In a fascinating post from Armando Salguero this morning, the Miami Herald scribe dives into the Dolphins‘ front office drama that the team hopes will come to an end in the Adam Gase era. In 2013, Salguero writes that the relationship between then-Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin and then-GM Jeff Ireland was on the rocks, and owner Stephen Ross ultimately chose to fire Ireland. Ross also debated firing then-offensive coordinator Mike Sherman, and in order to save his assistant and friend, Philbin privately blamed the team’s offensive struggles on quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
Although Philbin continued to toe the company line publicly, reaffirming his faith in Tannehill on numerous occasions–with one or two notable exceptions–his internal discussions had a much different tone. Philbin urged the team to draft Derek Carr in the first round of the 2014 draft, and even after Tannehill enjoyed a relatively successful 2014 campaign, Philbin continued to take out his frustrations on Tannehill, a trend that continued into the team’s difficult start to the 2015 season. Ultimately, that situation was one of the factors that led the Dolphins to hire Gase, who they expect to forge a relationship with the quarterback they’ve committed to and to make him the best player he can be.
Now let’s dive into a few more notes from the league’s east divisions, beginning with more out of South Beach.
- James Walker of ESPN.com affirms that Dan Campbell‘s future with the Dolphins will be determined by Gase, but Walker does add that Ross would like to keep Campbell on the team’s coaching staff. In a separate piece, Walker writes that Gase will be calling the team’s offensive plays.
- Mike Smith will interview with the Giants for their head coaching vacancy tomorrow, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter).
- Mike Garafolo of FOXSports tweets that there were “rumblings” that the Giants would interview Hue Jackson for their head coaching job, but they may not get that chance, as there are multiple reports suggesting that the 49ers could hire Jackson as early as today.
- Zach Berman of The Philadelphia Inquirer says former Giants head coach Tom Coughlin will meet with the Eagles tomorrow to discuss their head coaching vacancy. Interestingly, Berman calls the meeting an “interview,” and not a “feeling-out” as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com suggested yesterday.
- Tyler Dunne of the Buffalo News compiles an offseason to-d0 list for the Bills, a list topped by an extension for GM Doug Whaley and a release of Mario Williams.
- David Moore of the Dallas Morning News looks into why the Cowboys have been unable to land an adequate backup quarterback for Tony Romo, and Moore says head coach Jason Garrett should bear as much responsibility for that failing as owner Jerry Jones.