For the third consecutive season, the Miami Dolphins will have a new offensive coordinator calling the shots in South Florida. The Dolphins’ first hire at the position, Chad O’Shea, was dismissed during the immediate aftermath of Miami’s 5-11 season in 2019. His replacement, Chan Gailey, survived a few extra hours from the end of Miami’s 2020 10-6 campaign; but ultimately his resignation was announced on Wednesday morning. This leaves Miami in a precarious spot — you’d ideally like to avoid churning through playbooks each and every year, especially now that Miami has a young quarterback in place with Tua Tagovailoa.
So Miami must be keen on getting this hire right. Who should be the man to step into Gailey’s shoes and provide the Dolphins with a stable, successful offensive play caller?
One name that has been floated around is former Houston Texans head coach Bill O’Brien — he of Dolphins notoriety thanks to the mega-trade that set the Dolphins up for their future as O’Brien looked to secure a franchise left tackle in Houston. The trade sent Miami a treasure trove of picks and Laremy Tunsil packing to Houston. But securing a left tackle wasn’t enough for O’Brien to stabilize his job and he was fired early on into the 2020 NFL season. He’s currently without a gig and the NFL’s hiring cycles seem to have little appetite for him as a head coach this offseason.
Could O’Brien be the right fit for Miami?
That depends. He’s certainly qualified. The Dolphins have tried to secure an experienced offensive mind (Jim Caldwell, Chan Gailey) for Brian Flores to delegate to in his first two seasons. Both of those marquee hires were earmarked as experienced coaches with prior play calling and head coaching experience. O’Brien has both. And O’Brien also worked with Flores in New England for several seasons, so there’s a sense of familiarity there as well.
And then there’s the success of Houston’s offense under his watch. His last two full seasons in Houston (2018 & 2019) saw a scoring offense that ranked 11th and 14th in the NFL. They also ranked 15th and 13th respectively in yards. The year prior was Watson’s rookie season — he played in just 7 games and passed for 19 touchdowns on those 7 games. The rest of the season was split between Tom Savage, TJ Yates and Taylor Heinicke. The leading passer the year before that? Brock Osweiler. And the year before that? Brian Hoyer. With talent at his disposal, O’Brien’s offense has been effective and the layered option routes and RPO reads that Houston has implemented with Deshaun Watson would work well (theoretically) with Tua Tagovailoa as well.
But this hire isn’t an open and shut case, because the issues that saw O’Brien dismissed from Houston could threaten much of what Brian Flores has built in two seasons in Miami. O’Brien, as the head coach, developed a negative reputation for the team culture and toxicity in place. There’s no room for that on Brian Flores’ staff. Reports indicate that O’Brien clashed with JJ Watt, Randall Cobb and Anthony Weaver in his brief stay in 2020. Should O’Brien bring the same energy to Miami’s it is difficult to envision him as a good fit for what the Dolphins are building.
So O’Brien is most definitely qualified for the job here in Miami. But whether or not the Dolphins seriously pursue him should be defined by how comfortable they are that he’ll be a valued piece of the puzzle to enhance Flores’ message with the team. And if the answer is no, then look elsewhere, posthaste.
