Gailey Gone After One Year

Chan Gailey's return to the Miami Dolphins has ended after one year.

Two days after an ESPN report that the Dolphins had parted ways with Gailey was retracted, the team announced Wednesday morning that the longtime NFL coach had resigned.

Gailey came out of retirement last offseason for a second stint as Dolphins offensive coordinator. Gailey, who had been out of the NFL since 2016, also served in the same capacity in Miami in 2000-01.

“I want to thank Chan for all of his hard work and dedication in what was a unique year,” head coach Brian Flores said in a statement. “He played an important role on the staff and in the development of our young roster. I wish him all the best.”

Flores said Tuesday during his end-of-season media session that he was expecting all of his assistant coaches to return.

The Dolphins offense finished the 2020 season ranked 22nd in total yards, 22nd in rushing and 20th in passing.

Gailey, however, faced weekly questions about his handling of rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, specifically in terms of the offense looking more conservative with the first-round pick in the game as opposed to veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick.

“Well, the situation of the game has a lot to do with it," Gailey said last week. "If you end up getting behind and needing to get down the field and to score points quickly, that has a lot to do with it. We’ve been a team that has tried to be 9, 10, 11, 12 play drives, run the football, play-action pass, control the time on the clock. That’s the situation that we found with Tua in the ballgame. Plus you’re missing some receivers from time to time and that has something to do with it. A lot of that goes into decision-making about how the game is being called and what kind of plays we run.”

Tagovailoa finished his rookie season completing 64.1 percent of his passes with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions and an 87.1 percent passer rating.

Tagovailoa was asked about his working relationship with Gailey after the disappointing season-ending loss at Buffalo.

“I think me and Chan’s relationship is really good, and our partnership with what I kind of want called, and the communication between us, I think it’s really good," Tagovailoa said. "Just today I don’t think I put us in a really good situation. With the defense giving us a turnover on the first series, and we not going down and punching it in. There was a lot of miscommunication on that first drive for us. I think that’s where it really starts. We need to be better in that aspect of opening up games with those first drives. We got to go down and give our team some spark.”

This will mark the second consecutive year the Dolphins will be replacing their offensive coordinator. They replaced Chad O'Shea last offseason after he had served one season in that role.