Ranking every Miami Dolphins Head Coach

[CF DolFan]

Hal Habib of the Palm Beach Post ranked all of Miami's coaches last week. I thought it might be fun to see where and why they would rank each coach.

Hal's List is Below  - If you want his reasons behind why then go to his article.http://dailydolphin.blog.palmbeachpost.com/2018/05/18/ranking-every-miami-dolphins-head-coach-you-know-whos-no-1-but-whos-no-10/

1. Don Shula
(1970-95, 274-147-2)

2. Jimmy Johnson
(1996-99, 38-31)

3. Dave Wannstedt
(2000-04, 43-33)

4. Dan Campbell
(2015, 5-7)

5. Tony Sparano
(2008-11, 29-33)

6. Jim Bates
(2004, 3-4)

7. Nick Saban
(2005-06, 15-17)

8. Todd Bowles
(2011, 2-1)

9. Joe Philbin
(2012-15, 24-28)

10. George Wilson
(1966-69, 15-39-2)

11. Cam Cameron
(2007, 1-15)

[Phishfan]

I'm curious why they didn't rank Gase

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

I'm curious why they didn't rank Gase

Because he is an incomplete.  He could bring Miami is first 0-16 season or win more SBs than Shula.

[Phishfan]

I can understand that and even agree at this early stage but when the article says every coach the writer should include every coach or rethink the name of his list.

[Dolphster]

The first thing I thought when I saw the list was.......1. Shula  2. Johnson  3. Everyone else.     Although George Wilson doesn't get the credit he deserves. He was the first Dolphins coach and had an expansion team.  To even go 15-39-2 wasn't too awful considering the circumstances.  My favorite George Wilson story is that he was WAY too easygoing and would go out socially with the team, not push them at all during practices, etc.  He was essentially their buddy.  Enter Don Shula.  Some of the holdovers from the Wilson days tell of the shock and awe that hit camp the day Shula showed up.  Talk about "there's a new sheriff in town".  Enter 2 A Day Practices, the legendary 12 minute run, and guys puking all over the field from being pushed and pushed hard in practices. 

[Spider-Dan]

I can understand that and even agree at this early stage but when the article says every coach the writer should include every coach or rethink the name of his list.

"Ranking every former Miami Dolphins head coach"

I agree with the author's decision.  You can't fairly rank a coach until his tenure is complete, unless he's at a point (like Belichick is now) where no matter what happens going forward from today, his ranking will not be affected.

If Gase wins the SB this season, he'll automatically be #2.  If he goes 0-16, he might be #12.  You can't really rank him yet.

[BigDaddyFin]

Don Shula, Wannstedt, Jim Bates, everyone else.

George Wilson had the task of starting the team up from scratch but he must have done something right because he drafted Griese and Csonka among others.

Wannstedt actually managed to win a division title, So did Sparano.  If either one of them could have managed a clock or stopped forcing a high workload on our kickers, they might have made serious runs. 

Jim Bates gets a #3 with an incomplete because he took over a mess and actually managed to get a few wins out of it.  I often wonder what would have happened if we kept him as head coach.  Todd Bowles should probably get HM here because he took a total shit season and got a few wins out of it at the end as well. 

Johnson hamstrung the greatest quarterback who ever lived and never built a running game that was above mediocre.  Yeah he made three playoffs but how many of those were due to Dan's arm?  Outside of that he was nothing but a lot of talk. 

Saban.  Same thing a lot of talk and not much else.  Total trash.  Cameron, another dude who was in over his head.

Dan Campbell seems like every time the team took a step forward, they took two steps back.

Gase made the best out of a bad situation last year.  You can't lose your starting quarterback in camp and then expect much.  Unless Fales turns into the next Kurt Warner

[Pappy13]

If Gase wins the SB this season, he'll automatically be #2.  If he goes 0-16, he might be #12.

Well maybe #11. 

[Pappy13]

Don Shula, Wannstedt, Jim Bates, everyone else.

I'd have to say it's Shula, Johnson and everyone else right now. Gase still has a shot of getting up there with those 2, but basically everyone else is an also ran. Those 2 are the the only proven winners and much of Johnson's cred comes from the Cowboys not the Dolphins, but he was still that coach when he coached the Dolphins.

Please don't talk to me about Saban's a proven winner. Not in the NFL he isn't and it's apples to oranges.

[DaLittle B]

My issues when I first saw this tweeted was,1.) I don't think the coaches who were the head coach because the Real head coach was Fired/resigned during the season should be ranked,or at least be at the bottom.

2.) IMO how do you separate out the GM/Duties,that a few of these coaches had,versus the ones that had no real say.IMO Johnson did a great job of drafting guy's onto the Dolphins,but his coaching, he was only half-hearted for awhile.I mean Saban,kinda fucked us pretty hard with the Culpepper/Brees issue (It could be argued,set us backwards for years..)

