On Saturday the Miami Dolphins received a devastating blow to their coaching staff less than two weeks before the start of training camp. Jim Caldwell, the teams assistant head coach/quarterback coach took a leave of absence for an undisclosed medical condition. Coach Caldwell will remain with the team as a consultant, but will not be with the team on a day-to-day basis. This should get Dolphins’ fans very worried.
Rookie head coach Brian Flores would’ve leaned heavily in the 2 decades of head coaching experience Caldwell brings to the table. It could be argued that coach Caldwell was the price of the offseason for the dolphins. He was considered for head coaching vacancies every year, including this past off-season. His experience as a head coach would have helped coach Flores navigate the unknown territory of his new role.
Coach Caldwell had probably the second most important job in the organization. He was the man in charge for overseeing the upcoming quarterback battle between veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick and 2nd-year man Josh Rosen. Coach Flores comes with great expectations in guiding the Dolphins through this rebuilding process. However, coach Flores has very limited experience in the offensive side of the floor, and that’s where coach Caldwell was supposed to step in. As any football fan knows an NFL team will only go as far as their quarterback takes them.
The Dolphins haven’t announced any coaching moves so it looks like it will be next man up. Assistant quarterback, coach Jerry Schuplinski, appears to be the man in charge of helping coach Flores pick his starting quarterback. It’s not yet known if coach Caldwell could come back during the season, but for now, his presence and experience will be missed in the Dolphins building.
