Miami Dolphins coaching changes may or may not be a problem
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins coaching staff continues to change and that brings questions of what is going on with Brian Flores?
When a team hires a new head coach they assemble a staff exactly like Brian Flores did when he took the job with the Miami Dolphins. You also expect that staff to stick around longer than a year. Instead, some of them are bailing and taking a lateral move.
Chad O’Shea, Dave DeGuglielmo, and Tony Oden were all fired at the end of the year. Of the three, O’Shea was the bigger surprise. Then came news within the last few days that defensive coordinator Patrick Graham would be leaving to take the DC role with the New York Giants. That appears to be official.
Now we learn that Jerry Schuplinski who served as the Dolphins QB coach last year has left Miami and agreed to a deal with the Giants in the same role, or another lateral move.
Joe Judge, the new Giants head coach is entering his first year as an NFL head coach after spending years with the Patriots. Yes, he knows Graham and Schuplinski well but so did Brian Flores. Is there a reason for the unexpected departures or is this simply a matter of these coaches being closer to Judge than Flores?
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These coaches are not leaving for a team with 10 wins. The Giants finished worse than the Dolphins and have as many holes but they do have a QB. None are taking promotions that have been made public but regardless there is something going on with the “culture” that has been set by Flores.
Most fans are willing to give Flores the benefit of the doubt given the progress of the team last year. If coaching changes are going to be made this is probably the best year to do it. The Dolphins gutted the roster in 2019 and have plenty of draft picks and money to reshape the roster. It is likely that so much change over from last season won’t be a problem with coaching changes.
Beyond this year, however, things need to settle down. Chan Gailey shouldn’t be the OC simply because he isn’t likely going to last but a season or two.
Whether or not more changes are coming really doesn’t matter at this point but what does is Flores’ ability to find replacements. So far those too have been questioned including the hiring of a high-school coach to handle the secondary.
Flores, again, gets the benefit of the doubt and in the end, changes that he makes or are made around him will ultimately decide how long he coaches in Miami if the product on the field doesn’t increase the win totals. For now, like I said, better this all happens now rather than in two years.