Was Chan Gailey to blame for the Miami Dolphins’ offensive woes in 2020?

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Much has been said about Chan Gailey’s influence on the Miami Dolphins’ offensive lack of firepower last season. But how much of the blame does he deserve?

Tua Tagovailoa and the Miami Dolphins offense received high praise during their first week of training camp. There are touchdown pass videos that get a lot of attention on social media, and local beat reporters have been gushing about the big plays in tweets sent from the sidelines. Even the most critical of local writers were in awe of the offense. Although we have only been a few days and have plenty of time before the start of the season, early reviews from the camp are positive. Many of the “problems” that Tagovailoa has had and for which he has been ridiculed appear to be on the way to being resolved.

Nothing will be known for sure until the first game of the year, but things are looking good so far. The chemistry between Tagovailoa and its new targets is developing well, and there are clips of games and throws that we saw very little to no seeing from last season. One question that needs to be answered, and will be answered after the season, was whether Chan Gailey was holding back the Miami offense last season. And if so, how many?

The Miami Dolphins’ 2020 hiring of Gailey to be their offensive coordinator has always been questionable. The 67-year-old had been retired for three seasons and the last attack he coached was one of the worst in the league. But he had a long history of offensive training and playing calling the seemingly well-liked head coach Brian Flores. But perhaps more importantly, Gailey had a great knowledge of quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick; he was the head coach of the Buffalo Bills from 2010 to 2012 and was again with Fitz as offensive coordinator with the New York Jets in 2015.

In 2020, a mid-season quarterback change by the Dolphins underscored just how focused Gailey’s offensive game plan was on the quarterback he knew so well. When Tagovailoa replaced Fitzpatrick in Week 8, the offense condensed. The long balls that Gailey trusted Fitz to throw were called bubble screens when Tua was playing, and the number of attempted passes per play decreased.

Even in the infamous matches where Tagovailoa was on the bench, the change in the game calling for the two quarterbacks was noticeably different. The offense showed a balanced offense when the rookie played, although Miami’s running game was an below par product for much of the season. But when Fitz was under the center, the attack was extremely pleased. The situations certainly called for return attempts that required the ball to be in the air, but that doesn’t mean Gailey’s play call doesn’t handcuff Tagovailoa’s opportunities.

It will be a long time before we can say how damaging Gailey’s presence has been. There is of course the possibility that he called up short pieces for Tagovailoa due to the rookie’s shortcomings. There’s been a lot of speculation about Tua’s ability to be the starting quarterback, and maybe Gailey was one of the first people to notice the issues. Or maybe Tagovailoa’s hip injury only allowed for a limited playbook, and Gailey was doing her due diligence to protect the franchise’s potential quarterback from further damage.

But the only thing we do know is that there were limited weapons available to the offense, and there were very few receivers that could create the kind of separation that Tagovailoa was used to. This issue has been fixed and it looks like he builds a solid relationship with several players within the first week. There are clips of Tua doing deep, hard throws at wide rapids, something we saw next to nothing of last season.

The multitude of factors related to the situation will make it difficult to completely blame Chan Gailey for the offensive woes of the Miami Dolphins (and Tua Tagovailoa). But the team has moved on and Gailey will probably not be coaching anymore. Things will be even more difficult to dissect in the near future as the Dolphins have a rare situation of a double coordinator on offense. Eric Studesville and George Godsey will somehow share the duty of appeal, so placing any potential blame will be even more difficult.

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