Kevin Coyle to be retained by Dolphins

A day after it word spread that Miami Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin had not yet made a decision on the fate of his assistant coaches, specifically defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle, a report now indicates the decision has been made. The Miami Herald's Armando Salguero has reported that Philbin has decided to keep Coyle for the 2015 season.

Speculation that Miami could be looking for a new defensive coordinator started late in the season as the Miami defense disappeared. The team allowed 41, 28, 35, and 37 points in the last four games of the season, and they simply could not stop any team from running the ball. Even Pro Bowl players like Cameron Wake and Brent Grimes struggled over the last month of the season.

Now, it will be up to Coyle to fix the problem.

The Dolphins suffered multiple injuries all across the defense, injuries that had the secondary and linebackers shuffling lineups all year. If Philbin, after looking at tape, feels an offseason of addressing some issues and adding depth will return the Dolphins to a dominate defense, the move to keep Coyle may make sense.

Of course, the availability of some proven defensive coordinators like Jim Schwartz and Dick LeBeau will add pressure to Coyle in 2015, and will have people questioning Philbin's decision. At the end of the day, however, Coyle will be the Dolphins defensive coordinator, and it does not appear that is going to change. Hopefully Coyle has a plan to fix the defense, and it is a plan that will find success next year.