While most of us were busy watching the AFC and NFC championships and hanging on every last play, the Miami Dolphins were busy with offseason preparation.
Jeff Ireland’s day probably consisted of getting his scouts ready for the Senior Bowl.
Newly hired coach Joe Philbin is in the process of moving his family to South Florida and putting together his coaching staff as well as meeting with every staff member currently in Miami.
In yesterday’s press conference Jeff Ireland was adamant that Joe Philbin would select and hire his own coaching staff and it was Ireland’s job to find players for him.
So far the search has turned up a couple of coaches as possible offensive and defensive coordinators.
Just this morning Chris Mortensen of ESPN (quoted by Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald) mentioned that Andy Heck met with Coach Philbin this morning about the Offensive Coordinator Job. Heck was recently the Offensive Line coach in Jacksonville and served in that role since 2004. Heck’s background is offensive line and has been around the NFL as a player and as a coach. It is also conceivable that two things jump out when looking at Heck’s résumé, one he served as O-line coach in Virginia from 2001-2003 about the same time that Al Groh was coach. It is no coincidence that this name might have come from Jeff Ireland who has ties to Groh through Bill Parcells.
However, it is also possible that with Tom Clements being mentioned as a possible replacement for Philbin in Green Bay, Coach Clements may have referred Andy Heck over to Joe Philbin since both are graduates of Notre Dame. Of course this is just a hunch, but it is entirely possible that if Clements is the new OC in Green Bay then Andy Heck could have been a referral to help Philbin.
Nonetheless, Andy Heck is a young and spirited guy that had NFL playing experience at O-line for the Seahawks, Bears, and Redskins.
Next, Barry Jackson mentioned that Philbin planned to meet as well with Defensive Backs coach Kevin Coyle of the Bengals. He’s been in his position for 10 years. Kevin Coyle has also been rumored to be named the Defensive Coordinator should Mike Zimmer be hired elsewhere.
In addition, Ben Volin of the Palm Beach Post listed Darren Perry (DB Coach Green Bay), Winston Moss (Raider coach candidate and current GB assistant head coach), and Tom Clements are all in the running for positions in Miami and could talk with Philbin.
The last candidate Mike Sherman was Philbin’s boss and Head Coach in Green Bay in 2000-2005. Sherman was the Offensive Coordinator in Houston in 2007 as Offensive Coordinator. Sherman just recently was fired at Texas A&M, but is also a possible Head Coach candidate in Tampa. It should be noted that according to Ben Volin, Mike Sherman is closest to Philbin than any other candidate as Mike Sherman coached and taught Philbin in high school and worked together in college.
Should anything new emerge with Philbin’s staff, we will all be here at PhinsPhocus to break it down!
Thanks for reading! Follow @PhinsPhocus for Miami Dolphins insight!
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
