and Coyle are just as bad (or maybe even worse) than Philbin, your season is dead no matter how you slice it, so you might as well ride it out with dignity.

Remember, Ross is still combating the issue of being a loose cannon owner.  Doing something like elevating the special teams coach above the OC/DC (instead of firing them, too) basically just serves to embarrass them, which is literally worse than doing nothing when it comes to recruiting a new coach.

[MikeO]

John Harbaugh did not go from ST coach to interim head coach for the team he was ST coaching, which is what you are talking about.

Rizzi can certainly become the head coach of another team.  And he could become the HC of the Dolphins in the offseason.  But you cannot elevate a ST coach over the OC and DC.  It's arguably even worse than what Ross did to Sparano.

This is silly? Why can't he? By firing Philbin you are giving up on the season, so who cares who is the interim head coach. Coyle is the reason the defense is a mess, can't promote him. Lazor you could, but I would rather go with Rizzi as he has been here longer. You aren't promoting Lazor or Coyle with the thought the team will turn around and make a super bowl run.  Rizzi  can lose them all and nobody is gonna care as the expectation is he is just holding the fort till the next head coach.  He is given the title "interim" for a reason! This really isn't far fetched

FYI...last time Miami did this when they fired Tony Sparano they promoted their secondary coach Todd Bowles.....not the OC or DC....the SECONDARY COACH!

[MikeO]

Remember, Ross is still combating the issue of being a loose cannon owner.  Doing something like elevating the special teams coach above the OC/DC (instead of firing them, too) basically just serves to embarrass them, which is literally worse than doing nothing when it comes to recruiting a new coach.

He stuck with Irleand after every NFL person told him he was nuts for not cutting bait on him years before. He gave Philbin an extension after years of coming up short. Ross has overcome the "loose cannon owner" tag at this point. No longer an issue for him. If anything he is loyal to a fault!!

[Spider-Dan]

Bowles was hired as the assistant head coach in 2008.  It's not the same thing.

[MikeO]

Bowles was hired as the assistant head coach in 2008.  It's not the same thing.

LOL...ok That's such a minor detail when it comes to appointing an interim head coach to just play out the season. The larger point is it doesn't have to be the OC or DC it can be whoever and it doesn't really matter. 

[Phishfan]

I've been in shock and unable to post anything today but I could not let this slide. Serious MikeO, the title of Assistant HEAD coach is a minor detail when naming your interim head coach. You may be the only person in the world to believe that.

[MikeO]

I've been in shock and unable to post anything today but I could not let this slide. Serious MikeO, the title of Assistant HEAD coach is a minor detail when naming your interim head coach. You may be the only person in the world to believe that.

It's a title that is thrown around to keep an assistant from jumping to another team and to justify giving them a pay raise to keep him around. A resume builder title that looks good on paper but does nothing and has no "real value." Do you ever hear players talking about what their "assistant head coach" said. Most players don't even know who the assistant head coach is, nor should they!  It's a worthless title. But whatever, believe what you want.

Without googling it I bet not one person on this board could name this years Dolphins assistant head coach or if they even have one. And if its so obvious why hasn't anyone just said, he will be the interim coach and why is there a debate over Lazor or Coyle?

[Spider-Dan]

The point is not whether or not a bunch of joes on a message board know who the assistant head coach is.  The point is that other coaches DO know who the assistant head coach is, and so elevating an assistant head coach (who happens to be the secondary coach) to interim HC is not the slap in the face that it would otherwise be.  In fact, it is expected that the assistant head coach would be the person to be elevated to interim HC.  I don't believe MIA has an assistant head coach now (there isn't one listed on the site), so that doesn't solve any questions this time.

You say that none of this matters, but I'd say it matters a hell of a lot to the coaching community, which is where Ross has had his problems.  I don't know where you got the idea that "Ross has overcome the 'loose cannon owner' tag at this point"; the next head coach that he fires with class and dignity will be his first, and if you're talking about firing a guy 4 games into a season (and then bypassing the OC and DC for the interim HC), I'd hardly say that qualifies.

[Dave Gray]

So who do you think is worthy of that promotion, Lazor or Coyle?  Which one of them is any better at his job than Philbin is at his?

Lazor. 

But it doesn't matter.  This isn't a coaching problem, in terms of Xs and Os.  It's a motivation problem.  Philbin has lost the locker room.  A new leader may inspire a change.