Most protest can be heard loud and clear, so it must have been deafening for former Dolphins defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle when he noticed Ndamukong Suh approaching the practice field wearing sneakers.
The Dolphins defensive players reportedly hated the gameplan, preferring to switch from a two-gap attack up front to a single-gap approach.
The Miami Herald's Armando Salguero has the story of the loud protest Coyle experienced thanks to Suh.
That’s one reason Coyle had a closed-door meeting with players last Monday to air out grievances. At that meeting, players asked Coyle to change his defense, particularly up front.
Defensive linemen, who are playing a two-gap defense in Coyle’s system, hate it. The two-gap requires players to read two gaps and react rather than simply attack up field as in a one-gap scheme. Coyle listened to the complaints.
But apparently not much changed.
And so when Ndamukong Suh, the team’s highest-paid player, wore sneakers to a full-padded practice during the week, other players noticed. They took it as a sign Suh was making a statement of dissatisfaction over the defensive coaching.
And why are players drawing that conclusion? Because a prominent handful of them are dissatisfied over the defensive coaching, too.
I asked Suh what gear he wore to practice Thursday.
“Next question,” he answered.
I asked Suh if the Monday meeting resolved anything.
“Next question,” he answered.
I asked Suh why the defense chronically starts slow.
“Next question,” he answered.
The writing was on the wall for Coyle and Philbin the moment Suh walked out of the locker room. Add in the fact that his guarantees are more than the Dolphins coaching staff made combined, and you can see why they were all fired.
By Glenn Erby
