Divide between Philbin, Aponte has Dolphins on path to Jim Harbaugh
For the second straight season, a rift is brewing with powerful exec Dawn Aponte and a key figure in the Dolphins. This time it's Joe Philbin.
A year ago, the alliance between powerful Miami Dolphins executive Dawn Aponte and coach Joe Philbin, and general manager Jeff Ireland’s growing rift with Aponte, led to a front office overhaul. Now, according to several sources with knowledge of the situation, Aponte’s fraying relationship with Philbin is at the core of the team’s prevailing issues and leading to a sense that more change will be coming in 2015.
Philbin further angered upper management and alienated the locker room last week by failing to acknowledge recent first-round pick Ryan Tannehill remained his starting quarterback, despite Tannehill continuing to take the first-team snaps. That created an awkward climate as the team departed for London to face the Raiders with a 1-2 record.
Players are expressing significant concerns with Philbin, and his coordinators, behind the scenes, sources said, and Aponte’s hiring of longtime confidant and former Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum as a consultant has also added to the tension-filled climate, as Tannenbaum’s primary job is as an agent representing coaches, including Seattle defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who interviewed for head coaching jobs last year and is likely to be a strong candidate again this season.
The environment in Miami has been toxic for years, which has been well documented and came to a head last season after starting tackle Jonathan Martin went AWOL and the team made international headlines with the Martin/Richie Incognito allegations and the forthcoming Wells Report by the NFL into the team’s locker room, coaching staff and locker room culture and led to owner Stephen Ross forming a committee to try to clean up his organization. But sources said Ross remains largely an absentee owner, issues of daily control and structure remain a question and Aponte continues to wield heavy authority.
Tannehill was drafted to be the face of the franchise as it struggles to solve its stadium issues, and he’s now caught in the cross-hairs of these macro issues, sources said. With former offensive coordinator Mike Sherman, Tannehill’s college coach at Texas A&M, let go, Philbin has been increasingly intrigued by the prospect of veteran backup quarterback Matt Moore running his offense. The idea dates back to the end of last season, according to numerous sources with knowledge of the situation, and, toying with the idea of playing Moore has only further added to the rift with the front office, who have sold Tannehill as the future of the franchise at a time when the Dolphins are struggling for their place in the local sporting economy.
Given the issues last week, following an uninspired loss at home to previously winless Kansas City, and the long-running climate of dysfunction under Ross’s tenure, it’s difficult to envision the Dolphins not dealing with these undercurrents for this season. Several league sources said that Ross is covertly working to be positioned to potentially trade for 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh – like Ross a prominent Michigan alumnus – at the season’s end, with Philbin and first-year general manager Dennis Hickey in essence lame ducks.
