First off, I’d like to do something you want find me doing very much ever, thank you Jeff Ireland for trading for Reggie Bush.  While a lot of doubted can be placed on Ireland and most warranted, one place he did not screw up is with Reggie Bush.  Reggie had his first career 200 yard game and has just continued to play with his heart on the field every game. Reggie will end up being a 1’000 yard back for the first time in his career and has proven he can certainly carry the rock.

 

Personally, Reggie has become one of my favorite players to watch this year and can’t wait to see more of him in the Aqua and Orange.

The Dolphins certainly have the Bills number as the score was much closer then the game actually was. Vontae Davis had a highlight interception and Brian Hartline came down with a couple of beautiful grabs. The Dolphins really seemed to be clicking as they took down the Bills for the second time this season.

While it is important to enjoy all Dolphins wins, it is also important to have some perspective on Mondays. The Dolphins now move back to the 10^th pick of the NFL draft next year, as Washington won their game however Cleveland did not. The Dolphins might be playing themselves out of RG3 or Matt Barkley.

The Dolphins face the Patriots and Jets in their final two games of the season so there is still room to move up on the draft board. In my eyes the number 1 priority of this team should be to find the next franchise QB, so I hope we don’t have to look back in April and wish the Dolphins didn’t win some of these games.

We shall see it is only week 15 and there is still a lot of time for change!

It appears after all the speculation of all the different head coaching options for the Dolphins, Brian Billick is the current front runner.

 

Billick recently spoke with the Miami Herald where he told him “The Dolphins are a marquee franchise,” Billick said.  “But at the end of the day, it’s the structure of what they put together.” He told Barry Jackson of the Herald that the former Super Bowl winning Ravens coach would be interested in the coaching job in Miami.

When Billick was in the league there might have been no coach I hated more as it seemed his arrogance showed at every moment on the sidelines that being said his post football career has led me to a bit of a changing of the heart. Hearing Billick talk football on NFL Network and doing media bits on Mike and Mike and other places have led me to gain a strong respect for Billick’s football IQ.

Billick has a regular season coaching record of 80-64-0 and a post season record of 5-3 including a Super Bowl win. Billick has worked around the league as a tight end coach and offensive coordinator as well as being an assistant head coach at Stanford. Billick was also a part of an offense in Minnesota which was very explosive.

Although Billick’s Baltimore teams were not based on offensive fire power as you all know he was still able to manage games and get a team with Trent Dilfer at QB to a Super Bowl.

Billick led the Ravens as head coach for 9 years however only had 4 winning seasons. An issue I have with Billick is that his teams were either hit or miss. Billick either had strong contending teams or had complete slouches.

A Strength of Bilick is that he always had a strong staff that included names like Rex Ryan, Marvin Lewis, Jack Del Rio, Mike Smith, and Mike Nolan.

Bilick is a name with experience that isn’t as flashy as some of the others and might be more realistic to land. Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald said Billick would also be his best bet for the job.

A couple of days ago when we all found out that Tony Sparano had been relieved of his duties as head coach of the Dolphins the obvious big names started popping in people’s minds as the replacement for Tony. Now that a couple of days have settled, there are already a couple of reports of coaches who are planning on pass on the Phins should they be offered the gig. It is important to note that Jeff Ireland could possibly hold back the Dolphins in their coaching search as he would take away the power that a new potential head coach might be looking for.

Bill Cowher: Maybe the biggest A list coach on the market but however according to Dan Marino, he believes Cowher has no intention of returning to the sidelines. It was hard to picture Cowher could co-exist with Ireland anyways but at this point it would not be a stretch to say Cowher will not be taking any coaching positions in 2012.

 

Les Miles: Les made a statement made a statement to a CBS reporter (http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/rapid-reports/post/16453797) that he is not interested I the Dolphins head coaching position. Even though Les’s crazy ways have been rather successful in LSU, I am not certain he would have been a great fit with the Dolphins anyways.

 

Jeff Fisher: While Fisher hasn’t made any public comments on his availability or preferences in terms of coming back to the NFL, Tony Pauline reported that league sources have told him that Fisher might be in line to be the next head coach of the San Diego Chargers.

 

Something else to monitor is that Tony Dungy recently put out a video of head coaches he would consider for owners looking to fill a vacancy. The names on his list were Jay Gruden, Mel Tucker and lastly he highlighted Chip Kelly the head coach of the Oregon Ducks.

With all the new updates of the different coaching situations a dark horse name to look out for is Brian Billick. Billick did mention on one of his NFL Network programs you never know, when talking about the different vacancies around the league. Also note that Rob Chudzinski remains a hot name around the league. 

It should be an interesting offseason for our Dolphins

It might surprise all of us Dolfans that Jeff Ireland has survived the firing of Tony Sparano yesterday.