It's just my knit picking of trying to rank our coaching staffs...

My point I'm curious about, As bigdaddy mentioned....Credit for drafting Griese and Csonka? Johnson drafted Surtain,Madison,Zach Thomas,and Jason Taylor...(Johnson is a guy I hate,but damn he drafted some damn good players for us (and some massive duds,and left us Dave Wannstache..))How does that weigh into your rankings?

[masterfins]

My issues when I first saw this tweeted was,1.) I don't think the coaches who were the head coach because the Real head coach was Fired/resigned during the season should be ranked,or at least be at the bottom.

2.) IMO how do you separate out the GM/Duties,that a few of these coaches had,versus the ones that had no real say.IMO Johnson did a great job of drafting guy's onto the Dolphins,but his coaching, he was only half-hearted for awhile.I mean Saban,kinda fucked us pretty hard with the Culpepper/Brees issue (It could be argued,set us backwards for years..)

It's just my knit picking of trying to rank our coaching staffs...

My point I'm curious about, As bigdaddy mentioned....Credit for drafting Griese and Csonka? Johnson drafted Surtain,Madison,Zach Thomas,and Jason Taylor...(Johnson is a guy I hate,but damn he drafted some damn good players for us (and some massive duds,and left us Dave Wannstache..))How does that weigh into your rankings?

I agree with just about all of this.  I thinks it dumb to rank interim coaches with coaches that had at least a full season to prove what they could do; and then to say your not going to rank Gase because he's still coaching.  That's like saying you can't rank Tom Brady on a list of all time great QB's because his stats are incomplete.

Anyways my ranking would be:

Shula
Johnson
Wilson
Sparano
Wannstedt
Cameron
Philbin
Saban

Although I think you could shuffle the last four around, they all hurt the team for the following years (with the exception of Cameron, who for that reason is probably the best of the bunch).

[Spider-Dan]

I thinks it dumb to rank interim coaches with coaches that had at least a full season to prove what they could do; and then to say your not going to rank Gase because he's still coaching.  That's like saying you can't rank Tom Brady on a list of all time great QB's because his stats are incomplete.

While I wouldn't object to someone excluding interim coaches, their tenure as coach was completed and you can judge the entire picture.  Gase's picture is not yet complete; neither is Tom Brady's, but Brady could lose literally every game from here out and it would not affect his legacy one bit.

My ranking of non-interim former Dolphins coaches is:

1) Shula (no explanation necessary)
2) Johnson (huge gap in drafting talent and playoff wins compared to anyone below him)
3) Wannstedt (did reasonably well with the talent that was handed to him, and kept the team competitive for a few years)
4) Sparano (inherited a terrible team and turned it around to a division title)
5) Wilson (did poorly, but at least he has an alibi: expansion team)
6) Philbin (terrible at personnel, but the team usually wasn't eliminated until late in the season; accomplished nothing)
7) Saban (terrible at personnel, wasted productive years of some the best Dolphin defenders in team history; accomplished nothing)
8) Cameron (I struggle to rank him below Saban because I think he didn't get a fair shake, but results are results)

[Phishfan]

but Brady could lose literally every game from here out and it would not affect his legacy one bit.

I don't like when people say this because it isn't exactly true. Granted Brady would still be considered great but the legacy is affected. When things like this happen, it usually involved a team switch and people generally talk about the player's career in pieces. Think about Montana and how people consider his time with SF as a completely different topic than with KC. Or how about Simpson with Buf and his time with SF (I think it was there but didn't want to look it up ).

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

I don't like when people say this because it isn't exactly true. Granted Brady would still be considered great but the legacy is affected. When things like this happen, it usually involved a team switch and people generally talk about the player's career in pieces. Think about Montana and how people consider his time with SF as a completely different topic than with KC. Or how about Simpson with Buf and his time with SF (I think it was there but didn't want to look it up ).

You just proved the counter-point.  Simpson's time in SF was so irreverent to his legacy you weren't even sure what team he played for. 

It is virtually impossible for Brady to change his legacy.  Most people consider him the greatest ever.  If he was to go 0 and whatever this season, all those same people will still consider him the greatest ever possible with the caveat that he should have recognized when it was time to quit.  There are some who don't and their is virtually nothing he could do to change their minds either.  The Joe Montana is greater because he never lost a superbowl, crowd won't change their tune in Brady is SB MVP for the next 5 years in a row.  The Otto Graham played in an era of real football crowd won't change their mind either. 

[Phishfan]

You are so incorrect there that I chuckled a bit. I wasn't sure the team  (but was correct ) because I was so young I'm not sure I even knew who the team was, much less the players. I don't know for sure who Y A Tittle played for either. Do you think that means it is irrelevant to his legacy?