The Miami Dolphins are sitting at 5-4 and have a huge game coming up this Thursday against their division rivals the Buffalo Bills. Miami has a chance to make the playoffs this season, and most football gambling fans would say that if they do, then there is a high probability that Philbin will be back in Miami next season. But what if Miami does not make the playoffs, then what happens?
Already there is a large contingent of Phin fans that do not believe in Philbin and already want him gone, regardless if they make the playoffs or not. The grass always seems greener on the other side, however that is not always the reality. I am going to go out on limb here and say even if the Dolphins do not make the playoffs this year, then I would still bring Philbin back for a fourth year.
When Philbin took over as the Dolphins head coach he inherited a 6-10 team with little to no talent and a QB in Chad Henne that was nothing more then a back up QB. Philbin came in and cleaned house and now in his third season, the talent level and overall level of play of this team has clearly improved. Last season the phins actually had control of their own destiny to make the playoffs with 2 games remaining in the season. However, they came out flat and lost both games, and failed to make the playoffs. Most phins fans would consider that a failure, however I think in his second season as a head coach, with a team that was not expected to achieve anything, he at least made it exciting and gave us a chance at the end of the season. This season the Dolphins have even more talent, and they have one of the best defenses in the league, and their offense is finally consistently putting up points. Yes we lost some heart breaking games, and we still may not make the playoffs, but it should be obvious that we are a very competitive team and are very close to being a playoff team.
A lot of phin fans are saying Philbin is conservative. Did everyone forget about Tony Sparano and him always settling for field goals, and every time that he had a lead in the fourth quarter he would sit on the lead and just try to run the ball and the clock out, which often led to failure. Philbin has consistently gone for it on 4th downs, he has not been afraid to throw the ball late in the game and score more points to guarantee that the other team can not possibly win.
What happens if Philbin does get fired, then what? There is no guarantee that the next coach is going to be better than Philbin, and even if he is better, he will most likely want his own personnel and players, which, could mean an exodus of talent, and us rebuilding and starting anew. Look at the worst teams in the league, they are constantly rebuilding, and are caught in an endless cycle of below 500 records. The best teams have stability at the coaching position, this is not a mystery. Philbin has brought this franchise back up to respectability, and I think everyone can admit that we are on the cusp of being a playoff team, and have the young talent to be a playoff team for years to come. Will it happen this season? Maybe not… But if it does not, why purge the coaching staff and the roster again, when it is finally looking and playing like a playoff worthy team. Yes we lost 4 games, but look at who we lost to; Packers, Lions, Chiefs and Bills, and all those teams are playoff worthy.
Even though the bully scandal happened on Philbin’s watch it is safe to say he was able to get his team to come together in the face of a national media firestorm, and actually play well enough to give them a shot to contend for the playoffs last season. Then this season after he was non-committal on the starting QB for the Dolphins, he was able to get the team back on track and win 4 out of its last 6 games, with the two losses both coming in the last seconds of the game. Lets not also forget that the week leading up to the Chargers game, his father passed away, and as a response his team played the best game they have played in many years. The fact is that each time the Dolphins have had some adversity, they have been able come together and play well under Philbin’s watch. This is directly related to the players buying into Philbin and his system.
Lots of fans want to get rid of Philbin after this season, however please do not forget that his replacement can be much worse, and set this franchise back another 3-5 years. Playoffs or not I still think Philbin has proven he can build a good team, and they are knocking on the door to be a relevant playoff contender year in and year out.