As I mentioned in an article last week, Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross hasn’t done two things since owning the team. He hasn’t done a complete reboot in the organization, and he has never hired an experienced coach. As I’ve said before, Ross is the owner, and he can do what he wants to do and hire who he wants. The question with this being his 4th coaching hire is, does he continue to hire a 1st-time head coach or hire an experienced coach? It’s a tricky question; both have advantages and drawbacks.  

Many teams like to hire 1st-time coaches, especially if they are an offensive-minded coach. Two teams are still in the playoffs, the Los Angeles Rans and Cincinnati Bengals, hired young first-time offensive-minded head coaches in Sean McVay and Zac Taylor, respectively, and are having very good success. The Dolphins went that route with Adam Gase in 2016, and after a successful first season, things went downhill fast. Hiring a first-time head coach can be hit or miss. Ross did that with Joe Philbin, Gase and recently fired Brian Flores. All three didn’t work out for various reasons. Philbin and Gase couldn’t lead a locker room and had constant tension. Philbin had the Bountygate scandal and had issues with veteran players how he ran things. Gase was very stubborn and did things his way, not listening to others, and it alienated a lot of his players. Despite back-to-back winning seasons, Flores had issues in the front office over final say and other things, but Flores did a great job of leading his teams, especially after starting this season 1-7 to win 8 of their last nine games. He wasn’t perfect; some offensive players, such as quarterback Tua Tagovailoa had friction and heated arguments reportedly. He also had issues hiring quality offensive coaches because he had three different offensive coordinators and four offensive line coaches in his three years. First coaches, in some cases, such as the Dolphins, suggest they could be over their head, but it shouldn’t be the reasoning to scare you away from a first-time coach because not everyone is that way.  

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Another issue with first-time coaches is that they hire their own staff, and some may lack experience, especially at the coordinator position. Philbin, Gase, and Flores didn’t hire quality assistant coaches, especially in the areas that weren’t their side of the ball coming up through the ranks. Philbin hired Kevin Coyle as his defensive coordinator, and his defenses were a joke sometimes. Players were playing out of position and, at times, unprepared. Gase did the same thing with Vance Joseph and Matt Burke. If their defenses didn’t force turnovers, then the defense wasn’t good. Flores, it’s been well documented of his offensive coaching staff in 3 years, but he did hire some good defensive coaches, such as Josh Boyer. This is something Ross should ask his first-time head coaching candidates. When the Rams first hired him, McVay hired Wade Phillips to run his defense because Phillips is considered a great coach, and it allowed McVay to focus on his strengths running the offense, which was smart on his part. First-time coaches should try to get assistants with experience especially head coaching experience, because first-time coaches are learning on the job. They have more responsibilities and a lot more to deal with. That’s something I have questioned with some of the recent hires of the Dolphins. 


 The candidates that haven’t been head coaches the Dolphins have requested interviews for are Brian Daboll, Mike McDaniel, Kellen Moore, and Thomas Brown. All guys are qualified and have been around. The question is, are they ready? Daboll of the group has been the most successful and experienced. He also worked as offensive coordinator of the Dolphins in 2011 and did an excellent job. He gets a lot of credit for the success he has had with the Buffalo Bills and quarterback Josh Allen, as he should. Some say he is a favorite and that his working with Tagovailoa will be a plus. However, his work with Tagovailoa was very minimal at Alabama. Before being benched in the national championship game, Jalen Hurts was the starting quarterback. He is a bright offensive coach, and it’s something the Dolphins need, but what could his plan be on offense. McDaniel, Moore, and Brown are all under 40 years old and are considered up and comers. Moore of the group I’m not crazy about because his offenses with all of the talent with the Dallas Cowboys have been inconsistent. Brown is considered an up-and-coming coach because of his leadership and knowledge, which is are great qualities. McDaniel is a definite dark horse candidate because he has worked closely with Kyle Shanahan with the San Francisco 49ers and was considered for the offensive coordinator job last year with the Dolphins. However, how much of the success does he get credit for considering Shanahan is an offensive guru. McDaniel is considered the guy who creates the running game and zone blocking schemes with the 49ers. That is something that appeals to me because maybe a different scheme with some of these offensive linemen could help, and also McDaniel commits to the run and has a creative side to running the ball. There are pros and cons with each of them, but all qualified candidates. 


 The Dolphins have requested interviews with some candidates with previous head coaching experience in Dan Quinn, Leslie Frazier, and Vance Joseph. They also are defensive-minded head coaches, and the question I would ask them is what would their plans be for the offensive side of the ball and assistants to work on that side of the ball. Frazier and Joseph were head coaches for the Minnesota Vikings and Denver Broncos, respectively didn’t do well as head coaches. Fraizer was the Viking coach from 2010-2013, and he had one playoff appearance, but it was a challenging situation because the Vikings were in transition moving on from quarterback Brett Favre. Hence, he had inconsistent quarterbacking, and the team suffered. It’s been almost nine years now, and with his experience, things could be different. Joseph, of the experienced coaches I’m least impressed with. Yes, he was a defensive coordinator of the Dolphins’ last playoffs team, but that defense was smoke and mirrors with forcing turnovers. He didn’t do well in his two years as head coach of the Broncos, going 11-21. It is also true that he didn’t have good quarterbacking, but they didn’t have anything else to muster any success in his two years as head coach. Maybe things could be different if he had gotten a chance with the Dolphins, but I’m not optimistic. I’m not confident because I don’t know his plan for the offense, and in Denver, it wasn’t good, but I do realize he didn’t get help with the quarterback position. I don’t think it’s the right way to. Quinn, to me, is the most intriguing candidate of all because of his experience, defensive expertise, and previous head coaching position with the Atlanta Falcons hired quality offensive assistants. His offensive coordinator was Shanahan, and also on that staff ironically was McDaniel. He had success and led the Falcons to the Super Bowl. However, things went downhill fast when they blew a 28-3 lead to the New England Patriots, and the team never recovered. That would be a concern of mine, but bringing in quality assistants on the offensive side of the ball to help him was a plus, and he reshaped his image with the Dallas Cowboys as their defensive coordinator. His defensive philosophy is different from Brian Flores, but he could keep the defense playing hard even if there are different schemes and they add a couple of more linebackers. I’m really surprised the Dolphins haven’t reached out to Doug Pedersen. He won a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles just 4-5 years ago. He has a reputation of working with quarterbacks and also has hired good defensive staff members in his previous spot, Jim Schwartz, and that would be a good candidate.

This next coaching hire is going to be critical. All of the candidates are qualified and have unique skills to bring to the team. The question is does Ross hire another first-time coach, who will be learning on the job, or go for a retread head coach, who has been a head coach before, hoping to make the best of a second chance. It’s a tough choice. History says Ross goes with a new head coach with potential. We shall see as this is the most critical hire in Ross’ tenure considering the team is coming off back-to-back winning seasons and still fired his coach.