Stephen Ross fired Adam Gase with intent to rebuild Miami Dolphins

There were various reasons for Stephen Ross to fire Adam Gase Monday morning, but one major reason is Ross’s willingness to rebuild in order to get Miami back to championship level.

Many of today’s fan base of the Miami Dolphins don’t know of a time when this team was relatively good. And how could they? December 30th marked the 18th anniversary of the last time the Dolphins won a playoff game. They’ve only been to the postseason on two occasions since, and were blown out in the first round in both scenarios.

Prior to the turn of the century, however, the Dolphins were deemed playoff contenders on nearly every occasion. As a kid, watching my first NFL season, Miami reached the AFC Championship game where they fell short against Buffalo. Although they have not made it that far into the postseason since then, the Dolphins reaching the playoffs was a virtual lock for about a decade to follow. The hump that Miami was trying to get over at that time was getting back to the Super Bowl, although they consistently fell short.

For the past 15+ years now, the Dolphins have been a sub-par team that has flirted with mediocre purgatory. Both playoff teams have regressed in the following seasons, and it’s become a full circle of disappointment year after year.

To make matters worse, the Dolphins are a team that continues to flirt with postseason play near the end, but they don’t make it, and then end up drafting outside of the top 10 in the upcoming draft. That has been their trademark for several years now, and their 2018 finish is no different.

Miami will select 13th in the 2019 draft. They already plan to part ways with Ryan Tannehill this off-season after seven seasons, and they will undoubtedly look to add a quarterback in both free agency and the draft. The 2019 draft class is a weak one, however, in terms of quarterbacks. It became even weaker last week when Oregon QB Justin Herbert announced that he would be returning to Oregon for his senior season.

This leaves Miami in a situation they’ve grown all too familiar with. Not good enough to compete, but not bad enough to rebuild with valuable assets. If the Dolphins have a quarterback that they highly covet then they are going to have to pay up handsomely in order to move up, and get him. With a much deeper class at the position expected to come out in 2020, Miami may be better suited to wait another year.

Owner Stephen Ross has grown tired of this middle of the tier placement that the Dolphins have had since he took over, and it’s largely been in part because of Miami’s conservative decision-making along the way. We saw the first sign of his frustration in April at the draft when he questioned his personnel as to whether or not they were making the right decision with the 11th pick.

Ross has gotten to a point where much of the fan base is at today. If it takes a few losing seasons in order for Miami to get back to a championship caliber team as they once were then so be it. In today’s press conference, Ross did not use the word rebuild, but one could tell that was the message he was delivering in order to get this team back to prominence.

When asked why he fired Adam Gase, Ross stated, “Adam wants to win and win now. He’s in his fourth year and I think every coach in his fourth year has to win”. It may have seemed like an odd response, and one that Ross should have probably reiterated better, but essentially, it’s because Gase is in win-now mode, with no interest in a rebuilding process. Ross, on the other hand, understands that his team is not just a year away, and he wants the Dolphins to start building with younger players.

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Ross did state that he doesn’t want Miami to go 3-13, but if that’s what it takes then so be it. In reality, that may indeed be what it takes in order for Miami to become a contender again. He made it clear that the days of signing older free agents to plug in positions rather than fixing them are over. With that in mind, Dolphins fans can expect the organization to part ways with a number of veterans this off-season.

Cameron Wake and Frank Gore are two players that first come to mind. Both are heavy fan-favorites, but their careers are coming to an end soon, and they obviously won’t be viewed into Miami’s long-term plans. There are a number of other veterans that the Dolphins can (and likely will) cut in order to create salary cap relief. Long story short, you can expect a lot of brand new faces in South Florida come next season.

This is the NFL, and teams have won with complete overhauls the following season, but the odds are that the Dolphins will need to get worse before they can get better. In no way was Adam Gase going to be willing to accept that in a fourth season with the team.

Monday’s decision was probably best for both parties as Gase is expected to land with another team quickly, possibly as head coach. There is the belief that Gase is still a very good coach, and that he will succeed, but that wasn’t going to be with Miami.

While Gase did over exceed expectations in regards to the Dolphins record, his play-calling and attitude frustrated many, including inside his locker room. Dolphins players grew tired of Gase, and it became clear that if he returned for 2019, it would become problematic.

A rebuild was imminent for this team, and it’s best that Ross made the decision to pull the trigger now rather than let it linger on into possibly next season. Too often, we’ve seen the Dolphins fire personnel when it was too late. We’ve also seen general managers and head coaches forced to work together because Ross wasn’t willing to go all in on a rebuild.

Finally, Ross has seen the errors in his way. By promoting Chris Grier to head of football operations, and reassigning Mike Tannenbaum fully out of the decision process, Grier can now search for his head coach. Grier will also have full control of the 53-man roster, which Gase previously carried, and he will be the one to make the decisions regarding free agents and the draft.

It may be a long while before we see it, but this is a step in the right direction for the organization. Ross has seen enough, and took responsibility in the press conference for the Dolphins inconsistencies. Fans have given Ross a lot of grief over the years, and for good reason, but it’s a big step for a man who is not a football guy to admit his mistakes in the past, and to come to the understanding that sometimes you need growing pains in order to build success.

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