Miami Dolphins Players Happy To See Philbin Return

The Miami Dolphins will retain Joe Philbin for another season. At least for one more season. Stephen Ross said so yesterday. It’s starting to sink in but there is no question I wish this were a dream. I mean at least wait until the seasons over. How will you feel if the New York Jets come to town and decimate your football team to finish the season? Yeah that wouldn’t be good. I mean they only came within one point of beating New England yesterday.

While we will never know the driving force behind Stephen Ross’ decision we do know that the players are very happy about his return. Remember it was only a short week or so ago that we reported Miko Grimes saying to WQAM 560’s The Big O show that the players really supported the head coach and wanted him back. While her interview likely had nothing to do with Philbin’s retention, it’s very well possible that Ross took the locker room into consideration when making his decision.

The Miami Herald posted some of the better quotes from players and have some interesting game notes as well. You can check out the game notes here.

"▪ Quarterback Ryan Tannehill: “It’s great. I’m happy for him. I think we believe in Coach Philbin and the program that he has. Everything is set into place, and he does a great job. I am happy to hear that he is coming back.”▪ Jason Fox, who started at right tackle in place of an injured Dallas Thomas: “Players love Coach. The guys fight for him. He’s one of us, and he’s part of this football family. We fight for him every game, not just today.”▪ Receiver Mike Wallace: “That’s our coach. We’re rocking with him. That’s our guy. I have a good time playing for him. I enjoy it. Coach always puts us in a great position. The plays might not always work, but that’s on us.”▪ Defensive tackle Jared Odrick: “I think it’s awesome. We’ve got a game to play next week. There’s a lot of decisions to be made in the offseason, in terms of everybody else. What he’s got intact here, in terms of his coaching and his belief in us and our belief in him, is something special. It’s definitely a great move for the organization and for Joe.”▪ Defensive lineman Derrick Shelby: “It’s his team. I go out and play hard for everybody. It doesn’t matter if it’s Coach Philbin or whoever it is. I owe it to these guys to give it everything I’ve got. Him being the coach, I’m playing for him as well. People make a big deal about that, trying to play hard for a guy. It’s your job. It’s something you’ve got to do.”"

There is no question that the players like this coach but is he the right coach for this team? That will be something that will be debated for a long time into the off-season and then scrutinized all of next season. Perhaps maybe Miko was right, as I believed she was. She has the pulse of the locker room because her husband is in it. She also said there was a divide among support for Ryan Tannehill. Maybe that too changed a bit after his four touchdown game on Sunday.