Miami Dolphins issue: coaches or execs?

For the second straight week, the Miami Dolphins put themselves behind the eight ball. Only this past Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars, they couldn’t weasel out of a loss.

It’s early. Very early, but not so much that it hasn’t stopped fans and experts alike from demanding defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle’s firing and calling head coach Joe Philbin’s job into question.

Earlier this week, a Miami Herald report suggested the free agent splash and current struggling defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh went off Coyle’s defensive script. Suh and the team have denied these reports, but the stink of discontent lingers in Miami.

This leads to the question as to whether the Dolphins early season struggles are due to poor coaching from Philbin and Coyle or Executive Vice President of Football Operations Mike Tannenbaum and general manager Dennis Hickey’s team building strategy of signing high priced free agents is a flawed one.

The coaching has justifiably come under fire after the team showed up to both regular season games unprepared and uninspired. In each contest, the Washington and Jacksonville offenses moved the ball at will against Suh and company in the first half. This is a defense that was supposed to be bordering on elite level, if not reaching that echelon.

With the defense struggling worse with Suh than they had without him last season, it only exacerbates the defensive issues if the player ignored his coaches. If true, it sends a message of dissent in the locker room while the season is in its infancy.

But the defensive side of the ball isn’t the only place where coaching is concerning.

The Miami offense was abysmal for two straight weeks as well. Outside of quarterback Ryan Tannehill and, more so, Jarvis Landry and Rishard Matthews, not too many offensive players have looked remotely decent. The offense has looked out of sync and many of the problems from last season still lingers.

In fact, on both sides of the ball, the same issues continue to hold the Dolphins back from reaching that level of a playoff contending team.

These difficulties point squarely and directly at Philbin and Coyle. At worst, it appears that they’ve lost their players already and the signature addition is going rogue because he believes he knows better. Best case scenario, they’ve failed to get their players to perform at the level they expect.

However, trouble is a two-sided coin. While the coaching is worrisome, the slow start could just as easily point to chemistry issues brought on by building a team through free agency and poor drafting.

Did owner Stephen Ross, Tannenbaum and Hickey bite off more than they could chew by signing the oft-maligned Suh, whose history of suspension has earned him a reputation of a troublemaker? Was this a case of management not doing their homework and just signing a big name for the sake of a big name?

Aside from Suh, many of the newcomers have struggled and some of the old faces are marred by injuries. Chemistry was supposed to be built-in the preseason, but whatever camaraderie was constructed then appears to be gone now. Though there is plenty of time to get it back.

Both arguments can be made as being the sole purpose of the Dolphins early season malaise. However, the two are intertwined.

The coaches have not been up to par. It’s Philbin’s job to make sure the team is ready to go. Yes, the players need to be responsible for getting themselves up for the game, but Philbin must ensure his entire team is ready to go. They haven’t. That’s on him.

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Coyle hasn’t made the proper defensive adjustments from quarter to quarter, half to half, game to game. If he does that, Suh doesn’t allegedly go rogue. Or at least it would be even more glaring if he still did.

And if the upper brass pays more attention to detail and attempts to bring in more quality players rather than breaking the bank on a few perhaps weak positions, such as linebacker and secondary, would have been strengthened and could have given the line more time to gel.

It was also unrealistic to think this team would jump out of the gate guns blazing with the amount of turnover both the offense and defense endured.

It isn’t time to panic in Miami. Too many people have smashed the big red button after the Jacksonville loss. It should be said, however, that if these problems persist this debate could rage on all season. Though, in the end, it’ll cost both Philbin and Coyle their jobs.

That will be the most telling aspect for the next few games. Do the players’ urgency match that of what should be a desperate coaching staff?

Philbin and Coyle don’t have much time to win back the favor of the media and fans. They have to coach to save their jobs and if Suh really does go rogue, it’ll send a clear message to Ross and the upper brass.

“Get me someone else.”