Shared workload might be a future look
Co-coordinators could run Dolphins offense
Brian Flores will soon be naming his third offensive coordinator since becoming the Miami Dolphins’ head coach in 2019, but he apparently isn’t in any rush to fill the vacancy created by Chan Gailey’s retirement.
The Dolphins are coaching the Senior Bowl’s National team with tight end coach George Godsey and tailback coach Eric Studesville splitting duties as the team’s offensive play-caller. It is possible that the two veteran assistants coaches share those duties beyond Saturday’s showcase game for the draft’s top senior prospects.
“We’re going through our process with the coordinator position,” said Flores on Tuesday. Last year Flores replaced the fired Chad O’Shea with Gailey, who abruptly retired after a one-year stint in the position, running an offense that scored the most points in franchise history (404) since 1986.
“We’ve got very capable guys with Eric and George and a good, young staff. So putting together a plan isn’t much of an issue. Those guys are doing a good job. We’re going through the process,” Flores added.
Flores also fired former offensive line coach Steve Marshall and quarterback coach Robby Brown, the two position coaches who accompanied Gailey to Miami last offseason.
Lemuel Jeanpierre replaced Marshall as the offensive line coach, getting a promotion from being Marshall’s assistant. And last week the Dolphins hired former NFL quarterback Charlie Frye, who was working as Central Michigan’s offensive coordinator and quarterback coach.
Miami also hired former New Mexico quarterback coach Jordan Salkin, but the role he’ll hold hasn’t been clarified yet.
And former defensive line coach Marion Hobby left the Dolphins to become the Cincinnati Bengals defensive line coach. The Dolphins haven’t hired, or promoted some
one as his replacement yet.
The Dolphins are still considering a handful of outside candidates, which includes former Los Angeles Chargers quarterback coach Pep Hamilton, who is reportedly interviewing with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans for assistant positions.
An 11-season NFL coaching veteran, Hamilton previously served on coaching staffs for the New York Jets, Chicago Bears, Indianapolis Colts and Cleveland Browns. Before coaching Chargers rookie Justin Herbert, the former Howard University quarterback was the general manager and head coach of the XFL’s DC Defenders.
The recent hiring of Frye as the team’s quarterback coach, where he’ll be reunited with Tua Tagovailoa, who he coached on the 7-on-7 circuit during Tagovailoa’s high school days, indicates that Hamilton might be going elsewhere because he’s typically been a quarterback handler throughout his coaching career.
During Tuesday’s practice Studesville, who has served as the run-game coordinator with the Buffalo Bills (2004-09) and Dolphins (2018-present), continued to work with the tailbacks, played a pivotal role coordinating the run game in practice while Godsey spent a good portion of the week’s first practice working with the quarterbacks.
Godsey, who served as the Houston Texans’ offensive coordinator in 201516, also spent time with the tight ends, the position he’s coached the past two seasons. But the former George Tech quarterback has coached quarterbacks in college and the NFL.
It is possible that Flores will interview a couple more candidates in Mobile, which annually turns into a job convention for assistants and NFL executives and scouts. However, it’s likely that the attendance for coaches and executives in Mobile is much smaller than past years because of COVID-19 concerns, and the restrictions the game has placed on interaction with the goal of not spreading the coronavirus.