List of Miami Dolphins head coaches
The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football franchise based in Miami Gardens, Florida. They are members of the East Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The Dolphins began play in 1966 as an expansion team in the American Football League (AFL), and joined the NFL as part of the AFL–NFL merger. The team has played their home games at Hard Rock Stadium, originally known as Joe Robbie Stadium, Pro Player Stadium, Dolphins Stadium, Dolphin Stadium, Landshark Stadium, and Sun Life Stadium, since 1987.[1] The Dolphins are currently owned by Stephen M. Ross.[2]
There have been twelve head coaches for the Dolphins franchise. The team's first head coach was George Wilson, who coached for four complete seasons.[3] Don Shula, who coached the Dolphins for 26 consecutive seasons, is the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular-season games coached (392), the most regular-season game wins (257), the most playoff games coached (31), and the most playoff-game wins (17). Shula is also the only Dolphins head coach to win a Super Bowl with the team, winning two. He was named the United Press International (UPI) NFL Coach of the Year twice during his tenure with the Dolphins.[4] Shula is also the only Dolphins coach to have been elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a coach.[5] Adam Gase is the franchise's most recent head coach, being fired after the final game of the 2018 season due to a more than embarrassing loss to the Bills.[6]
Key
# | Number of coaches[N 1] |
Yrs | Years coached |
First | First season coached |
Last | Last season coached |
GC | Games Coached |
W | Wins |
L | Loses |
T | Ties |
Win% | Win – Loss percentage |
† | Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a coach |
* | Spent entire NFL head coaching career with the Dolphins |
Coaches
Note: Statistics are correct thru the 2019 season.
# | Name | Term[N 2] | Regular season | Playoffs | Accomplishments | Ref. | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Yrs | First | Last | GC | W | L | T | Win% | GC | W | L | ||||
1 | George Wilson | 4 | 1966 | 1969 | 56 | 15 | 39 | 2 | .286 | — | [3] | |||
2 | Don Shula† | 26 | 1970 | 1995 | 392 | 257 | 133 | 2 | .658 | 31 | 17 | 14 | Inducted Pro Football Hall of Fame (1997) 2 Super Bowl championships (VII, VIII) 5 AFC championships (1971, 1972, 1973, 1982, 1984) 11 AFC East Division Champion (1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1991, 1994) 19 Playoff Berths 2 UPI NFL Coach of the Year (1970, 1972) |
[4] [7] |
3 | Jimmy Johnson† | 4 | 1996 | 1999 | 64 | 36 | 28 | 0 | .563 | 5 | 2 | 3 | Inducted Pro Football Hall of Fame (2020) 3 Playoff Berths |
[8] |
4 | Dave Wannstedt | 5 | 2000 | 2004[N 3] | 73 | 42 | 31 | 0 | .575 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 AFC East Division Champion (2000) 2 Playoff Berths |
[9] |
5 | Jim Bates* | 1 | 2004[N 3] | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | .429 | — | [10] | ||||
6 | Nick Saban* | 2 | 2005 | 2006 | 32 | 15 | 17 | 0 | .469 | — | [11] | |||
7 | Cam Cameron* | 1 | 2007 | 16 | 1 | 15 | 0 | .063 | — | [12] | ||||
8 | Tony Sparano | 4 | 2008 | 2011[N 4] | 61 | 29 | 32 | 0 | .475 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 AFC East Division Champion (2008) 1 Playoff Berth |
[13] |
9 | Todd Bowles | 1 | 2011[N 4] | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .667 | — | [14] | ||||
10 | Joe Philbin | 4 | 2012 | 2015[N 5] | 52 | 24 | 28 | 0 | .462 | — | [15] | |||
11 | Dan Campbell* | 1 | 2015[N 5] | 12 | 5 | 7 | 0 | .417 | — | [16] | ||||
12 | Adam Gase | 3 | 2016 | 2018 | 48 | 23 | 25 | 0 | .479 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 Playoff Berth | [17] |
13 | Brian Flores* | 1 | 2019 | 16 | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | — |
Notes
- ^ A running total of the number of coaches of the Dolphins. Thus, any coach who has two or more separate terms as head coach is only counted once.
- ^ Each year is linked to an article about that particular NFL season.
- ^ a b Wannstedt was fired 9 games into the 2004 season. Bates served as interim head coach for the remaining 7 games.
- ^ a b Sparano was fired 13 games into the 2011 season. Bowles served as interim head coach for the remaining 3 games.
- ^ a b Philbin was fired 4 games into the 2015 season.[6] Campbell served as interim head coach for the remaining 12 games.
References
- General
- "Miami Dolphins Franchise Encyclopedia". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
- Specific
- ^ "History". Dolphin Stadium. Archived from the original on 2006-10-24. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
- ^ "Contacts - Administration". Miami Dolphins. NFL Enterprises LLC. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
- ^ a b "George Wilson Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-09-14.
- ^ a b Hickok, Ralph (2008-04-17). "NFL Coach of the Year Award". Archived from the original on 2012-12-05. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
- ^ "Miami Dolphins Franchise Encyclopedia". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
- ^ a b "Dolphins fire coach Joe Philbin after 1-3 start". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
- ^ "Don Shula Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-09-14.
- ^ "Jimmy Johnson Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-09-14.
- ^ "Dave Wannstedt Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-09-14.
- ^ "Jim Bates Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-09-14.
- ^ "Nick Saban Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-09-14.
- ^ "Cam Cameron Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-09-14.
- ^ "Tony Sparano Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-09-14.
- ^ "Todd Bowles". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
- ^ "Joe Philbin". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
- ^ "Dan Campbell Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
- ^ "Adam Gase Record". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 20 September 2016.