Decision time is coming, Philbin after three years is a .500 coach. Fans have been unhappy with the up and downs (God knows I am one of them) but I will have to say I see progress. Bill Lazor has improved our QB i believe and the offense looks on the mend. Defense is a top 10 with some holes but who doesn't. Were not a great team, we are not a bad team either. Were a 8-8 9-7 team once again and most likely out of the playoff's once again. So Ross has some decisions to make..Do we resign Philbin or do we look for new head coach? What would you do? give him another year? I feel he's earned it though I don't think he's ever going to build us into an elite team. I just don't feel rebuilding is needed and that's my problem. Philbin isn't the answer but he's building a good team.
Yes, I believe they have earned more time. I think we all would obviously like to see a playoff berth rather than three crippling losses to end the season this time around. I'm a strong believer in continuity in the NFL (i.e. Green Bay, Pittsburgh, New Orleans to some degree).
I agree. He's taken a loser mentality and changed the culture. That's the 1st step IMO. Plus the 2dn year in Lazor's offense they should be much more comfortable. We just need another solid draft.
So long as there's no epic collapse and Miami ends up at 6-10 or 7-9; then begrudgingly I'd say yes. If Philbin is inclined to dismiss Kevin Coyle from the staff, I'd be more excited.
Meh. Best I can muster. He isn't great...He isn't terrible. He's average. Just like his football team.
My feeling is, unless you are getting a Guz Malzahn or a coach like him, I think Philbin is good enough to stick around. What's the alternative? Bringing in another unproven OC/DC who has no head coaching experience and going through a similar learning curve? Maybe it works or maybe it doesn't, but the track record is very mixed.
Give Philbin and the entire staff 3 more years. I feel that Philbin is learning how to coach and when he hits his stride he could end up being a great H.C for Miami. I like Philbin and I feel he's similar to our "franchise QB" Tannehill. He just needs time to develop and find his way. I love the direction of the team as whole and I feel we are close to being a super bowl contender.
No. I want him fired. In a close game, in the playoffs, I still expect him to do something to cost us the game. I like lazor and am ok with coyle so seems like a tough choice.
He's got a mandate. No excuses, no *****ing and no whining. Make the playoffs. If he doesn't do it, he goes.
Philbin is less than .500 right now, next week he can get to .500, i notice that he just cant get over that .500 hump. Me personally, I dont want to go through another overhaul when for the first time in a while, I honestly believe we are getting close, real close
I'm not a huge fan of Philbin per se, BUT i say we absolutly have to bring him back at least for another year. Hickey IMO is a very good GM so far, and I think if we get a little more lucky with health next season, get more used to the offense, get Tannehill an additional level better (or even as good as right now), and build out some depth at all positions as well as bulk up our defense on the back end, we are going to be an Elite team. I understand canning coaches and regimes when teams are stagnating, but i do not think you can put a solid 3 year limit on every regime, IF they continue to be getting better, that makes no sense. In this league, it seems every new hire wants to implement some "grand vision" of his own rather than building on what is here, so for that reason i say we stick with Philbin and we continue to improve. I think GM was a huge improvement this year as was OC.
Yup bring them back, and let Philbin make any changes to his staff he feels appropriate. I'd feel alot better about the next iteration of this team vs. starting over yet again with a new coach.
I don't think it matters if we make the playoffs or not, unless he goes 1-4 or worse the rest of the way, he's coming back.. If he goes 2-3, I expect him to come back, unfortunately..
What if we go 10-6 and miss the playoff's? What then? Gotta be honest, even if we go 9-7 with the improvement I've seen across the board I think he has earned the right to stay. Mandate or not. This seems to be shaping up to be a tough year to make the playoff's in the AFC, even a 10-6 record doesn't look like it is going to be a guarantee to be in. I feel with our injuries that seem to be coming every week now to key guys if he coaches this team to 10-6 or even a 9-7 without going on an embarrassing slide like last year we should keep him.
Joe Philbin is a bad coach and should be fired at the end of the year barring a playoff run. The reasoning behind keeping Philbin is classically Philbin-esque. It's a risk adverse non-decision borne out of queasiness over losing an adequate status quo
Hell no, but what scares me is our dumb *** owner does have a propensity to extend guys after consecutive subpar seasons.
you can say that about majority of head coaches, IMO. We can do better, we can certainly do worse. I've been saying it for 2 months now, if there's a chance Lazor walks, then you fire Philbin and promote Lazor to HC. If the team folds (injuries or no injuries) and goes 8-8 again, then you absolutely fire Philbin (and promote Lazor).