Surely, Tony was fired because the Dolphins did not win enough games and therefore did not bring the fans into the stadium.

Some of the questions that I have are:

Did Tony get the right coaching personnel? Did Tony get the right players? Were the "groceries" that Jeff Ireland shopped for the right fit?

Here is why Jeff Ireland is still there:

In the area of coaching personnel, the coaches that have surrounded Tony have been a range of good to decent.  After the firing of Bonamego, the special teams got better.  Mike Nolan after two years has put the stamp on the defense to sack quartebacks and in the Dolphins 4 wins, it has been a very impressive showing.  Dan Henning was not a good fit from the beginning, but it was put in place by Parcells and not Ireland. Brian Daboll has shown marked improvement, but I am not certain he will be around after these next three games with a new coach. 

On free agency and the draft Jeff Ireland made very safe first round picks.  He picked Long, but more so because Tony and Bill were enamored with Jake Long.  They (probably both Tony and Bill) believed he was the next Jumbo Eliott.  It could be that Tony wanted Long, but maybe Ireland wanted a QB.  Matt Ryan?

Jeff Ireland hit on Vontae Davis shoring up the corner back position by creating a matchp issue for teams not to throw toward that coverage. 

In addition, Ireland, when he didn't have a second round pick traded down to still grab a very capable Defensive Linemen in Jared Odrick.  He grabbed the second rounder by trading back. 

Last year, he grabbed Mike Pouncey who at times has been wild with the snaps, but has shown veteran type leadership anchoring the line.  

In free agency, Ireland landed free agents that have improved the defense in both Karlos Dansby and Randy Starks and on offense Brandon Marshall has been an upgrade from anything the Dolphins featured with Greg Camarillo.   

This year he landed Reggie Bush and signed Matt Moore.  Without both Bush and Moore, the Dolphins would be 0-16 and fighting with the Colts for the worst record.

So, if you look at the evidence Ireland has kept the Dolphins from potential pitfalls in Kyle Orton and Dez Bryant.  I know you might say that not getting Dez was a bad move, but the Dolphins had just traded for Marshall and therefore did not need another distraction.

I cannot however ignore what Ireland has done wrong.  Ireland abandoned his "friend" in Sparano last year when he distanced himself as management from the right hand arm of Tony when he went to California on a business trip with Stephen Ross and Jeff Ireland to lure Jim  Harbaugh. Ireland proved that he can separate himself as management versus coaching. He earned Stephen Ross' respect.  If placed in that same position, you would do what Ireland did or quit.   

Ireland has not taken a Quarterback with the exception of Henne, in which it may have been Parcells decision. Ireland had his chances, but for some reason he put his faith in Henne.  Ireland passed on very capable passers such as Andy Dalton, Colin Kaepernick, and Ryan Mallet. 

Ireland did not replace Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown.  Why?  Too pricey and he figured that getting Daniel Thomas to move the pile and control games was what he could do.  He just didn't expect Thomas to be out of shape when camp opened.

So, is Ireland the worse GM in the NFL?  This season? 

Look at the Colts, Browns, Chargers, Bucs...do they have great GMs?  Can this GM right the ship and get a better coach in place?  Does he have what it takes?  I believe time will tell.



 

Well it’s the time of year where kids all over the world start making their wish lists for Christmas and seeing as I am still a 15 year old at heart I thought it was only appropriate to make myself an NFL Dolphins wish list. I have been pretty good this so lets hope that I am not on Santa’s naughty list and that all my Dolphins wishes come true.

 

Head Coach: Jeff Fisher

As I tweeted early in the week, how can one not give all their respect to Jeff, when he has such great beard growing ability. Jeff Fisher can truly grow a beard with the best of them. Fisher most likely could form a very solid staff with potentially some of his old team-mates in USC like Jack Del Rio who is now available. Fisher has had success in this league and is the experienced coach that Ross is looking for. Fisher also has the hunger to want to win a super bowl as he has come close in the past but came up short.

Quarterback: Matt Barkley or Rg3 OR Peyton Manning

While I am pretty indecisive as I have no chosen one specific QB, all three of these options seem pretty appealing to me. Hopefully the Dolphins will be in a position in the draft where these two stud QB’s are available. If Fisher is in fact our guy he might decide to go with Barkley due to his USC ties however he did draft Vince Young over Leinart in Tennessee. There is also the factor that RG3 like Ireland are both Baylor Bears.

Tight End: Colby Fleener

The Stanford tight end seems to be just what we need to compliment mister Fasano in the tight end department. Why not give our rookie QB as many weapons as we can to ensure his success.

Jeff Ireland not to be an asshole anymore OR get fired!

