In Dan Campbell's first practice as the interim head coach of the Miami Dolphins, he had the team run the Oklahoma drill. In his first game, the Dolphins looked inspired and rejuvenated, dominating the Tennessee Titans, 38-10.
The Dolphins have found their mojo under interim coach Dan Campbell
Dan Campbell brought physicality back to the practice field and has the Dolphins playing with energy again.
Just two weeks earlier, the Dolphins managed just 226 yards of offense and gave up 425 to the New York Jets to seal Joe Philbin's fate, with his firing coming just one day later. In Week 6, the script was flipped on its head and it was the Dolphins with 434 yards while the Titans were held to 299.
Dolphins players say it’s because Campbell has the team re-energized. Via Armanda Salguero of the Miami Herald:
"Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to knock anybody, but coach Campbell gets you fired up," said Rishard Matthews, who has unexpectedly become Miami's most explosive receiver. "When he speaks, he gets in your blood and gets your hairs up. You just want to go out there and battle for him."
Just six years ago, Campbell was playing tight end for the New Orleans Saints, his final season of an 11-year career in the NFL. Sunday represented a different challenge, altogether:
“I was pretty nervous,” Campbell said after the win. “High energy, but I was nervous. I was nervous. I guess it’s just a new experience. I don’t know if I’ve had that feeling since I was a player. That was probably the last time I had this bubbling-up feeling. But I know we were ready. I knew the coordinators had a good plan in place and you could see it in the eyes of those guys.”
At 2-3, the Dolphins still have some climbing to do and are in the cellar of one of the NFL’s best divisions, but aren’t out of the postseason race in a conference that features only five winning records.
More performances like the one in Week 6 is a good place to start. The Titans were held to just 63 rushing yards after the Dolphins entered with the No. 32 rushing defense. Four forced turnovers surpassed the three turnovers forced in the first four games of the season combined.
The Titans have been particularly turnover-prone in 2015 and haven’t finished a game without a turnover, so the Campbell-led Dolphins were gifted a nice opponent to restart against, but the energy difference was clear. Maybe too much so, with the Titans calling one hit on quarterback Marcus Mariota “bulls***.”
With the unimpressive Houston Texans traveling to Miami in Week 7, there's plenty of reason to believe the renewed Dolphins could be back to .500 soon.
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