The Miami Herald published an article on Wednesday about the Dolphins’ decision to fire O’Shea after one year. The article is worth a read for interested fans.
According to reporters Barry Jackson, Adam H. Beasley, and Armando Salguero, the key issue with O’Shea is that he was running an offense that was too complex for such a young team.
From the article:
One player described the situation on offense last season as a “[expletive] show,” noting O’Shea tried to teach an offense that was too complex for a young team and that teaching/instruction during film study was a “disaster.”
O’Shea came to Miami with Brian Flores from New England, where he had served as the Patriots’ wide receivers coach for a decade. O’Shea apparently was trying to install advanced and complicated elements from the Patriots’ offense to the Dolphins. The feeling is that that approach could work when you have a veteran quarterback like Tom Brady who is one of the most experienced players in the league, but it’s a lot to ask from a young team.
The Dolphins ended up hiring Chan Gailey as their offensive coordinator, and that’s under whom rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will begin his pro career.
Maybe O’Shea didn’t recognize that the players were struggling to grasp the concepts and that was having bad effects. You could also argue that he didn’t have much talent to work with. Whatever the case, he’s now with the Browns as a wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator.
