Joe Philbin is in territory not often traversed by NFL head coaches. He has yet to post a winning season with the Dolphins, but he's back for his fourth season with the team.
That's an impressive bit of patience by the front office. Or, if you're not a Philbin fan, a distressing example of organizational lethargy.
Philbin knows he's on the hot seat as he enters a new season, so don't consider it a surprise that he's talking big about Miami's expectations. This will be his last shot.
"I came here to win championships. I didn't come here to be average and be 8-8," Philbin told ESPN.com on Sunday. "(Owner) Steve Ross doesn't own the team to be average. Our fans don't want to be average. Our players don't want to be average. So that's what we're here for. That's why we invest and put the effort, the time into what we do."
The Dolphins have gone 8-8 in back-to-back seasons after a 7-9 finish in Philbin's maiden voyage as an NFL head coach in 2012. The team made the biggest splash of the offseason when it signed Ndamukong Suh to a massive contract that made the All-Pro the highest paid defensive player in NFL history.
"There's three championships right now that are out there: There's the AFC East, there's the AFC and there's the NFL championship," Philbin said. "So nothing's been decided. I can honestly tell you sitting here we've had a couple of clunkers in three years. But we haven't had a ton of clunkers where we just got manhandled from start to finish. So I've gone into every game thinking we're going to win every game."
Philbin was an easy choice when Around The NFL put together our list of the coaches who will face the most pressure in 2015. The logic is simple: Philbin must get the Dolphins back to the playoffs. If not, he'll almost certainly be looking for work come January.
*The latest Around The NFL Podcast features the triumphant return of Dan Hanzus and discusses the biggest mysteries heading into training camp. *
