Miami Dolphins

Do the Miami Dolphins finally have a coach worth fighting for?

Published Aug. 28, 2015 9:18 a.m. ET

foxsports

By Dan Payne

Joe Philbin has been displaying signs of an increased level of comfort around his players this year. In previous seasons, he has appeared up tight and often withdrawn.

Whether this is due to lessons learnt over the past few seasons or maybe that he is finally happy with the personnel that the Dolphins have in the building, either way it can only be a good thing.
The Dolphins have purged many players over the last 2 years that had run-ins with Philbin and didn’t always appear to be on the same page. With these players gone and a more youthful playing roster willing to listen and learn maybe Philbin finally feels like he can be himself.

One of my biggest criticisms of Joe Philbin’s reign in Miami is that the team has often seemed flat at vital times, or devoid of fight. Two consecutive seasons the Dolphins were in playoff contention going into December and almost seemed to give up without a fight. I understand that injuries took their toll last year, but on both occasions I couldn’t help but feel the players gave up on their coach, this may be about to change.

This off season Philbin has been making every effort to connect with his players. Just a couple of the occasions to mention are cancelling walkthroughs to take his team to the cinema to watch Straight Outta Compton and more recently joined the whole coaching staff to perform a song written by offensive line coach John Benton at the rookie talent show.

The players have been vocal about their affection for their coach on social media and, love her or hate her, Miko Grimes, wife of Dolphins star cornerback, summed it up in a tweet as well.

Due to the closer bond Philbin seems to have formed with his players this off season the players will be more inclined to fight for their coach when things get tough and this can only help the Dolphins finally get over their December slumps.

More from cover32: