Miami Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin has spent the first few days of this week reviewing the current staff, along with interviewing potential candidates for his staff. The team seems close to landing Philbin's top choices for both the offensive and defensive coordinator positions - bringing over 60 years of coaching experience to the staff.
The Dolphins are poised to bring former Green Bay Packers head coach Mike Sherman in as the team's offensive coordinator. Sherman has spent the last four seasons as the head coach at Texas A&M, where he coached potential draft prospect Ryan Tannehill. Sherman was the Green Bay head coach from 2000-2005, during which time he hired Philbin, who had been a student in his high school English class at Worcester Academy in Massachusetts, to be the team's assistant offensive line coach. Philbin and Sherman have remained friends ever since.
Sherman had been considered a finalist for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach position, only to see the position filled by former Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano. Sherman spent yesterday with Philbin in Miami, discussing the position.
Meanwhile, the team also appears ready to land Kevin Coyle as their defensive coordinator. Coyle has spent his entire coaching career with the Cincinnati Bengals, including the last nine as the team's defensive backs coach. Since Coyle took over as the team's secondary coach in 2003, the Bengals have snagged 150 interceptions, the fifth highest total in the NFL over that period.
Coyle has known Philbin for several years, and reportedly attended the funeral for Philbin's son, Michael, who drowned in the Fox River in Wisconsin earlier this month.
Speculation yesterday also stated that, if Coyle did land the Dolphins job, he would bring with him the Jacksonville Jaguars linebackers coach Mark Duffner. Duffner, who has spent time with both Philbin and Coyle during his coaching career, would be brought in as the Dolphins' linebackers coach and assistant head coach.
Although neither Sherman or Coyle had been named to the job as of last night, both hirings were considered imminent by multiple sources, barring any last minute breakdowns in talks. Now, it's just a matter of finalizing the details before two major vacancies in Philbin's staff are filled.
0 recs | 23 comments
I like it. Lots of exp. By the way i am first this am. Early bird gets the worm lol.
dolfan52 - January 27, 2012
I like Mike!
From Wikipedia
PhrozenPhish - January 27, 2012
Yea Coyle brings in the linebacker coach for the Jaguars...
But who the hell plays linebacker for the Jags?
Goon305Boy10 - January 27, 2012 via mobile
Paul Posluszny
Kdog92 - January 27, 2012
Did you google that?
Goon305Boy10 - January 27, 2012 via mobile
no
Kdog92 - January 27, 2012
Word is that the Jags coach will be linebacker and assistant head coach.
BahamaDolfan - January 27, 2012
?? Daryl Smith!!
civwarbuff - January 27, 2012
I will really like these hirings
Sherman likes to pass…knows Tannehill.
Coyle will help the secondary and have a killer DL with the 4-3.
Kdog92 - January 27, 2012
Like these hirings
Although Coyle won’t be as good as Nolan was in his first year, surely.
But we should improve massively on offense to compensate that.
I’m ready to dig in and give these guys the three years I gave Sparano before I decided he’d never be the guy.
I’ll just say that at the time I didn’t like the Sparano hiring and thought it was a 3/10. This time I think the hiring is a 6/10. This one has a chance, I think. I see flaws, but we’ve got some potential here, and that’s all I want right now. Hope.
Agumen - January 27, 2012
a 6 out of 10
Jeez that’s tough I would say an 8. These men have so much WINNING between them I couldn’t b happier. GO PHINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PAPHIN4ever - January 27, 2012 via mobile
I don't think we'll have a bad defense.
Nolan did very well with the quick turnaround and he did so with new players, which is hard to do. While it normally would be difficult to change schemes with new personnel and there is often a transition period, I don’t think we’ll suffer much because we’ll go into 2012 with largely the same personnel. If we were converting to a 4-3 from a 3-4 and the players we had didn’t exactly fit the 4-3 scheme, I’d be a little worried.
As for Philbin’s hire, I think it worked out very well. Given the candidates available, I think Miami made a very good choice and I was always in favor of Philbin over Fisher. Gruden and Cowher were not on the market and the names most wanted were Philbin, Carmichael, or Chudzinski. All of them are very qualified assistants and I very much approve of the hire. The prospects of Coyle and Sherman coming on board make me excited as well because both have a history of success for what they’re being asked to do. Maybe the move doesn’t work out, maybe it does. But for what we saw available, I like it a lot. This didn’t leave me scratching my head like I did in 2008 and thinking “Tony Sparano? What? Why this guy?” I see solid reasoning for Philbin.
Finhead83 - January 27, 2012
Good Hires!
Philbin continues to make the right moves. Sherman will give philbin someone with lots of experience creating explosive offenses and coyle should keep miami with a top 10 defense. I just hope Philbin hires some young assistant coaches so Miami can promote from within when coordinators leave.
tpl - January 27, 2012
I really like how our offseason is turning out. The only thing I would say is that we should keep Rodgers our D line coach. But I’m not sure if he’s gone yet.
54 - January 27, 2012 via mobile
I think I heard we were keeping Rodgers and Rizzi
So you got your wish there…
Jason Scott_90 - January 27, 2012
Sweet deal
54 - January 27, 2012 via mobile
I like how Philbin is not waisting any time with Solid hires!
The Man has a Plan!
MassFinFan65 - January 27, 2012
Sherman may just turn out to be one of the most important signings for this year.
Philbin needs a guy that can call the offensive plays and really groom a QB. I’m all for Griffin but I’d be pleased with Coples and Tannehill.
BahamaDolfan - January 27, 2012
What I'm glad about is........
A full offseason. No matter who we bring in they will have ample time to install what ever they want. 4-3, west coast offense our players will be able to learn it not like last year.
BwolfFinFan - January 27, 2012
Was it Sherman's idea to convert A&M's blue chip QB prospect to a wide receiver for two years?
PNSter - January 27, 2012
Tannehill would have been buried in the depth chart, and they wanted to give him playing time so they moved him to WR while he developed his passing skills
unfortunately, while it improved his arm and ability to read defenses, it killed any mechanics and footwork he had. If we get Tannehill, we will need to be comfortable starting Moore, Manning, Orton or someone else next year while the coaches fix his mechanics (think Aaron Rodgers). Best option would be Manning, who will also help Tannehill learn how to read defenses even better.
AnishB15 - January 27, 2012
Yes, it was. It worked out great.
Tannehill was competing with Stephon McGee and Jerrod Johnson for the starting QB position in 2008. After he finished third in the competition, Sherman moved him to WR because he saw enough athleticism and talent in the kid. Tannehill worked out great as a WR. He even posted freshman records for catches (12) and yards (210) in a single game.
After he lost the QB competition in 2009 to Jerrod Johnson, Sherman kept him at WR and Tannehill finished as A&M’s leading receiver.
He finally took the job in 2010 and the rest is history. If you think it was a poor move on Sherman’s part, I think he worked it out perfectly. I don’t think he could’ve done a better job handling Tannehill.
Finhead83 - January 27, 2012
good hires
Philbin is putting together a solid staff
Patssuck456 - February 5, 2012
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