By Sam Hollingsworth
Hours after the Kansas City Chiefs fired head coach Todd Haley, the Miami Dolphins terminated Tony Sparano, just months after the coach received a contract extension.
Sparano did what he could the last month and a half to save face, but the damage was already done.
After losing its starting quarterback in Week 4 this season, the Dolphins' coaching staff had to adjust. In stepped Matt Moore, the backup quarterback formerly with the Carolina Panthers.
While the Dolphins started the season 0-7 before notching a win, the potential was visible. More startling was the fact that Moore and the Dolphins ended up winning four of their next five games, with the team’s sole loss coming by just a one-point difference to the Cowboys in Dallas — much to the credit of Miami’s coaching staff. However, Miami lost to the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday, giving the Dolphins' front office a chance to break things off with Sparano.
After the story broke earlier today that Sparano would be let go, the Dolphins scheduled a 4:15 p.m. EST press conference and the firing was confirmed. The team then announced that assistant coach Todd Bowles will take over as interim head coach.
“This was a very difficult decision, but I believe it is in the best interests of the Miami Dolphin organization to make this change at this point in time,” Dolphins Chairman of the Board and Managing General Partner Steve Ross told the media today at the press conference.
Sparano’s Dolphins compiled a 4-9 record this season, and, after a late-season fade by the Dolphins last year, Sparano had to produce to keep the job. His overall record as coach for the ’Phins was 29-32, including his first season on the job when he turned around a one-win team and made a run at the playoffs, finishing as Coach of the Year runner-up.
With Bowles appointed to interim head coach for now, Ross confirmed the Dolphins will look for a permanent replacement.
“I know that Todd will do an outstanding job — he is respected by the players and by everyone in the Dolphin organization,” Ross said. “I am confident that Todd, the rest of the coaching staff and the players will continue to show the same dedication and work ethic they have displayed all year to finish the season strongly.
“We will implement a search process that is thorough, that is designed to produce the best possible candidate, that will be fully compliant with appropriate guidelines and that will be carried out with integrity. [Dolphins General Manager] Jeff Ireland and I will use all the resources of the organization to help identify and research viable candidates to select the best possible individual as the next head coach of the Miami Dolphins.”
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