VIDEO: Miami Dolphins Fire Head Coach Adam Gase, NFL Coaching Vacancies Reach Eight
By Alan Zlotorzynski, Senior Editor // December 31, 2018
quarter of league in search of new head coach
ABOVE VIDEO: Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross announced sweeping changes earlier today, including the firing of head coach Adam Gase. (Video By CBS4 Miami)
MIAMI, FLORIDA – Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross announced sweeping changes earlier today, including the firing of head coach Adam Gase.
Ross announced that general manager Chris Grier will oversee football operations reporting directly to him.
Miami will immediately conduct a search for a new head coach that will report to Grier. In addition to the firing of Gase, executive vice president of football operations Mike Tannenbaum has been reassigned within the organization.
The moves come following another disappointing season in Miami where the Dolphins started the season 3-0 but finished 7-9.
“I want to thank Adam for his hard work and dedication to the Miami Dolphins,” Ross said in a statement.
“These decisions were not easy as he gave everything he had to the organization. I wish him and his family the best going forward.”
The Dolphins’ finished the season with three straight losses including an awful 42-17 loss to the Bills on Sunday and a dismal 17-7 fiasco versus the struggling Jacksonville Jaguars last week.
Dolphins Live: Owner Stephen Ross and GM Chris Grier meet with the media. https://t.co/ODAhaKNTpV
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) December 31, 2018
Gase was hired in Jan. of 2016 and finished his season with a 10-6 mark leading the Dolphins to playoffs.
However, starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill was injured in Week 14 that season and not available for the playoffs. With Matt Moore under center, the Pittsburgh Steelers destroyed the Dolphins 30-6 in the Wild Card round.
The injury to Tannehill seemed to be the ongoing theme throughout Gase’s tenure in Miami. The seventh-year QB from Texas A&M missed the entire 2017 season electing to have surgery on his knee.
Former Bears gunslinger Jay Cutler was signed and the Dolphins finished 6-10. Tannehill played in exactly half of the games Gase coached during his tenure in Miami where he finished 23-25 overall.
The firing of Gase brings the number of NFL head coaching vacancies to eight, with two of them in the state of Florida. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers fired their head coach, Dirk Koetter Sunday night.
The three teams in the state of Florida finished a combined 17-31 this season with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Buccaneers both finishing 5-11 and in last place in their respective divisions.
Last season there were seven head coaching vacancies in the NFL and before we even reached Black Monday today, four head coaches had received the ax.
ABOVE VIDEO: Following a 5-11 season and finishing in last place in the NFC South division this season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced on Sunday that they have relieved head coach Dirk Koetter of his duties after three seasons at the helm.
The Browns Hue Jackson and Packers Mike McCarthy were fired during the season and following the Bucs and New York Jets loss in the final game of the season on Sunday, Koetter and Todd Bowles received pink slips.
Aside from Gase, the Denver Broncos fired Vance Joseph who compiled a two-year mark of 11-21. Also relieved of duties today was Arizona Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks.
The Cardinals fired Wilks a day after finishing 3-13 in his first season as head coach for their worst record in 18 years.
Perhaps the biggest coaching change made on Monday was the Cincinnati Bengals firing Marvin Lewis.
Following a third straight losing season, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Lewis informed the coaching staff he would not return and that the decision to fire Lewis was made by team owner Mike Brown.
The second-longest tenured head coach in the NFL behind the Patriots Bill Belichick, Lewis was hired as head coach in 2003 and his teams made the playoffs seven times. Unfortunately, the Bengals were 0-7 in those games.
The Bengals were 6-10 this season and Lewis finishes his time with a 131-122-3 record. He is the winningest coach in Bengals franchise history.
Stay tuned to Space coast Daily for updates on NFL coaching changes and the upcoming playoffs.
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