Michael Thomas calls 2015 Miami Dolphins defense vanilla

The Miami Dolphins were not a good football team last year so when Michael Thomas told a radio show that last years defense was “vanilla”, no one was really surprised.

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Speaking with 120sports.com, Thomas told the hosting duo that last years defense was vanilla and that other teams knew it was vanilla. He also said that the defense was “hand-cuffed” by not being allowed to make changes or calls at the line. This is something that has been a problem since the arrival of Joe Philbin so it’s not a surprise.

The Dolphins of course fired Philbin and defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle after week four of the season so it might be safe to assume that the Dolphins could have turned it around and allowed the team to play more freely the remaining 12 weeks. That wasn’t the case.

Lou Anarumo assumed the DC role and will return this year to the secondary coaches job but it’s difficult to just change things mid-season, even for a team that is heading nowhere but average. Such was the case last year with the Dolphins.

Thomas has predicted that the new defense under Vaughn Joseph will be more open and suitable to the players allowing them to be put in positions to make plays. Sadly it’s a rhetoric that most players preach about when coaching changes occur. In this case however, Thomas may very well be right.

Joseph has been coaching an aggressive defense in Cincinnati and while Kevin Coyle was also the teams secondary coach before joining the Dolphins, the Joe Philbin mentality stifled both players and coaches during his three years and four game career as the Dolphins head coach.

Not much is really known about Adam Gases’ coaching style as it relates to his new duties but the Dolphins will open OTA’s on April 11th and for the first time the players will get a look at what Adam Gase is all about. And that should give an indication on what his coaching staff will be all about as well.