I like the direction the team is heading right now with Philbin, Lazor, and Coyle. The AFC playoff race is going to be tight and I see the Dolphins as the best team we've built since Dan retired. So, missing the playoffs this season wouldn't necessarily be a deal-breaker for me. I'd give them one more season, then make a decision. I think the Phins are a couple of players (and staying relatively healthy) away from being a perennial playoff team. Starting over... yet again... would be a big step backward, and a big mistake.
It's the better franchises that don't oft just start over. We always forget that the steelers had stretches of down years with Bill Cowher, the Giants with Coughlin. Frankly think the Bucs jumped ship too soon on Gruden and they've been nfc doormats ever since featuring a revolving door at HC/GM. Looks like the same is going to happen with Rex Ryan in NY. That said, I always wonder what would have happened if the Browns had retained Belichick. There is something to be said about consistency and weathering the storm.
I have said all along that I will have no problem with Philbin remaining the head coach if the Dolphins make the playoffs or at least go 10-6, even if that isn't good enough to make the playoffs this year. Anything less than the playoffs or a 10-6 record and I really hope Ross doesn't feel it is necessary to sign Philbin to a new contract after this season. I think with the talent on this team this year, a quality head coach would be able to get this team into the playoffs. We just need to see over the next 5 games if Philbin is a quality head coach or not.
I think there's got to be some fear over losing some of the talented assistant coaches if Joe Philbin is fired. If you fire Joe Philbin, do you lose Bill Lazor? Do you lose Kevin Coyle (and are we sure we don't want to)? Do you lose Jack Benton? Do you lose Mark Duffner, Kacy Rogers, or Darren Rizzi? I think we can all agree that even if the play-calling is a bit whacky at times, we'd like to keep this style of offense. So that means keeping Lazor at OC or outright promoting him to HC.
I am pretty certain that if Philbin goes, most of the staff goes as well. Maybe Lazor survives but I really doubt it, I don't think a coach much better than Philbin will sign off on the "you're only here if Lazor is here" philosophy. I think we'll either see a complete overhaul with Jim Harbaugh at the helm or Philbin returning with Coyle and Lazor in 2015.
That would be very, very, very foolish unless you know you have a coach of equal quality to Andy Reid or Bill Belick. Only a difference making head coach is worth derailing the inferred growth path for this franchise. It would not surprise me if Ross makes this mistake, but it would be a big mistake.
You would have to define "and Co". I like what Hickey has done. His only questionable offseason moves were Moreno and Finnegan. Moreno looked like a homerun, before injuries. And while Finnegan hasn't been spectacular, we are a much better defense when he is on the field vs. what Ireland left us with for potential starters. I like Delmas and Mitchell and his draft was solid. I like both Lazor and Coyle as coordinators. The defensive letdowns this year have usually stemmed from poor tackling, but there is usually someone in place to make a play. Unfortunately I still don't buy into Philbin's game management and overall game plan mentality. Unlike some, I still haven't forgotten those performances against the Bills and Jets last year. That's the closest Philbin has come to playoff action (and against bottom feeding teams) and the team no showed. Those were his 'big games' and he choked, we'll see if he can even put himself in a position to have a 'big game' at the end of this year.
I don't think we're losing that much if Bill Lazor goes somewhere else. He's struck me as someone whose success has largely come with an ascending young QB and through cribbing concepts from Chip Kelly rather than through any particular skill or innovation on his own. I would be sad to lose Kacy Rogers or Jack Benton, but I don't know that either one are scheme-specific, and I think would have a good chance being retained by a new coach.
That's the one thing I'm worried about in all of this. I don't think we need to completely start over. That being said, I dont think Philbin is the right man to get us to where we need to go. To lay the foundation that he has, sure, but to take that next step, I think we need a change. I don't want to just make a change though for the sake of making a change. Especially if it means loosing the talented coaches we have here. Things look to be heading in the right direction, position groups IMO are playing above their expected levels, we've gotten really good team performances given the circumstances at some positions on the roster, guys are progressince nicely. I'd be worried about loosing that foundation and starting over. I think we have to keep most of this staff in tact even if Philbin is removed.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Kacy Rogers hired by Parcells & Sparano? I thought he and Rizzi were two of the coaches retained by Philbin when he was first hired.
Darren Rizzi makes special teams more exciting, but I'm not sure he's been a net positive in terms of big plays taken vs. given.
I think we stick and I'm no huge fan of Philbin. Shuffling the deck hoping we find a winner is usually a pretty unsuccessful strategy. I'd be willing to go 1 more year and see if he's building or treading water. This conversation is identical to that had about RT. Winning teams generally give people time.
Rex Ryan should be appealing if he would be willing to take on the offensive staff and Hickey. That said, I'm not committed to keeping Lazor if it means losing out on any top tier candidates.