Less than 200 days after signing him to a contract extension, the Miami Dolphins have fired head coach Joe Philbin. It comes following a 27-14 loss to the New York Jets in London. It also comes with the 1-3 Dolphins heading into a bye week after traveling across the Atlantic in search of something that resembles quality football.
Considered by many a playoff contender heading into the season, Miami has lost three consecutive games — the last two in blowout fashion. It became clear following Sunday's loss that Philbin might in fact take the fall.
That's exactly what happened.
Other reports indicate that there had been tension between Philbin and certain members of the team in the past several weeks, quarterback Ryan Tannehill included.
This shouldn't come as much of a surprise.
Hired in 2012 to take over a Dolphins team that had finished under .500 each of the previous three seasons, Philbin made the squad more competitive. However, he just couldn't get over the hurdle — continually throwing out mediocre products. After finishing with a 7-9 record in his first season, Philbin led Miami to 8-8 records the past two years. Now 1-3 on the season, something had to be done here.
In announcing that Philbin has been fired, Dolphins owner Stephen Ross had this to say in a press release:
"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 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. We will soon be announcing an interim coach to lead the team going forward.”
Tight end coach Dan Campbell — a coaching intern back in 2010 — will be the team's interim coach for the remainder of the season.