MIAMI _ Brian Flores' decision to fire Chad O'Shea after one season and bring Chan Gailey out of retirement to run the Dolphins' offense was, certainly on the surface, puzzling.
O'Shea was given a far-from-complete roster, with major holes on the offensive line and running back. And yet, the Dolphins improved throughout the season and averaged 25.4 points per game during the last nine weeks.
But Flores, by letting O'Shea go some 24 hours after they together implemented a game plan that successfully beat the Patriots in New England, wanted more. And he thinks he can get more from Gailey, a two-time former head coach who has also also been an offensive coordinator for four NFL teams, including the Dolphins in the early 2000s.
It might be awhile until we get an explanation from Flores, as his weekly media obligations ended with the regular season. It's possible he doesn't next speak to reporters until the owners meetings in March.
But there are tea leaves to be read, based on Flores' coaching style and how the 2019 season unfolded.
While O'Shea did a lot of good things, he failed in two important areas: Generating a consistently effective running game (the Dolphins ranked last in yards per game, 72.3, and per carry, 3.3); and failing to develop Josh Rosen, who threw as many touchdown passes (one) as Dolphins punter Matt Haack.
The second shortcoming was probably more damaging to O'Shea's fortunes than the the first.
The Dolphins are going to draft a quarterback in April. It's just a matter of how early they take one. Is Tua Tagovailoa an option at five? Sadly, we weren't privy to the conversation general manager Chris Grier, team owner Steve Ross and team president/CEO Tom Garfinkel had with Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian before Wednesday's Citrus Bowl.
But Tua or not, the Dolphins want to give their next young quarterback the best chance to succeed.
Flores has proven that he will always do whatever he can if he thinks it makes the team better, from firing his offensive line coach a week into training camp to churning over the bottom third of the roster all year.
So what makes Gailey the right fit? Perhaps Flores got insight from his quarterback, Ryan Fitzpatrick, who played four seasons under Gailey with the Bills and Jets.
"It's a fun offense to be in," Fitzpatrick said in 2015. "He does a great job of highlighting his talent. He's got some talented receivers here. He's got some talented guys in the backfield. ... He does a great job of utilizing a team's strengths and putting them in the best possible situation to win. That sounds funny because you'd think that everybody does that, but he's got a knack for finding ways to get your players the ball."
Fitzpatrick was right. Gailey ran a run-heavy offense in his first go-round with the Dolphins, because that's what Dave Wannstedt wanted. But he also was one of the first NFL coaches to incorporate the spread into his offense. While with the Steelers, he found a way to maximize Kordell Stewart's unique skill set.
While the connection to Fitzpatrick is surely helpful, the change at OC was not really about the 37-year-old quarterback.
While it would seem to make Fitzpatrick's return to the team in 2020 more likely, the Dolphins are still committed to finding a long-term solution at quarterback.
That would be a nice change of pace for Gailey, whose quarterbacks at his past four NFL stops were Fitzpatrick, Tyler Thigpen (Kansas City) and Jay Fiedler (Miami).
Plus Gailey has a history of being able to consistently get production in the running game, regardless of personnel.
And one more factor that shouldn't be overlooked: Flores' staff last year was largely made up of coaches who were new to the positions they held in 2019.
He had hired Jim Caldwell to be an experienced voice in the building, but Caldwell missed the whole year due to health complications. Now he has that elder statesman in the soon-to-be-68-year-old Gailey, whose first NFL job came in 1985.
