Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
One last go for Gailey?
Dolphins offensive coordinator focused on finale before looking to future
Chan Gailey came out of a threeyear retirement to reunite with veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, coach rookie starter Tua Tagovailoa and lead the Miami Dolphins offense under coach Brian Flores.
With one game left during the regular season, Gailey was non-committal about coaching the Dolphins offense in 2021.
“I’m thinking about how to go up and beat Buffalo,” Gailey said Tuesday as the fifth-seeded Dolphins (10-5) prepare for a road game against the Buffalo Bills that could determine their playoff fate.
“That’s what I’m thinking about. I’m not thinking about anything else right now. How can I help this football team go beat Buffalo?”
The Dolphins need a win against the Bills to reach the postseason for just the third time since 2001, which was when Gailey’s first stint as Dolphins offensive coordinator ended.
Buffalo, which holds the No. 2 seed with the tiebreaker over the Pittsburgh Steelers, has not decided whether to play its starters in the finale. The Steelers announced Tuesday starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger won’t start against the Cleveland Browns.
If the Dolphins lose, they would need a loss by either the Browns, Baltimore Ravens or Indianapolis Colts on Sunday to reach the postseason.
And if Miami is unfortunate enough to have none of those factors play out in their favor, the Dolphins may be on the search for a new offensive coordinator — if Gailey retires again or is relieved of his duties.
Flores fired friend and longtime co-worker Chad O’Shea from the position after their first season in Miami. O’Shea’s offense was considered too complex for the many young players on the Dolphins roster, and the offense was near the bottom of the league in several areas.
Gailey, 68, was hired to implement a run-pass-offense scheme that benefits Tagovailoa, who had success with the same technique at Alabama. But the offense looks considerably different when Fitzpatrick, who finished their game last Saturday in Las Vegas, runs the offense.
Gailey’s goal offensively is to put together long, arduous drives upward of 10, 11, 12 or 13 plays to control the football and the clock. Although Tagovailoa has had some success in such drives, he has also benefited from moving faster and running a hurried offense.
Against the Raiders, Fitzpatrick let it fly, completing 9-of-13 passes for 184 yards and a touchdown, while also leading two field goal drives. His long pass down the sideline with 19 seconds remaining also put Miami in game-winning field goal range to steal the victory in Las Vegas.
Tagovailoa, on the other hand, completed 17-of-22 passes with just 94 yards and a touchdown. His longest completion went for 14 yards.
Fitzpatrick has the better quarterback rating (76.6 to 58.2), the ability to throw the ball downfield with more yards per attempt (7.8 vs. 6.3) and two seasons of playing with the Dolphins receivers — or what’s left of them — as advantages over Tagovailoa.
Miami finished the game with tight end Mike Gesicki, receivers Isaiah Ford, Mack Hollins and Lynn Bowden Jr. after Jakeem Grant left the game with an ankle injury. Leading receiver DeVante Parker (hamstring) didn’t play.
The Dolphins’ receiving core is one area the team will likely address in free agency and the 2021 draft next offseason.
“You have the game plan set up that you go into it with, and you’re in a different mode when you get to the end there. You’re in a totally different mode,” Gailey said of the change from Tagovailoa to Fitzpatrick during the Raiders game when Miami was down by three points with nine minutes left needing a spark.
“It is different because of the situations, not because of the players.”
If the Dolphins move on from Gailey, Flores may have to hire a new offensive staff for the third straight season.
Tight ends coach George Godsey, who has taken on a greater role working alongside Tagovailoa on the bench between series, may be the best in-house candidate. Fired Houston Texans coach and former New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien is a logical outside candidate.
Still, Gailey has at least one more game to help the Dolphins reach the playoffs again.
And it’ll come in familiar territory.
Gailey was the Bills’ head coach from 2010-12. And his last chance to make the playoffs, with Fitzpatrick as his starter and the New York Jets during the 2015 season, was spoiled in Buffalo.
After being fired by the Bills, Gailey said about Buffalo: “This will probably be, and I say probably, but I think it will be the first place that’s ever fired me that I’ll pull for.”
Asked about the statement and the 2015 season finale, which the Jets lost, 22-17, and failed to make the playoff with a 10-6 record:
“You make a lot of statements when you’re young that you wish you had back. That one has not held true, as I see it. I love the people there. They’re great people. I really do. But I want to beat their butt this weekend,” Gailey said.
“The loss we had up there, it still sticks in my craw. That was a tough one. That one sticks with me, for sure.”