 

Stephen Ross to give me 51% equity stake of the Dolphins for the price of 10 $

Addressing key issues in Free Agency or Draft: FS, RT and OLB (Blitzer to go on opposite side of Wake)

Ps: I am Jewish so I hope I am not being too needy Santa !

With the news that Tony Sparano has been fired, here are just a couple of names to keep in mind to be the next head coach of the Dolphins:

1) Bill Cowher (Career record: 149-90-1. Won Super Bowl XL.)

Cowher is a high-profile, A list head coaches who has experience and has had success in this league. His 12-9 playoff record could be better, but it's hardly anything to cry over. A two-time Sporting News and one-time AP coach of the year, Cowher certainly has what it takes to excite a fan base and potentially turn a franchise around. Cowher however might want GM power too which might not be an option.

2) Jeff Fisher (Career record: 147-126. Lost Super Bowl XXXIV.)

 

Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk reports that Fisher is very hungry to get back into the game, as early as 2012, to try and rebuild a franchise and finally win a Super Bowl. Fisher is an experienced and successful coach with a respectable 5-6 playoff record who has a track record of getting the most out of relatively untalented teams. Despite his years of experience, he is still relatively young, and has that hunger to win a career-defining championship that could make him a good long-term hire.  KC and the Dolphins most likely will pursue him hard.

3) Jon Gruden (100-85. Won Super Bowl XXXVII.)

Despite the fact that Gruden just signed a 5 year extension with ESPN, it's possible that if Gruden had the opportunity to come in and coach a guy like Andrew Luck he would jump at the opportunity. Gruden has the unique aspect on his resume that he taken two different franchises to the playoffs, and compiled a 5-4 record in the postseason. The coach called "Chucky" is still young and fiery and certainly is an easy sell to any fan base. 

There were whispers that owner Stephen Ross in Miami would love to have Gruden as their next coach, but we’ll see if he is ready to leave his gig at ESPN.

4) Brian Billick (Career Record: 85-67, won Super Bowl XXXV.)

"Once a coach, always a coach, that's always a part of your blood." -- Brian Billick on ESPN's Mike and Mike Radio Show

Billick is now working for the NFL Network, but seems to be enthusiastic to get back onto the field as a head coach. But perhaps the right opportunity, the right partnership, hasn't presented itself yet. Another coach with experience, a winning record and a super bowl title. Billick's name is one that usually gets brought up year round but also one that usually gets overlooked.

5) Rob Chudzinski 

 

Known as a QB guru, the Panthers offensive coordinators has done wonders with Cam Newton and could be an interesting option for Miami. If the Dolphins are in position to draft Robert Griffin the third than it is certainly foreseeable these two would make a great pair.

First off, here at Phins Phocus we would like to wish all the best for Tony Sparano in the future as he was a great man and someone you could respect, unfortunately he was a pretty bad NFL head coach.

We have lived through the fist pump, through the conservative play and really a complete lack of understanding how to manage a football game however Tony Sparano was still able to get his players to believe and fall in love with his style of coaching.

However it is time to move on as at the end of the day the Dolphins record under Tony Sparano says it all. Whether the players loved him or not it is simply unacceptable to have 3 straight losing seasons and to start a season 0-7.

Its now time for the Dolphins organization to turn the page and go on a search for their new head coach. A list coaching options like Gruden, Fisher and Cowher will be brought up and then you will have your college head coaches like Les Miles and the select few of young hot coordinators. The word experience was brought up in the Dolphins press conference by Jeff Ireland and at the end of the day I believe that is the route they will go.

However it is important to note that Jeff Irelands job appears to be safe which could hinder the Dolphins search and make them a less attractive coaching option.

Lets hope for a better future for our Phins

Phins Up

Adios Tony ! Be well !

Ps Jeff Ireland better up his game, because so far he has been a very lame GM to say the least.

On October 30th, Tim Tebow robbed the Miami Dolphins of their first victory in the fourth quarter with 3:54 to go.  Dolphins miracolously bounced back to win 4 out of 6 games.

Today, Tim Tebow, with the help of his offensive line, wide receivers, running backs, and opportunistic defense beat the Chicago Bears.

Tim Tebow keeps on winning and the Denver Broncos keep on kicking themselves after being in the Andrew Luck campaign. 

Now, the Miami Dolphins who lost to the Eagles this afternoon find themselves 4-9 and licking their wounds after attempting to go 8-8 and "Feed that wolf".

What exactly as a fan do you want to see?  Do you want to see why J.P. Losman, former first round QB was in the UFL last season? 

Do you want to see young running back Daniel Thomas prove that taking him in the 2nd round was the smart way to go?

Do you want to see Jake Long shutdown for the rest of 2011?

