It was this time last year when it was obvious that the coaching staff of the Miami Dolphins were in trouble. Coach Gase had gone from leading an improbable comeback against the New England Patriots with the Miami Miracle to being embarrassed in Minnesota, losing 41-17. Then concluding the season with a loss against the Jaguars and then another embarrassing loss against the Buffalo Bills (Fins lost 17-42 that game). You knew changes were coming. The Dolphins had a chance to make it to the postseason after the Patriots victory, but it appeared that the coaching staff had lost the respect and resolve from the players.
As expected, the Dolphins top brass wiped the slate clean on the last day of 2018, informing Gase on December 31st that he would no longer be coaching the team. And, shortly after, they reassigned General Manager, Mike Tannenbaum (which was ultimately a termination, but sounded better).
The Miami Dolphins executive management team worked very methodically to find Coach Gase’s replacement, interviewing a handful of candidates, ultimately deciding on Brian Flores after the New England Patriots won the Super Bowl. However, it was during the coaches search when South Florida first heard the possibility of “tanking” by the team.
Per Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald at the beginning of 2019, a candidate for the Head Coaching position reportedly informed Salguero that, during the Head Coaching interview process for the Miami Dolphins, he was informed that the Dolphins were going to be tanking during the 2019 season.
— DolphinsTalk.com (@DolphinsTalk) December 24, 2019
This information blew up on the internet. Some fans and beat writers actually warmed up to the idea. Tank for Tua… or lose every game in order to be the first pick in the upcoming draft. Ultimately, it was bad information provided by an individual who clearly was not selected as the Head Coach of the Dolphins. Although Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said in March “I want to win all the time, but sometimes you’ve got to take a little pain”, it was evident that he was not looking to lose every game.
In addition, as it was announced that Coach Flores was selected from the Miami Dolphins coaching search, many people knew that a guy who had accumulated multiple championships with one of the most successful franchises in NFL history would not have accepted a job where he was told he would have to lose for a season. With as much of a competitor that Coach Flores has illustrated to be, there’s no way he would have taken the job.
In hindsight, 2019 has clearly been a rebuilding year. Coach Flores handpicked his coaching staff, the team got rid of aged and high-priced free agents, they traded individuals that would ultimately not fit the teams long term goals, and they were extremely selective with the players that joined the team.
Coach Flores and the Dolphins staff and players have always strived for and have valued team wins, although many fans have not. Although many fans and beat writers would have preferred a high draft pick in the upcoming 2020 draft, in today’s NFL, wins are more valuable than losses for many reasons. Here’s why:
- Had the Miami Dolphins gone 0-16 or 1-15, yes, they would have most likely earned (or stunk enough) to select the first overall draft pick. But the Dolphins coaches would have suffered the consequences. We all remember what happened to the last Miami Dolphins coach who ended the season with a 1-15 record, which was the worst record in Miami Dolphins history. Cam Cameron was one and done as a head coach, being fired after one season. In addition, although Coach Flores has been signed to a five-year contract, public perception would have been that Flores and his staff didn’t know what they were doing and would have been busts of a hire and there would have been pressure for everyone to go.
- Although none of the players would ever admit it, it is hard, mentally, to be part of a losing team with 1 or less wins in a season. Players play to be successful. And, success in the NFL is usually first determined by wins and losses, although individual accomplishments do make it through the fog (Parker, Gesicki, Baker, Needham, etc).
- Teams that go 0-16 or 1-15 have a very hard time recovering from the losing funk and it usually takes a few seasons to recover. The 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers went 0-14 followed by a 2-12 and then 5-11 season. The 2008 Detroit Lions went 0-16 followed by a 2-14 season and then a 6-10 season. And, the 2016 Cleveland Browns went 1-15 followed by an 0-16 season and then a 7-8-1 season.
- The Miami Dolphins fan base would have jumped off a cliff. Yes, fans are currently divided now between the “Tank”, “Don’t Tank”, and “What Tank” factions. But, had the team only won 1 game or failed to win any games, the fans would have had a hard time recovering. Season ticket sales for future seasons would have fallen off, more than they already did this season. With the additional wins, there is more excitement and hope for the upcoming season.
- An 0-16 Miami Dolphins team would have been a Trivial Pursuit question. Imagine yourself sitting with your friends when all of a sudden, the question popped up: “Which NFL team was the only team to have a perfect winning record and a perfect losing record”. This would have stuck with the team for as long as you or I were alive. And I surely did not want to have any part of it.
- The Miami Dolphins would have been the laughingstock of the NFL. The Dolphins fan base has dealt with too much of this over the past 10 years with Bullygate and snorting coaches. With wins comes respect and a positive outlook for the future of the franchise, versus the alternative.
One of the biggest concerns by fans and outside observers is what the Miami Dolphins will do from here. They have a boat load of picks in the 2020 and 2021 drafts, and they have a ton of free agent money to spend. Chris Grier will be the main decision maker when it comes to making all of these selections, and yes, he has been part of the decision making of the Dolphins in the past.
AUDIO: Listen to @MMehtaNYDN heap praise on Dolphins Head Coach BRIAN FLORES and also talk more about his article on Adam Gase telling people…"I'm Rich as (BLEEP)" when he gets criticism. https://t.co/uqFwUVblig
— DolphinsTalk.com (@DolphinsTalk) December 25, 2019
However, the Miami Dolphins now have something they have never had before; a Head Coach who has experience evaluating talent. And remember, Coach Flores wasn’t just good at evaluating talent in New England, he was championship-winning-great while he was with the Pats. And, with what Coach Flores has shown with him and his coaching staff’s ability to find talent and coach them up during the 2019 season, there’s no reason to think this won’t continue in 2020. And in the draft, it is not where you draft, it’s who you draft. Just ask the 10th pick Patrick Mahomes, or 24th pick Aaron Rogers, or 32nd pick Lamar Jackson, or 199th pick Tom Brady. All quarterbacks on playoff teams.
What this Dolphins team has lacked for far too long is coaches who develop players to be successful in their system. If 2019 is a glimpse of things to come, the Dolphins fan base will be in for a treat, or many seasons of treats.
If you are one of those fans who were rooting for losses this season, I’m sorry that your wish did not come true. I know that our ultimate goal of the Dolphins to be the best team in the NFL is a goal by all Miami Dolphins fans, but how we get there might be different. In your eyes, wins might be “meaningless”, but every win means something to this team and to the Miami Dolphins franchise.
With the last game of the season coming up against the New England Patriots, lets come together to root for a Miami Dolphins victory!
Fins Up!
As always, terrific article and fantastic insights from Ian!
Its been really hard to here our fans wanting to tank to have the 1st pick in the 2020 draft. Like you said, it’s not the 1st pick, its to have a pick that isnt a bust and to find that great player in the late rounds and in FAs… Winning is the true value, because it shows everyone that you can win with limited resources.
Go out and beat NE this weekend and show the NFL that the Dolphins will be a contender next year. Winning does so much for a team.
At the end of the day there’s no great difference between four or five wins or three or two wins other than the fact that it pushes this team down the draft board and unfortunately we lost out on a chance to get who in my opinion might be one of the best defensive players to come out of college and quite a while Chase Young
Brian Flores had already solidified his position after week four when the team seemed to finally get some rhythm and show some competition none of us can argue that we have finally found a good coach and he has surrounded himself with a good staff but ultimately at the end of the day it’s talent that’s going to push his team over the top and to get the top talent in the draft is what I desire for this team more sold than winning a meaningless game.
Chase Young was destroyed by Clemson and Trvor. He did nothing!