Gase couldn’t pull the Dolphins out of mediocrity during his time with the team.
The University of Miami isn’t the only football team in South Florida that will have a new coach in 2019. The Miami Dolphins are right there with them after firing Adam Gase on Monday, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Source: The #Dolphins fired Adam Gase.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 31, 2018
The marriage between quarterback Ryan Tannehill and Gase wasn’t productive enough to keep moving forward. Gase went just 23-25 in his three seasons as the coach. The Dolphins made the playoffs in his first year with a 10-6 record, but regressed after that.
How the Dolphins got here
In Gase’s final game as the Dolphins head coach, Tannehill threw interceptions on the first two drives of the game as Miami got dominated by Buffalo 42-17. Miami felt like it was time to shake things up after the Dolphins really failed to get their organization moving in the right direction.
Gase was brought in to revitalize the Dolphins’ offense after spending time as a coordinator in Denver and Chicago, but he was never really able to. In three seasons, the Dolphins never ranked higher than 24th in total yards.
The low point for Gase and the Dolphins
There were two low points for the 2018 Miami Dolphins. The first was losing to the Patriots 38-7 in Week 4 after starting off the season 3-0. The second was their embarrassing offensive output to close the season at Buffalo. Miami did have one great moment when Kenyan Drake raced past Rob Gronkowski for a game-winning touchdown, but overall it was another mediocre season for the Dolphins.
What’s next for the Dolphins?
It might be time for an organizational reset. Tannehill is unlikely to return. Miami will be looking for a new head coach and quarterback combination to lead them into the future.
Tannehill has a cap hit north of 26 million dollars next year, but the Dolphins will only have 13 million dollars in dead cap if they cut ties with Tannehill in the offseason.
Ryan Tannehill was able to play all 16 games over the first four seasons of his career, but the past three haven’t been so kind to him. Tannehill missed three games in 2016, the entirety of the 2017 season with a torn ACL, and missed five games this season.
It hasn’t been all bad for Ryan Tannehill — since 2016, Tannehill ranks 14th in adjusted yards per attempt. Miami just might prefer someone can be a little more durable, or their new head coach might want his own guy.
For what it’s worth, the Dolphins have been linked to former 49ers head coach and current University of Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh for their head coaching vacancy.
Who should Miami target as their next head coach?
Miami needs to get their offense figured out once and for all. Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy might make sense as a fit given the success of the last two Kansas City offensive coordinators (Matt Nagy, Doug Pederson). Prying away Josh McDaniels from the Patriots could be worth a swing too.
Either way the Dolphins go, getting someone that turn the offense around while playing at least decent defense is what they need. It’s hard to get to the next level of winning playoff games in the NFL with inconsistent offensive play — the next head coach will be tasked with fixing that.