I am a BIG fan of Dan Campbell. I love his passion and believe that he knows how to motivate his players and can get them to play hard for him, something that Joe Philbin was incapable of doing…something that all the great coaches have. However, so far, he has not proven the skill to out scheme another coach and make the adjustments needed to change a game around at this point in his career. He is a very young coach, thrust into the role prematurely, with 6 games on his resume, so naturally a huge learning curve is expected. The question is, are Miami Dolphins news fans looking to be a guinea pig for a few years to see if he can turn into a great coach, or do we want someone with experience and a proven track record that can hopefully change this team into a winner over night?
With that being said, we have tried everything over the last 20 years since Don Shula has retired, and they have yet to find any coach, young, experienced, collegiate championship material, or even former Super Bowl head coach winner, to build this team into a consistent, year in and year out, playoff team. So to say that Campbell is not the answer is not really fair, because it is not like an experienced coach is going to guarantee us a spot in the playoffs. Whatever Ross will choose will be a gamble, so what do we gamble on?
Campbell will be given the chance to finish out this season, so it will be very interesting to see how he finishes it. At the moment most football gambling fans would agree that he, and the rest of the team are still making the same mistakes. What is truly confusing is that Miami continues to baffle football gambling fans on their offensive play calling. Maybe the deeper problem is that Bill Lazor is still forcing the pass and calling offensive plays that make the offensive appear lost? The Dolphins have some very skillful players on offense, however they are having an extremely hard time getting into a rhythm on offense, and almost appear like they are guessing out there. This could go either way in regards to Campbell. He might be hamstrung with a coordinator and scheme he dislikes and due to the situation is unable to change it, or it could be that he simply lacks the acumen,whether due to knowledge or will, to change it.
But here is the mystery, one that is Campbell’s fault. When Miami commits to the running game they play better and usually win, so why do they continue to abandon the running game any time that they get even slightly behind, even if it is early in the game? They key for Campbell, and the Dolphins is to play to their strengths and one of those strengths is running the ball, but it only works if they do it for the entire game. This part takes patience and mental toughness to stay the course and must be driven by the head coach.
Unfortunately, the Dolphins pissed away a great opportunity to get back to .500, luckily the rest of the AFC is playing just as bad. Ridiculous as it sounds, the Dolphins are still only a game back in the wild card race. They would still need to go pretty much 5-1 to make the playoffs, but they do still have a chance. But even if this miracle transpires, they would all but squeak into the playoffs and be the red headed step child. But, in the end an extra Dolphins game is and extra Dolphins game and it would be one more week of Dolphins football.