Dolphins Dan Campbell lacks talent to be good enough
By Brian Miller
Four weeks ago Miami Dolphins interim head coach Dan Campbell walked down to the front of the teams meeting room to a loud applause. “Thank you,” he said, “You’re clapping now but in a few weeks you might be booing me instead”. Three weeks later and he was right. (There is a poll at the bottom)
Fans are not booing Dan Campbell. They are booing the team. Campbell is a very likeable coach and the fans love his spirit and attitude but Dan Campbell isn’t ready to be a head coach just yet. He will someday, should he stay in coaching, likely become a very good head coach. He needs more time. He needs to learn the manipulations of coaching. He needs to learn how to outcoach his opponent instead of being outcoached.
On Sunday Campbell opted to go for a touchdown from the Bills one yard line instead of taking a field goal to end the half. Had the team executed the play, Campbell would have looked like a genius but they didn’t. Dion Sims was open on the slant but Tannehill threw the ball late. Instead of hitting him on the break, he waited for coverage to get in place. The Dolphins would score at touchdown on the opening possession of the 2nd half and those three points would have helped bridge the gap.
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Not that it would have really mattered in the end but had they made that touchdown it may have changed some of the approach in the final two quarters. This is not an example of why Dan Campbell isn’t ready. It was a good call with a bad outcome. Campbell makes the team accountable and you need that but the question is this. Does he have the talent on this team to actually win with? In some areas yes but overall the answer is no.
When the season ends, barring a big miracle finish by the team, Dan Campbell will no longer be the head coach as Miami will likely hire someone else. The team needs better coaching and a fresh approach is something that needs to be in place as well. Campbell is a fresh approach but he is hindered by a coaching staff that still has the Joe Philbin mindset. Sorry Mr. Campbell but Joe Philbin was a big problem. See bus, throw.
The Dolphins over the last four off-seasons have become soft. So soft that a rah-rah pep talk from an energetic coach isn’t enough to turn underperforming players into stars. When Campbell took over the team it was said over and over again, Dan Campbell can’t fix the offensive line, he can’t fix the linebackers, and he can’t fix the problems with the teams depth. Guess what? He couldn’t.
Of all the coaches Miami has had since Dave Wannsted, Campbell is the one I like the most. He is young, proud, and has a drive that no other coach has had previously but Campbell doesn’t have the experience to be innovative. He doesn’t have the players to be innovative or the coaching staff around him. He also doesn’t have the coaching experience to get his team ready.
If the Dolphins opt to keep Campbell for the 2016 season I won’t necessarily be upset. I really do believe that Campbell will be a very good head coach someday but the Dolphins need someone that can lead the team in a new direction entirely and I’m not sure Campbell can do that. For starters, Campbell needs a new defensive and offensive coordinator and I don’t see him firing that staff at seasons end or having the coaching connections to lure top candidates to the team. That is a problem.
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There are a lot of things holding Dan Campbell back. Some are his own and others were out of his control when he took over the team. He didn’t build this team which is something that can’t be said enough. He inherited it. He inherited a bad sitution with bad systems that don’t change overnight.
To be fair, Campbell has made the team more physical. The defense is playing better up front and the offensive line is actually playing better than what we saw in the first four weeks of the season but sadly there is too many holes and too many problems to mask and this is what will eventually cost Dan Campbell his job.
I’m so on the fence with this however. I see a big future for Campbell but sadly I must also realize that it will likely be as a head coach somewhere else. Yet I’m not sold or convinced that Miami can keep him another year or two and let it play out although to be honest, I think that is the best option.
Keeping Campbell for two more seasons gives him a real shot to prove he can remold this team into something else. Get his types of players on the field. More importantly, if he can’t, then the next head coach would have far less salary cap issues to deal with and can then completely start over, something they can’t do next year.
Once again the Dolphins find themselves in a precarious position where there are no simple answers only more questions.
What do you think? Should the Dolphins give Campbell another year, maybe two and let him get his players into that locker room or should we just implode everything and move on yet again?