Here's what I want to see: the Dolphins play their best against the Bills, Patriots, and Jets.  That's what I want.  Win, lose, or draw, you want to see good football.  Not what we saw today.

I don't care if Moore is there or not.  He was knocked out today and we know that against very tough defenses he can't get the job done.  He lost to teams that are potentially in the playoffs: Dallas, Eagles, and Jets.  Those are the games that counted.  You can mention the Giants if you want, but that was not Moore's fault. 

Moore does run this offense with precision, but it's time to say thanks but no thanks and focus on the future.  The QB of the future is???

If Armando Salguero is the oracle we have been accustomed to listening to for inside information, and that Sparano is a goner and Ireland is safe, then the reasons for winning are only for Dolphins pride.

This season has been a season of ups and downs and football is truly a game of inches.  But the depth the Dolphins supposedly had on the D-line and O-line is not there.  The depth at running back is non-existent.  The depth at QB is not there. 

Does this season hurt more than 1-15?  I believe it does.  1-15 had almost no talent whatsoever and way too many injuries.  Dolphins have been relatively healthy.

No excuses!

  On the eve of this year's most interesting match up versus the Philadelphia Eagles, I have a few thoughts on the Dolphins offense.

One of the crazy and must unimaginable things that has happened in the Dolphins winning 4 out of 5 is that Matt Moore has played better than any QB the Dolphins have had in a long time.

Matt Moore has shown glimpses of the efficient quarterbacks such as Matt Cassel, Drew Brees, and even Tony Romo. 

If I look back on what I know about Matt Moore before it was a very telling, very interesting game he played versus New England on the road in bad weather where he almost led Carolina to a victory.  He could throw the deep ball in windy and wet conditions and was not afraid to attack the defense.  As an avid watcher of film, I looked at this game before the San Diego game this year because I was wondering what the differences were between Moore and Henne.

Here are my observations:

Moore goes through progressions quickly.  He moves in the pocket to get more time to throw.  He focuses his attention down the field instead of just checking it down to an running back.  Moore reads the defenses to the point of anticipation.  In other words, Moore predicts what is going to happen next before it happens thus giving him time to uncork a bomb or pass for a first down.

Henne on the other hand, depends on receivers to get open and when they are not open, he checks down, runs, or takes a sack.  Henne fires the ball down the field out of reach of a receiver or often into the sidelines.  In the red zone, Henne's passes often traveled into the back of the end zone as un- catchable or as interceptions. 


If you look at the particular pass play in Dallas, the one to Marshall, Moore realizes that Marshall is lined up one on one v. the Cowboy corner back with minimal safety coverage.  The pass play works and is executed with precision despite Cowboy defenders in Moore's eyes.  Moore shows the accuracy in that the ball is thrown with just enough touch that as soon as Marshall gets under it, the defender as to grab Marshall, but Marshall makes the play because the ball is thrown perfectly. 

One thing I want to see today is Moore take care of the ball, but take chances deep with Marshall and Brian Hartline.  Check downs are OK to Tight Ends and running backs like Reggie Bush or Daniel Thomas.  Getting Davone Bess in space will be critical and finding him on 3rd down will be especially helpful in attacking the Eagles defense.

I am so impressed with Moore's aptitude to find the right target in a game that make the offense more successful. 

All of the success today would be a result of Moore being in attack mode in order to keep the Eagles on their heels, but the offensive line has to absolutely dominate and to get the running and passing game going.

Go Dolphins!  Fins Up!

The more I try to rip Sparano, the more the play of the Dolphins pull me back in.

If the Godfather III was written about the Dolphins, that's the line I would include in the script.

Dolfans, this is true: The  Dolphins won in a total thrashing of the Oakland Raiders.

There is just no "I" in team in this Dolphin team of 2011.

The Dolphins got scores from Bess, Reggie Bush, Moore on a QB Draw, and Kevin Burnett on an interception.  The blocked punt was the only thing missing.  But why complain?

This year's Miami Dolphins are now 4-8 with 4 games to play.  Can we see the Dolphins beat up their next opponent? 

I have so many questions about this win.  Are the Raiders for real after their performance?  Are they a true 7-5 team?  They lost games to Buffalo and Miami, but yet beat the Broncos (without Tebow) and could not contain their penalties in each of their losses. 

I'll take the win.  I'll take that the Dolphins are trying to win out and show the NFL and the hosts of Mike and Mike on ESPN. 

What is not favorable is if the Dolphins had a chance to get a QB, that is slowly diminishing since Washington could not beat the Jets. 

Do all Dolfans want Sparano back and Matt Moore?  Matt Moore is has 9 touchdowns to 1 interception in 5 games plus 3 rushing touchdowns. 

Please feel free to comment!