Excuse some Miami Dolphins defense players if they do not cry over Vic
Fangio and the Fish’s decision to part ways on Wednesday.
When he announced the split, Miami head coach Mike McDaniel was
appreciative of the NFL’s highest-paid defensive coordinator. The team’s
announcement offered a forward-looking assessment of the defense’s future
direction rather than a retrospective of its past performance.
“I want to thank Vic for his contributions in 2023. When we assessed the
season, it became apparent that this was the best path forward for all parties
involved,” said Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel in a statement released by
the team. “Now, we turn our focus to 2024 and beyond with urgency as we
identify the best candidate to lead our defense moving forward. We remain
steadfastly committed to the development of our players and to building a
winning team with sustained success.”
Security After learning that the previous head coach of the Denver Broncos
would not be rejoining the organization for the upcoming season, Jevon
Holland posted on his Instagram page, looking very excited. He mimicked a
person “kicking rocks,” which was the equivalent of ordering the defensive
coordinator to beat it by taking the quickest route out of town.
One player who took to social media to express his happiness that he might
finally get a chance to see the field and start over with a new coordinator was
Cam Smith, the rookie second-round pick who saw little playing time in the
previous season and spent so much time in Fangio’s dog house that he should have paid rent.
The Dolphins chose to take him in the 2023 NFL Draft because of his image of
a lock being opened, which alluded to the possibility that he may now be free
to showcase his skills and be out of the doghouse.
Even late in the season, when Xavien Howard and Eli Apple suffered serious
injuries that affected the Miami secondary, Smith was still unable to see the
field. In actuality, Smith was classified as inactive for the wild-card game
versus Kansas City. Smith was placed on layaway as he observed youngster
Ethan Bonner, who was not selected, acquire playing time.
A few days following the game, Smith told a group of reporters that he was
merely willing to study, wait for his team, and return the following season.
“[The message was] just kind of making sure that I stayed the course,” Smith
said. “In the end, I feel like it was kind of a good thing for me just making sure
that I stayed down and kind of learned from everybody that was around me.
“I had some of the best vets in the world in front of me. So just kind of learning
from them, picking their brain every day. It was just kind of best for me. But at
the same time, I was frustrated; I was not feeling the whole situation at first,
but in the end, I feel like it worked out great for me.”
But that was as far as the goodwill went.
