Dearly Departed

Just what is it about the Miami Dolphins that makes key management and coaches just walk away?  The trouble started with that cataclysmic fall from the NFL elite following the awful 62-7 playoff loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.  Jimmy Johnson, the supposed savior of the Dolphins, walked off into the sunset, and into a successful broadcasting career.  Rarely does he refer to his stint as the Dolphins’ coach.

Dave Wannstedt ran off in the middle of a season.  If you and your team are bad enough to be fired or leave in the middle of a season, then clearly it will not hurt your team much to stay the remainder of the season. I’ve never been a fan of mid-season departures.  It only leads to confusion and reduced morale.

Then came the departure of our next “savior”, Nick Saban, who deceived everyone with his misleading statements about returning to the NCAA ranks, then slithered off to Tuscaloosa.

Cam Cameron didn’t exactly slither away.  I think he left for safety and security reasons…his own!  But still left behind a giant heap of a mess that should have been a football team.

In 2008, we were all THRILLED to have engaged the services of the “trifecta”, with The Tuna being the biggest catch of the three.  And that season filled us all with hope…we went from 1-15, to AFC East Champions, in what seemed like the snap of a finger.  And now Parcells has decided to swim to warmer oceans.  I, for one, thought he was in it for a much longer haul.

Is there some sort of curse over this organization?  At the time of Don Shula’s departure in 1996, which, incidentally, was not his choice, Miami had only had one other coach in its 30 year history.  And here we are, just 14 years later, and are now on coach #8.  We’ve become no better than the myriad other teams with a revolving door at the coach’s entrance.  And no closer to any answers.

What will it take to get Miami on track to once again become of the elite, with players and coaches that stick around, and are worth the absorbitant amount of money that they make?  The fans are no help; the stadium is usually half full of fans from the opposing team.  It is sometimes difficult to tell that Miami is the home team.  A team really must dig deep to overcome such opposition in their own stadium, and the Dolphins just haven’t been able to do it.

Now we are staring at the possibility of losing yet another head coach, and bringing in another miracle worker.  Some changes will be made, and we Fins Fans will face another season, filled with hope that this will be “our year”.

But it won’t be until we can figure out how to undo, and who is going to undo whatever spell the Dolphins’ organization has been put under.