Who would have thought? Ryan Tannehill is now 60 minutes and one win away from quarterbacking the Tennessee Titans in the Super Bowl — a game that will be played, you guessed it, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. Is this an epic story of redemption or what? Well, it depends on the perspective. To some, it might be framed as a tragedy for the Miami Dolphins — of course the team’s long-time quarterback makes a deep postseason run and plays for a Super Bowl on Miami’s home turf.
“That’s so Dolphins!” they’ll exclaim.
The Dolphins’ issues with talent finding success once it leaves South Florida has been a problem long before Ryan Tannehill kickstarted Tennessee’s season in the fall. Jarvis Landry is a more dynamic player in Cleveland. RB Jay Ajayi went on to help the Eagles win a Super Bowl after being traded at the deadline. DT Jordan Phillips logged 9.5 sacks this year for the Buffalo Bills. OG Billy Turner has started 16 games for the NFC’s #2 seed this season, the Green Bay Packers.
This isn’t some new thing — and it points to what Miami’s biggest Achilles heel has been for the past decade: bad coaching. Whether it be Joe Philbin or Adam Gase, Miami’s head coaching for the majority of this decade was plagued with meek, insecure men who couldn’t seem to look their players in their eye, tell them what was needed/expected of them and then subsequently get that result. Joe Philbin coached scared. Adam Gase had an excuse for everything.
Both hires came as Miami searched to make another fatal mistake — turn Ryan Tannehill into something he wasn’t. Good coaches acknowledge their player’s strengths and try to put them in the best position to be successful. Both Philbin and Gase were hired with the vision of turning Tannehill into a top flight quarterback and provide Miami with a top flight passing attack.
Think about the identity of the Tennessee Titans. They’re physical up front, they punch you in the mouth, they hammer you with Derrick Henry and they implement a lot of play action passing and selective deep shots to keep the defense on their heels. They’re not lining up in four wide sets and asking Tannehill to throw the football 40 times a game. They’ve acknowledged, internally, that Tannehill is a complimentary quarterback — but he’s not an elite one. Three times this season has Tannehill attempted 30+ pass attempts: the Titans are 1-2 in those contests. In Ryan Tannehill’s first 52 games in the NFL (the Joe Philbin era), Tannehill attempted 30+ pass attempts 41 times. And another 6 times he was asked to throw at least 28 attempts.
Let those numbers sink in. 47 of Ryan Tannehill’s 52 games played with Joe Philbin as his head coach tasked him with throwing the ball at least 28 times. The Titans have asked him to attempt less passes and be selective with the shots he has. And the end result is the Titans are playing complimentary football and are doing so with a supporting cast that is better than anything Tannehill experienced in South Florida.
The lone exception, perhaps? 2016 — when Miami’s offensive line featured Branden Albert, Laremy Tunsil, Mike Pouncey and Ja’Wuan James. That year, Jay Ajayi rushed for 1,200 yards. And guess what? Tannehill was 8-5 as a starter that year.
Tannehill didn’t escape Miami and magically become a better quarterback. No. Instead, Tannehill left Miami and went to a place that was capable of providing him the supporting cast and coaching confidence to stay true to the team’s DNA — and not try to ask him to be something he’s not.
Miami doesn’t have a coach that makes those mistakes anymore, either. Brian Flores showed a lot of flexibility with his scheme to put players in the best position to compete. So when Miami hand selects their next quarterback, have faith. Because the team’s DNA has been established without that young quarterback and Miami won’t be asking him to be the team.
That’s the mistake Miami made time and time again with Ryan Tannehill. And it’s why Tannehill has found himself in a successful situation now that he’s gone.
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