After re-combing through a dozen articles on Lazor’s firing, several quotes began to add up next a truck load of unanswered questions and hunches.
The running question from Dolphin’s fans is, whether on a blog or the street, ‘why aren’t we running *%&$ ball’! We saw the first two weeks of Campbell’s reign the profit from running the *%$@ ball – why did we ever stop? Bill Lazor is an idiot, Campbell is all talk, our line sucks, we don’t have a good enough blocking back were common responses to ‘why aren’t we running the &%@$ ball. Now after the firing of Lazor, Campbell has spoken, and with the info piling, the answer is simple: Lazor refused to obey his boss and in doing so betrayed the Dolphins franchise.
But another question, a more important question MUST be asked – WHY?!!!
Why would success be spurned? Why would someone continually disobey their boss in the face of dismal results due to the disobedience? Why would you for a lack of a better analogy, ‘spit in the face of the king’? The only rationale, aside from being insane, is Lazor either wanted to prove he knew better or he wanted failed results.
Let’s for a second go back to Philbust’s firing – who was everyone saying would take over: the vast cry was Lazor. Now place yourself on Lazor’s shoes as the last top coordinator standing…the pay increase, the resume’ builder, the experience, the chance all a fingertip away – then in an instant, gone, given to the tight end coach.
Now, let me support my statements with facts.
Originally it seemed that this was simply the Dolphins, once again embarrassed in the division by the New York Jets, firing their coach as a result of the defeat. But, as things unfold, it appears a deeper issue has come to the surface. According to Pro Football Talk, Campbell called it “100 percent his decision and that it came after he shared his feeling with Tannenbaum and team owner Stephen Ross. Campbell pointed to the team’s lack of balance offensively — 61 called passes in Sunday’s loss to the Jets and nine runs — as the reason why he wanted to make a change”.
Furthermore, the Sun Sentinel reported, “According to a team source, Lazor and Campbell, the former tight ends coach, had a contentious relationship because of their previous roles, where Campbell answered to Lazor. When the dynamics of those roles shifted after Joe Philbin was fired and Campbell became head coach, there was a period of discomfort”. Also reported by the Sun Sentinel, “Campbell struggled to get Lazor to buy into his commitment to the running game”, according to a source. Continuing, it’s been reported on multiple news venues that Campbell said he promoted Taylor over offensive assistant Al Saunders”, who Lazor requested be brought in to help with the passing game, because “he knows him and trusts him. I’ve been around Zac for four years now”.
Trust – is the operative word. Sanders came in to help Lazor throw the ball and prove he was right and not the TE coach. And when it didn’t happen, he continued on to the detriment of the head coach and the franchise. Again, let me emphasize – 61 passes and 9 runs! Not even the best sportsbooks in the world would bet this is an accident.
The old saying, “If you can’t beat them, have them assassinated” comes to mind. Lazor faced with no choice but to admit the TE coach was right kept passing and ruining Campbell’s chance to prove his worth as HC. Was it inadvertent or conscious? No one but Lazor will ever know. Fact is Campbell has been eviscerated by fans and media for not running the ball, and even worse being called a fraud for his “tough” approach in words not deeds. Any shot he had of HC in 2016 has likely all but went with it.
So as to create a pattern of behavior: audibles. Lazor was quoted as saying Tannehill ‘has full control’ of the offense. Now, Omar Kelly has said Fans have an “obsession” of this ‘audible thing’…well it seems he should have too. Sun Sentinel reported a player saying “We saw things we could do, and we didn’t have the freedom in the system to do them”; Tannehill said on the subject, “He’s the coordinator”. If we go back 3 weeks when Tannehill was asked if he could call audibles he had no comment, and then the next day Lazor came out with the “full control” comment. Tannehill was driven 6ft under as a moron who can’t hack it. Maybe he is and maybe he isn’t – one thing I have learned is Bill Lazor is not to be trusted.
From the Patriots game on Miami went full pass and nose dived. The man directing it, despite the orders from his boss, was Bill Lazor. I’m not saying Campbell would have been the next Lombardi if he had listened. I’m not saying Tannehill would have faired better with run support and audibles. I’m not saying we would be in the hunt for the playoffs. What I am saying is, Bill Lazor went rogue; Bill Lazor lied about audibles; Bill Lazor defied his boss; Bill Lazor robbed Campbell a legitimate shot; Bill Lazor was an assassin of the 2015 season.
*Note to reader: special thanks to Dolphins Fan Phinfreak for adding the last dot that brought it together.