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Phins Glory Days, Past Mistakes, & The Future

Zach Blaine

Phins Coaching history: Shula, Jimmy, a string of nobodies… and now the ‘new guy’

Phins have never been the same since Shula left

The new guy, Brian Flores, is the latest Head Coach on the Phins coaching treadmill. It’s been a long, long time since the ‘glory days’. Miami’s string of coaching failures since Jimmy Johnson has stretched near twenty years.

Unbelievable.

While Jimmy’s mark was felt more from his drafts than his victories… he was the last coach where some stability was present.

Still, he was no Shula…

The Glory Days

In 1970 Don Shula became the head coach of the Miami Dolphins…

… and became the All-Time most winning Head Coach with 347 victories. 

Shula led the Miami Dolphins to five Super Bowl appearances netting two Championships with one being part of the ‘Perfect Season’. In Shula’s 26 seasons as the Miami Dolphins Head Coach, only two of them ended as losing campaigns. Impressive!

The good ‘ole days seem more dream than real at this point.

Shula’s NFL Career overview:

Not only did Shula end his career with a trip to Canton and the Hall of Fame, but he coached many of his players there as well.

The list of his exceptional and HOF players is long.

Phins greats under Shula in the 70s:

Phins greats under Shula in the 80s:

Phins greats under Shula in the 90s:

Jimmy Johnson Era Begins

After the family of the late Joe Robbie sold their share of the Miami Dolphins to Wayne Huizenga, and Don Shula had a failed 1995 season, Jimmy Johnson was hired in 1996.

Fans and the media expected a continuation of the ‘Glory Days’. This was a pipedream.

Jimmy and Marino didn’t mesh the way fans had hoped. Behind the scenes, the staff was soon looking to replace Marino. Jay Fiedler grew in the staff’s eyes as a better fit at Qb than Marino. Draft blunders exasperated the growing tensions. Jimmy’s decision to trade back in the 1st Round, missing out on Randy Moss and drafting John Avery, along with the disaster of Yatil Green were two crucial 1st Round picks wasted.

During this era, there were some amazing defensive hits in the drafts… but overall, Jimmy didn’t show the magic of talent acquisition he had in Dallas.

Some fans point to this as the downfall of the Phins… but there wasn’t a losing season in the post-Shula era until 2004, the final season of the Dave Wannstedt tenure.  

Still, after the Dolphins suffered their worst loss in the franchise’s history in the 1999 playoffs 62-7 to the Jacksonville Jaguars and shortly after Dan Marino retired, the Phins were only a marginal Playoff team at best.

Jimmy’s Top Picks:
The ‘Stache’ assumes control & Era of mistakes begins

Marino ‘retired’, Dave Wannstedt took over as Head Coach, and Jay Fiedler assumed the starting quarterback role. The team talent was good, but the quarterback position was the Achilles Heel. This lack of quality QB production was compensated by excellent running backs over Wannstedt’s tenure. Ricky Williams and Lamar Smith and a talented receiver Chris Chambers helped Fiedler be effective. But it was the defense backed by Sam Madison, Jason Taylor, and Zach Thomas that Miami from being a total disaster.

After the Wannstedt was fired in the middle of the 2004 S, the Dolphins hired former LSU head coach Nick Saban, who was coming off of a National Championship.

The return to the glory days was AGAIN expected… and it was AGAIN quite the opposite.

Nick Saban only lasted two seasons in Miami but instead being fired, he quit on the Dolphins to take the head coaching job at Alabama. Saban proved to be the exact opposite of Shula in character–and results.

The Dolphins had to start all over… AGAIN.

Cam Cameron was the next Head Coach and lasted only one season. His 1-15 season along with the drafting of ‘Ted Ginn and his family’ gave the Dolphins second thoughts about the hire. Also, it’s not hard to believe that the Pied Piper Bill Parcells in the backdrop offering to take the job wasn’t another factor.

Three seasons and two Head Coaches… the once stable franchise became schizophrenic.

After the 2007 season, the Phins made a complete change in their football operations. Former New York Giants, New England Patriots, New York Jets, and Dallas Cowboys Head Coach Bill Parcells took over as a football executive… and the totalitarian architect.

Parcells hired Tony Sparano for the 2008 Season and passed on quarterback Matt Ryan to draft offensive tackle Jake Long with the 1st Overall Pick. During Free Agency Miami had signed former New York Jets ‘legend’ QB Chad Pennington. Instead of Ryan, they drafted Chad Henne to be the future franchise quarterback.

All the bases were covered… or so it appeared.

We don’t need the pay per head software like AcePerHead.com to tell us how it turned out: Pennington’s injured shoulder only let him complete a single season, Henne fizzled in replacement, Steven Ross took over ownership and Parcells bailed.

Since Sparano firing in the middle of the 2011 season, two more coaches have come and gone. The ‘curse’ of Shula and Marino has gained more credibility than ever.

Did the Phins talent pool suffer from poor coaching more than the coaching suffered because of poor talent since Shula’s ‘retirement’? The undeniable reality is that the decisions of the coaches and Front Office were both incompetent… and compounded each other’s issues. Worrying about who was more at fault is splitting hair between two idiots.

For years it has felt that the FO has only cared about splash moves and the staff lacked vision. Neither side has been exceptional.

The limited amount of real talent since Jimmy’s drafts is mind-boggling.
‘New Guys’ to save the day?

The Dolphins have talent at key positions, but they are thin… and they need to make a change with Ryan Tannehill.

It will take more than average to turn this ship around.

Whether they keep Ryan Tannehill, draft a QB, or make one in the lab, they must build a quality offensive line… You can never too many of them. The ‘Glory Days’ were known for their excellent trench play. Maybe if this regime fixes the interior, there will be real hope of real change.

Quality character, discipline, quarterbacks, and line play were the keys to Shula’s success. 

As we’ve learned over the last two decades, winning in the NFL isn’t easy.

Will the ‘new guys’ bring back the ‘Glory Days’? Most aren’t expecting them to… but maybe that’s a good sign.

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