Head coach Mike Tomlin: what might have been with the Miami Dolphins
Mike Tomlin turned out to be a pretty good coach with the Pittsburgh Steelers and it makes one wonder what might have been with the Miami Dolphins.
The Dolphins passed on him. He’s never had a losing record in any season, although this season might be the one.
The coach fell out of the top 10 PFF listing. And this seems to ruffle some feathers among the national sports beat media when discussing this matter. Some tend to agree and say he’s mostly offense and that might be the reason Brian Flores was brought on board to give the team a crutch to lean on with the defense much as the Miami Dolphins had done.
The following is from an article by Greg Cote that was last updated in late January 2014 in the Miami Herald
Dolphins interviewed but did not hire coach Mike Tomlin after the 2006 season, opting instead for failure-in-waiting Cam Cameron, after then-CEO Joe Bailey was overheard referring to Tomlin as “too hip-hop.”
This is pretty jarring on more levels than one, for starters, the winning record of Tomlin as opposed to the disaster from Cameron. And what the heck does that quote from former Miami Dolphins CEO Joe Bailey even mean?
Many had taken and still do now that quote from Bailey as being racist. I admit I know very little about this former CEO, but I do know staffers tend to grab at straws and deflect even if there is very little factual backing in order to just move on from something they’d rather not talk about.
Let’s just assume there is some truth to this being too Hip Hop ideology, is it a lifestyle? The music itself? Because if it’s the music I’m more than certain from that time on there have been countless songs played at the practice facility. And if it’s a lifestyle that really shouldn’t have much to do with it. So you can pretty much narrow down the base of this. But this is all speculation over what was supposedly overheard.
That season with Cameron at the helm was the start of what I like to call the Raven’s curse. During that season the Miami Dolphins had just one win and it was over the Ravens. From that time on it has been atrocious.
The Miami Dolphins have recently beaten the Ravens, breaking the curse, they have what should still be a good defense, and a new coach named Mike that is also an offensive coach. Would Mike Tomlin have continued his winning ways with the Miami Dolphins? It’s hard to tell but it is fun to imagine.