Dolphins coaching changes must come now

The Miami Dolphins are a pathetic team right now. The 50th Anniversary of this franchise has become nothing more than a series of poorly game-planned, poorly executed games, with the Dolphins trailing at halftime in all four contests played thus far, and at the end of three of those games.

The team cannot run the ball. They cannot pass the ball. They cannot stop the run. They cannot stop the pass.

Other than that, everything else is fine for Miami.

Coming into the season, the talk had the Dolphins looking to claim their first playoff appearance since 2008, and potentially challenging the New England Patriots for the AFC East division title. After four games, the Dolphins look more likely to challenge for the first overall draft pick after the season than anything other than last in the division during the season.

Miami has faced a gauntlet of quarterbacks early this season named Kirk Cousins, Blake Bortles, Tyrod Taylor, and Ryan Ftzpatrick. Wait until those names change to Tom Brady, Andrew Luck, Phillip Rivers, Eli Manning, and Joe Flacco.

There are a lot of things that are wrong with the 2015 Miami Dolphins, on both sides of the ball. And, a lot of those things have to change. Before this week, we speculated that Kevin Coyle's position as the defensive coordinator should be short-lived if the Dolphins continued to be blown out by opponents. Then, reports indicated that there was talk within the ownership of the Dolphins that changes could be made if the Dolphins continue to look uninspired and not developing. That is exactly the situation the team now finds itself.

And the coaching changes must happen now.

Blowing up the entire coaching staff could be on the table. Firing Joe Philbin and replacing him with, most likely, special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi is a possibility. It seems too early for an "interim" head coach, with 12 games still to play, but it could also be the spark the team needs. More likely than that, however, is the firing of defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle, who many expected to be fired at the end of last season. Coyle's defense, with additions like Ndamukong Suh and incumbent Pro Bowlers in Brent Grimes and Cameron Wake, was expected to be a dominant, potentially top five unit this year. Instead, it is being gashed every which way possible.

No matter what Stephen Ross, the Dolphins' owner, decides this week on extent of the coaching changes, the minimum must be Coyle having coached his last as the defensive coordinator for Miami. The defense is a mess despite a ton of talent, which clearly signals it is a coaching issue and not a player problem.

The offense should not be exempt from scrutiny, but there just may not be any immediate solutions, and it may not be a coaching issue. The offensive line has not been able to block this year, which could be why the team abandons the run so easily and why quarterback Ryan Tannehill does not have the time to throw. It could be a talent/player issue on the offense, but it could be the coaching as well. It is hard to say the team needs to abandon the offense, given how much goes into building an offensive scheme each year, but relieving Bill Lazor of his offensive coordinator duties cannot be completely ruled out as well.

This Dolphins team is a mess, and they have to make changes right now to give themselves any chance of winning during the rest of the season. Those changes have to be to the coaching staff, and they need to be made early this week so the team has two weeks - thanks to a Week 5 bye - to get ready for the Tennessee Titans on October 18. It is time to start finding a new system for the Miami Dolphins.