Joe Philbin's future with Dolphins could be decided as early as Monday

The Miami Dolphins are a team in turmoil following their third straight loss and a 1-3 start to the year. The team has looked lost on the field, and that look has turned fans against the team just a quarter of the way through the season. It has speculation running wild on what may happen in the future of the franchise, a franchise celebrating its 50th anniversary season. It is not a good look for a proud franchise, and one that could result in a major shakeup in the next few days.

Fans, media, everyone is screaming that the Dolphins have to make a change and they are looking directly at the coaching staff. This week, speculation has suggested defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle could be the target of a change, or it could go so far as focusing on the entire staff, with head coach Joe Philbin being relieved.

According to a report from Pro Football Talk, changes could be coming as soon as Monday. As Mike Florio writes, "Per a league source with knowledge of the situation, owner Stephen Ross is now expected to make a decision on Philbin's job status by Monday." That is a quicker move than was initially expected, but is difficult to read with any meaning.

Has Ross decided to ride out the rest of the year with a lame duck coaching staff? Making the move now could signal he has decided that making a change does not solve the problems and that it is better to stay stable now until he makes a complete clean sweep after the season.

Has he made his decision on who needs to be fired? Making the move now could signal he has no doubts about how to take charge of his franchise and is targeting the perceived weaknesses.

Has he decided everyone needs to go, chopping the head off the coaching staff now and replacing Philbin with an interim head coach for the rest of the year? (Darren Rizzi, special teams coordinator, seems to be the most likely candidate for that interim tag.) Making the move now could signal that Ross realizes something has to change immediately to give the team as much time over the bye week to get adjusted to the change.

Whatever the case, it appears we may have a decision as early as Monday about the future of the 50-year-old franchise.