So much for that offseason of stability for the Miami Dolphins’ coaching staff. When the Miami Dolphins walked off the field at Gillette Stadium to end their 2019 season, the team seemed poised for an opportunity to run everything back for another go in 2020 — but with a more talented roster. The football gods may well have other plans for Miami.
The Dolphins overachieved, but none of their coaches had their units performing so well that Miami should have expected someone to come knocking and poach their coaching staff of hires this offseason. But Brian Flores brought the first major change on his own accord, relieving offensive coordinator Chad O’Shea after the end of the season in a surprising decision.
And now, defensive coordinator Patrick Graham may be aligning to be elsewhere in 2020 as well.
The New York Giants surprised with their decision to hire Patriots special teams coordinator Joe Judge to their vacant head coaching position — yet another Patriots coach to get a head gig elsewhere. But that means Judge, like Flores, has familiarity with all former Patriots assistants. The Giants are running interference on Patrick Graham specifically and have requested to interview him for the vacant defensive coordinator position. That’s according to a report last night from the NFL Network.
It would be quite the surprise for Miami to exit a season and 5-11 in the first year under a new head coach and ultimately have both of their coordinator positions under new management the following season. Should it concern the Dolphins? Not particularly. Here’s why: continuity only matters when all the variables are stable. The Dolphins are going to have at least half of their roster in 2020 be brand new, newly acquired players. They’ll be getting coached by Miami and learning the Dolphins’ style for the first time anyway. So having a change at a key coaching position isn’t really going to be impactful because so many of the players are going to be fresh to the system no matter what.
And Brian Flores is still here — he’s the central piece that brought this team together the way that they did over the final 9 games of the season. So if Graham interviews in New York and decides it is a better fit, more power to him. The change won’t uproot Miami’s reclamation one bit.
