Miami Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin has been relieved of his duties on Monday, a day after the team suffered a 27-14 loss to the New York Jets in a game held in London.
Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said that the move to end Philbin's coaching career with the team had been difficult. "This was a tough decision for me to make knowing how tirelessly Joe worked in his four years here to make this a winning team," he said in a statement.
Ross further went on and mentioned that the former coach is "a man of the highest character and integrity that I developed a close personal relationship with. I am extremely disappointed with how we have started the season, but I feel confident that we can improve quickly with the talent we have on our roster."
Prior to the Monday's decision, Philbin's last practice as head coach over the weekend reportedly manifested that he had lost control. The Miami Herald's Barry Jackson wrote that the Dolphins' Saturday practice in London involved altercations among defensive players who are not listening to the coach's instructions and quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
The report detailed that Philbin instructed defensive players to relax a little so the offense could work on getting its timing down. But linebacker Chris McCain was said to have continued practicing aggressively, resulting to a heated argument between him and Tannehill.
Shortly after Philbin's termination, the team named former tight ends coach Dan Campbell as interim head coach. NFL Network's Albert Breer said that Campbell has also been granted the authority to make staff decisions for the rest of the current season. "Dolphins interim coach Dan Campbell expected to make a call today on DC Kevin Coyle. Mike Tannenbaum empowered him to make staff decisions," Breer said in a post on his Twitter account on Tuesday.
Mike Tannenbaum is the Executive Vice President of Football Operations for the Miami Dolphins and Coyle was the team's defensive coordinator initially rumored to be fired alongside Philbin but was eventually spared.
When asked about his strategy, Campbell clarified that he did not have enough time to look at the whole situation yet. Nevertheless, Breer reported that Campbell "isn't making staff changes right now." Following reports that the new interim head coach had a long meeting with Coyle early Tuesday.
In a recent conference call with the Miami press, Campbell told ESPN that, "We have enough to win. We have to change the culture. I have to change the culture, and that's what I intend to do." He also expressed his intention of turning around the Miami Dolphins by implementing more intensive practices and by levelling up his coaching aggressiveness during game days. "I don't want guys to just do their job, I want guys to dominate," Campbell added.
