Thursday, February 8, 2007

OC and QB jobs still up in the air

Alex Marvez at the Sun-Sentinel recently reported that Cam Cameron is finding it difficult to fill his vacant Offensive Coordinator position. Both the Bengals QB coach Ken Zampese and the Saints QB coach Pete Carmichael Jr. have removed themselves from consideration. Zampese cited Cameron's intention to call the offensive plays himself as the reason for his lack of interest.

While it would have been nice to retain Jason Garrett on the staff and upgrade him to the OC position, that is no longer possible. I'm not overly concerned with who Cameron eventually chooses to fill the position, since they will be forced to buy into and teach the Head Coach's philosophy. Cameron clearly showed in San Diego that he is more than capable of calling plays and structuring an effective and efficient offense. My only hope for whoever is eventually chosen is that they are relatively young and committed to the team for a significant amount of time. One thing the Dolphins offense sure could use is some consistency, and part of that has to do with retaining the coaching staff.

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In other news, Greg Bedard at the Palm Beach Post reports that Cameron has spoken to all three quarterbacks on the roster but is not ready to declare Daunte Culpepper the starter for 2007. Cameron did say, however, that he is impressed from his brief time with Culpepper, particularly with the hard work and dedication that he has shown in working to rehab his right knee. He added that Culpepper is not yet fully recovered, but he hopes for him to be able to play in time for the team's mini-camps which will start in April or May.

It makes sense that Cameron will not name a starter outright, since who will be on the team come the start of the 2007 season remains a question, not to mention the fact that he has only known these players for a few weeks. However, I fully expect Daunte to get the starting nod, and he deserves a shot to show what he can do when he is fully healthy, which he was not able to do last year after being pushed into the lineup too early in the season. I think the QB depth chart going into next year will be: 1) Culpepper, 2) Cleo Lemon, and 3) a rookie. I absolutely love the spirit and moxie that Joey Harrington showed this year, but it looks as if he will be the odd man out. He struggled too much with key turnovers and his cap number is too large to justify keeping him on. It's also time to give Lemon a chance to be the number 2 guy and keep his development progressing. Harrington really is an upstanding guy, and I hope that he is successful wherever he ends up.

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And finally, the former Dolphins defensive line coach Dan Quinn has signed with the New York Jets to serve in the same position. Quinn, 35, is widely considered to be a promising coach in the NFL, so it's disappointing to lose that talent and potential. He wasn't willing to sign an extension with Miami though. I would rather have someone here who truly wants to be here and is committed to this team.

[Update: 11:04 PM] According the team's official site, the Dolphins named Diron Reynolds the new defensive line coach and Matt Schiotz as the strength and conditioning coach. Cameron has had experience with both coaches in the past. Reynolds was the defensive quality control coach for the Indianapolis Colts for the last five years. In 2001, he tutored the defensive tackles at Indiana University where Cameron was the Head Coach. Schiotz was the assistant strength and conditioning coach for the San Diego Chargers for the last five years, and served that same capacity for the Redskins in 2001.

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