Miami Dolphins fire head coach Joe Philbin: Dan Campbell named interim coach

On Monday, the Miami Dolphins fired head coach Joe Philbin. Philbin leaves the Dolphins with 24 wins, 28 losses, no playoff appearances.

"This was a tough decision for me to make knowing how tirelessly Joe worked in his four years here to make this a winning team," owner Stephen Ross said in a statement.

"He is a man of the highest character and integrity that I developed a close personal relationship with. I am extremely disappointed with how we have started the season, but I feel confident that we can improve quickly with the talent we have on our roster," Ross said.

NFL Network's Steve Wyche noted the Miami players did not view Philbin with the respect usually accorded a head coach.

The team announced that tight ends coach Dan Campbell will be the Dolphins' interim head coach.

 "This is my sixth season being with the Miami Dolphins and this is the most talented roster we've had in those six years. We have plenty of talent. We have the people in this building. We have the staff, OK?

"There may be some things that have to be moved or shuffled as far as that goes, but I need to sort those things out, but we have enough to win. We have to change the culture. I have to change the culture and that's what I intend to do.

"To me, the best teams that I've been a part of are the ones that, during the week, they go after each other. Whether it's practice squad versus the defense. They're giving the look of practice squad versus offense, but it gets heated. And it's intense, and it's people that are fighting to win. they want to get noticed or they want to do their job. It's not just going through the motions.

"I just found out two or three hours ago about being interim head coach. I need time to soak all this in, I need time to really evaluate defensively what we're doing, what we're not doing. My head's been in offense. Those things will come later, I don't have time right now. I'll get to that though.

"I feel like I relate to the players. I feel like that I'm somebody that understands them. It doesn't mean I'm their best friend but because I've been in that locker room and I understand what it's like when you have - I've been at the top, I've been at the bottom. I understand what it's like to get that roller coaster. I understand what it's like when things start going not the way that you want them to go and what it takes to bring them back."

"What that means is we have to become a more aggressive front, or a team in general. We need to get our front four on defense, our front five on the offensive line, just as a whole, we need to bring a culture of competitiveness, finish and intensity and to me, that's where it all starts."

"I'm ready for this. I can do this," Campbell said.