Miami Dolphins once again rolling the dice on a first time head coach
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins are in a gambling mood and will once again roll the dice on a first time head coach when they announce their hire.
All indications are that the Miami Dolphins will hire New England Patriots linebacker coach Brian Flores shortly after the Patriots season ends. When they do, Flores will be another name in a long list of first time NFL head coaches.
When the Miami Dolphins became a franchise George Wilson was named the first Dolphins head coach. He would coach from 1966 to 1969 but it wasn’t his first as a head coach. He had previously been the head coach of the Detroit Lions.
Replacing Wilson was Don Shula whose Hall of Fame career with the Dolphins is well documented. Then came Jimmy Johnson who had 98% more success as the Dallas Cowboys head coach and then Dave Wannstedt, the hand-picked successor for Johnson. Wannstedt joined Johnson after a stint with the Chicago Bears as their head coach.
Following the resignation of Dave Wannstedt in 2004 the Dolphins have never hired or employed a head coach who had previous head coaching experience at the NFL level. They are now going to roll the dice once more and hope they can find a gem.
Nick Saban was and remains a legendary college head coach but he couldn’t make it work in the NFL. Cam Cameron, Tony Sparano, Joe Philbin, and Adam Gase all have been first time HC’s and even the interim HC’s, Jim Bates, Todd Bowles, and Dan Campbell had never served as an HC in the NFL.
The Dolphins are hoping that their string of bad luck will change with the hiring of their next head coach who is expected to be Flores. Flores has never served as a coordinator either although he reportedly called defensive plays in 2018.
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Regardless of whether or not the Dolphins actually do hire Flores it appears that from the start the team was determined to find a first time head coach. Miami interviewed Kansas City Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy, Dallas Cowboys passing game coordinator Kris Richard as well as Darren Rizzi and Dowell Loggains.
While the Dolphins did interview former Oakland Raiders HC Dennis Allen, it was believed that Allen was a long shot in the process. Miami asked permission but ultimately decided against interviewing Bears DC Vic Fangio and were turned down by former NFL HC Mike Munchak.
In the years since Dave Wannstedt the Dolphins first time head coaches have combined for a 99 – 125. None of the Dolphins coaches that have been hired since Wannstedt have finished with an above .500 record.
When Adam Gase was named the head coach of the New York Jets he became the first former Miami Dolphins head coach to land another head coaching job. Todd Bowles was an interim head coach who also was hired by the Jets as a head coach.
This is not to say that any candidate Miami hires is destined to fail it only shows that the Dolphins who have been looking for another potential franchise head coach that will last decades is still an ongoing process. Finding the right coach has been as difficult as finding the right quarterback.
A common thread between all of those coaches? None of them had a quarterback that was above average and the closest QB to above average is Ryan Tannehill. The next head coach may want to try and change that. If he does maybe he can buck this trend.