Following his announcement that Joe Philbin will return as the Dolphins’ head coach, owner Stephen Ross elaborated on his decision to retain the man who has lead Miami for nearly three seasons, per Chris Perkins of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Twitter links: 1, 2, 3, 4). “We say patience is a virtue. But I’m expecting big things next year, I’ll tell you that,” said Ross. “I think everybody feels a buzz. Things are changing around here. It’s frustrating we didn’t make the playoffs. I feel as bad as everybody does. But I think we’re building something here and I believe in the coach.” Here are some more notes out of South Beach…
- Philbin himself was understandably pleased with the news, writes Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald. “This is where I want to be the head coach,” said Philbin. “Three years ago when I interviewed I came to work to Steve Ross. He’s the owner. He’s shown a lot of support to me over the years, through let’s face it, some difficult times. It’s a privilege to be the head coach and I want to do the things I said when I came here — consistently compete for championships.”
- In the same piece, Ross tells Salguero that despite speculation that the Dolphins were interested in Jim Harbaugh, he did not contact the 49ers head coach.
- By reaching the double-digit sack threshold during today’s game against the Vikings, defensive end Cameron Wake earned a $750K bonus, tweets Salguero.
- Charles Clay might not generate much interest in free agency, but he could be an interesting option for a team that would employ him in an FB/TE/halfback role, opines Matt Miller of Bleacher Report (via Twitter). I pegged Clay to garner a four-year deal worth $16-18MM in August, but given his lackluster season, he won’t come anywhere near that figure.