When sports decisions happen in Miami, they’re generally controversial. Whether it be LeBron alienating an entire nation, or the Miami Marlins adding every free agent other than Livan Hernandez. For a flashy city filled with big booties, audaciously spicy food, and Rick Ross wannabes, the Dolphins stay relatively low-key. Their style, record, and personnel of last season screams mediocrity. Matt Moore was a perfectly adequate fill-in for average starter Chad Henne, and neither were fantasy studs by any means. After losing their first 7 games, they finished with a respectable 5-10 record. Not good enough to cause a stir, but not bad enough to get them a premium draft pick. So at the end of the season, the question for the Dolphins was, what could they possibly do to shake things up? Joe Philbin was the answer.
I like Joe. I trust, as should you, any man with the last name Philbin. But when the Phins hired Philbin, it was more than a new coach. The entire philosophy in Miami is about to change. It’s obvious that Matt Flynn will follow Philbin shortly and get his first opportunity at starting in the NFL (fantasy owners don’t necessarily jump on Flynn early next season). GM Jeff Ireland has said that Philbin will have final say on his coaching staff and personnel. The buck starts and stops with Joe Philbin. It feels oddly reminiscent of Matt Cassel’s move to Kansas City, where he was paid enough money for him to drown his poor play in Ace of Spades until Todd Haley shaves. System quarterbacks, even in the same system but with new personnel, struggle. Sure, Flynn might be able to find his form, but it’s going to take time. Time that a newly spoiled city of Miami might not be willing to wait. The point of these scattered facts and opinions is that Dolphins fans might be happy that there’s any change at all, but I’m not sure that it’s the best fit to produce an immediate winner.
