Philbin posted a 24-28 record in his four seasons with the Dolphins.
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Firing a head coach in season is rare, although it has happened recently in Oakland with Dennis Allen last season and with Miami in 2011 with Tony Sparano. A former offensive coordinator with the Green Bay Packers, Philbin kept Miami alive in the playoff race into December in each of his first three years with the team, but falling short will prevail when it comes to how he’s remembered in South Florida. “That’s not my plan”. I am trying to turn over every stone I can to this point with the limited amount of time that I have. “But we can’t wait”.
The Dolphins lost their third game in a row Sunday with their fourth consecutive lackluster performance, a 27-14 loss to the archrival New York Jets in London.
Few will accuse Ross of impatience. Doubts only grew this season regarding Philbin’s ability to motivate players. “We have to change the culture”, Campbell said. “That goes for the best player we have on this team. But now that we’ve been able to get a rhythm going, I just think guys are really excited about the chance they have to contribute to this team and to put more W’s in the win column”. I want them to be challenged. “We knew where our weaknesses were and we thought we could overcome those weaknesses, and develop players that could play at that level”. Miami has a bye this week and next plays at Tennessee on October. 18.
Philbin was sacked after the Dolphins started 1-3 this season.
Miami’s defense, which was expected to be much improved with the signing of Pro Bowl run-stopping defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh in the offseason, has given up an average of 160.5 yards per game rushing to opponents this season.
Campbell said there was a simple reason the offensive staff was addressed first. “While Parcells expressed confidence in Campbell’s ability to handle the Dolphins” top job, he also added a caveat that acknowledged the challenges that exist in Miami (1-3), a franchise that has struggled to escape mediocrity for years and is known for its underachieving ways.
“Our job is to pull the utmost that we can get out of that talent so that we get production on the field”. “But the guys are getting a lot more confident”.
Dolphins owner Stephen Ross obviously liked Campbell’s tough talk, and Campbell has 12 games to prove to Ross that the maintenance guy should scrape “interim” off Campbell’s office door.
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“He looked good“, Pagano said following a walk-through in which nobody was wearing helmets or pads.
