As part of culture change, Gase selects captains
DAVIE — Adam Gase wasn’t leaving anything to chance this year.
The Miami Dolphins coach took issue with the culture inside his locker room during last year’s 6-10 season when he saw the team struggling to handle adversity.
That led to a half-dozen changes to the Dolphins coaching staff and a purge of several core players, many of whom were team leaders.
Most NFL teams elect their captains on offense, defense and special teams before the season opener. That’s how the Dolphins have chosen captains the previous two seasons under Gase. However, this year Gase opted to swap out democracy for dictatorship.
When asked who selected quarterback Ryan Tannehill, receiver Kenny Stills, center Daniel Kilgore, cornerback Bobby McCain, special-teams ace Walt Aikens and defensive end Cameron Wake as the team’s captains for the season opener, Gase said he did.
“I picked them,” Gase said, before being reminded that the team had previously elected their own captains.
“Right,” he continued. “I changed it this year.” “Because I wanted to,” Gase said. And when badgered for his reasoning, Gase said the “voices told me to do it, so ... ”
Voices in the Dolphins room?
“Players talk, and that has a lot to locker do with what goes on here,” Aikens said of his appointment.
Tannehill, Stills, Kilgore, McCain and Aikens will be captains throughout the season for the Dolphins while Wake began a new custom for the team. Each week the Dolphins will bestow the honor of sixth captain to a new player before each game.
As far as the captains set for the season, Tannehill has been a team