The Dolphins have parted ways with offensive coordinator Bill Lazor following Sunday's 38-20 loss to the Jets, the team announced Monday. It's a move that signals more widespread changes to come within the organization.
Zac Taylor, the team's quarterbacks coach, will take over the primary play calling for the remainder of the season.
The Dolphins have already fired coach Joe Philbin and defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle. The momentary surge felt by the promotion of interim coach Dan Campbell has all but disappeared, and Miami has lost four of its last five games to drop to 4-7.
Most concerning is that quarterback Ryan Tannehill has struggled mightily over the last five games, logging a completion percentage just slightly above 60 percent. Perhaps the tangled web of front office members in Miami wanted an independent evaluation of the quarterback before heading into the draft, which may have been a good thing to grab before they signed him to a contract extension.
It's hard to imagine this disappointing season falling on the shoulders of just a few people though, especially Lazor. Lazor oversaw the rise of Tannehill and helped him earn that six-year, $96 million deal in the first place. With a strong background in quarterback coaching, both in college and under Chip Kelly in Philadelphia, Lazor was, for at least a time, exactly what Tannehill needed, but was also too reliant on the franchise quarterback.
Unless Lazor, an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Virginia between 2010 and 2012, wanted to jump into the mix for the myriad head coaching openings at the NCAA level, this firing smacks of a team trying to pacify fans sick and tired of a wildly dysfunctional team.
