After a forgettable 2018, welcome to 2019, Miami Dolphin fans. The year of the rebuild. Again….
After an embarrassing loss to the Bills last Sunday, it’s time to blow it up. Monday morning, it was announced that Adam Gase was let go of his duties. I did have mixed feelings about letting him go. At first, I was upset and didn’t want another regime coming in. They gave him three years to turn it around. How long does it take to turn any business around? In the NFL you need four to five years to fully rebuild and change the roster. Rumors came out that the players quit on Gase. Even Cam Wake didn’t back Gase going forward, so it seems he had lost the locker room. Enough said, Stephen Ross had no choice but to let him go. I do, however, think Gase will be a good head coach again, just not in Miami.
I wrote an article earlier in the year about Adam Gase being similar to Chip Kelly. When Kelly took over the Eagles, he didn’t get along with his best players. He won ten games his first year and took the league by storm. His up-tempo offense was like watching the Oregon Ducks. After his first year, he could do no wrong. Then he traded LeSean McCoy to the Bills. He let Jeremy Maclin and DeSean Jackson walk in free agency. All those guys disliked Kelly. A few years later, when the Eagles were in shambles, they fired Kelly after he dismantled the team in his image. Similarly, Gase couldn’t get along with Ndamukong Suh, Mike Pouncey, Jay Ajayi, Jarvis Landry, and Jordan Phillips. That list doesn’t even include that Kenyan Drake and Reshad Jones, who Gase had moments with this year. I did support Gase’s moves and trades because I thought he had a direction. I loved Ajayi and Landry. Our two best offensive weapons in years… years! He just got rid of them because he couldn’t handle them. Now Miami has little talent on the roster and no head coach. We lost out on all that talent and got nothing in return.
The list of coaching candidates is overwhelming. Different backgrounds, ages, ethnicity, colleges, etc. Who is the right guy? I have been saying it for years now, pay Jim Harbaugh the money, set it and forget it. Give him the keys to the car and let him drive. He is a man people respect and he would be the only coach to bring life to a dying franchise. Wouldn’t you be excited for him to be our next coach for five to seven years?? That could save the franchise! A huge name and background, winning in the NFL and college. He’s a former player and played for Coach Mike Ditka. Or do you want Rex Ryan? A guy that had been passed around the AFC East like a practice squad player. That doesn’t get me excited for the future, that keeps me in neutral. Neutral is what this team has been in for 20 seasons. Time for a change.
Everything I am hearing is that this draft class for quarterbacks is weak, so the Dolphins may get a stop-gap guy for a year and draft a guy next year. Wouldn’t it have been nice if they traded up a few years ago for Mahomes or Watson? Nope, they selected Charles Harris. He has three more sacks than me in his career. Maybe they can bring in Nick Foles for 2 years/$40 Million. That’s what bridge guy gets and $20 Million is the going rate. Just don’t bring in Ryan Fitzpatrick because I would convert to watching tennis and bowling. Teddy Bridgewater had a good pre-season with the Jets, then got traded to the Saints. He got his first start in years and he looked worse than Tannehill. Stay far, far away from him. His knees are held together by dental floss and his pocket presence is nothing special. Joe Flacco? Please Lord, I have dealt with enough pain. Pass on him. These next 8 months will be interesting.
Another long off-season with uncertainty. A new regime will be coming in with their vision. It’s sad that we will all have to wait until April’s Draft, then minicamp. The schedules will come out and then the cycle begins again. It’s a love-hate relationship with the Dolphins. One day they will get it right. Let me know when that happens.
As always and forever, Phins up!
