Dolphins Fire Offensive Line Coach Less Than One Full Week Into Training Camp

Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores sure didn’t need long to determine he’d put the wrong man in charge of coaching his offensive line. Pat Flaherty had the job for less than six months—he was hired by Flores on February 8, and he was fired Monday, after just four training camp practices.

Ian Rapoport says Flaherty’s problems stretch back a few months, and have to do with his ability to coach the system of Dolphins offensive coordinator Chad O’Shea. DeGuglielmo was reportedly brought into the organization as an analyst primarily to help Flaherty “communicate what they want to the players.” After watching the offensive line get dominated early in training camp, Flores had apparently seen enough, and swapped DeGuglielmo for Flaherty.

DeGuglielmo sort of bombed out of this same job over two seasons with the Patriots, culminating with the line’s disastrous showing in the 2016 AFC Championship. Tom Brady was battered, the running game was non-existent, and the Patriots narrowly lost to the Denver Broncos. DeGuglielmo was fired the next day. Last season he was the only offensive coach who put pen to paper in the nine hours between Josh McDaniels accepting the head coaching job in Indianapolis and backing out of the head coaching job in Indianapolis. Current Colts head coach let Guglielmo stick around for last season, and Indy’s offensive line improved tremendously, but Guglielmo was fired in January in order to clear the way for one of Reich’s own hires.

It is very sweet to read glowing reviews of Miami’s interior defensive line through a few days of training camp, knowing that the team’s offensive line play was so alarmingly disjointed and incoherent that it cost the brand new coach his job. On the other hand, with that kind of defensive line plus Flores’s proven commitment to excellence, clearly the Dolphins are on track to win 11, maybe 12 games this season.