As we learned on Sunday, Dolphins special teams coach Darren Rizzi is the only assistant expected to remain with the team under new head coach Adam Gase. That Sunday report suggested that the fate of Dan Campbell remains up in the air, but according to Andrew Abramson of The Palm Beach Post, the former interim head coach is unlikely to be back with the club.
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Dolphins owner Stephen Ross indicated over the weekend that he’d love to retain Campbell, though he left that decision up to Gase. As it turns out, there may not be a decision for the new head coach to make. Abramson suggests that Campbell “wants to move on and will almost certainly leave.”
While it appears Campbell and most of the other Dolphins assistants are on their way out, Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald tweets that no decisions on the coaching staff had been finalized as of this morning. I expect we’ll get more concrete updates on the anticipated changes at some point this week.
In his first stint as an NFL head coach, Campbell had mixed results. After taking over for Joe Philbin when the Dolphins were 1-3, the interim head coach led the team to consecutive blowout wins to get back to .500. However, Miami won just three of its final 10 games, finishing with a 6-10 record for the season and a 5-7 mark under Campbell.
Campbell, a tight end himself over the course of his NFL playing career, served as the Dolphins’ tight ends coach prior to his promotion. If and when he officially departs from Miami, he’ll likely seek an offensive assistant job elsewhere.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Campbell did a great job with a team that had some major holes. Where ever he lands, I fear the Phins will end up regretting that we let him get away. A successful Gase tenure would tempor that sting, but over the past decade this organization has repeatedly selected the best coordinator or college coach available, only to learn that being a smart guy, scheme maker, and film reviewer does not translate to head coach that MUST be a leader, motivator, and organizer in addition to those other skills. We will all see if Gase has what it takes or is the next in a long line of FAILS.
The difference being that Gase has a reputation of adapting the scheme to the players strengths (ala Bill Belichick) not the other way around, like every coach and coordinator Miami has had in the last decade or so.
That is a crucial difference.
Campbell should stay and learn. He will be a good coach one day, but he needs more seasoning.