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Moments later, everyone was laughing as Philbin joked about his good fortune in becoming a first-time head coach. He and his family are counting on a bright future to ease the pain of the recent past, and his introductory news conference Saturday in Davie, Fla., was part of the healing process.
“All people suffer loss,” said Philbin’s wife, Diane. “When you lose someone, it’s part of life, but you have to be resilient. You have to take the bad things and difficult times and turn them into good, and that’s what we will do. And we’ll do it with the Miami Dolphin family.”
Philbin, the Green Bay Packers’ offensive coordinator for the past five years, said he’s eager to lead the Dolphins back to the top of the NFL. He noted they haven’t been there since 1973, the year of their most recent Super Bowl championship season.
He also did a little math regarding his career. He has been an assistant since 1984 – 10,061 days, by his count – and said that gives him sufficient experience to succeed as a head coach.
“I have a lot of faith in what I’m capable of doing,” he said. “I’ve been fortunate to work with a lot of good people. I’ve been fortunate to be around winning programs, places where we developed players, we developed men, we had good teams. I’m just confident we’ll be able to build the same thing here in Miami.”
And then, 22 minutes into the news conference, the subject turned to his son’s death.
Philbin interviewed with the Dolphins for the first time Jan. 7. The next day, the body of 21-year-old Michael Philbin was recovered from an icy Wisconsin river.
“You’re heartbroken. You’re devastated. It’s hard to comprehend,” Philbin said.
He spent a week away from the Packers, drew comfort from a funeral that included 68 family members, then rejoined his team last Sunday for its divisional playoff loss to the New York Giants.
Philbin said he went home that night uncertain whether to remain a candidate for the Dolphins’ job – or whether the position was even still open.
“I had no idea,” he said. “The TV hadn’t been on in our house for a week.”
Philbin then received a pep talk from his 16-year-old son, Tim.
“He said, ‘You’re going to go after the job, aren’t you?’ ” Philbin recalled. “I said, ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do.’ I was dejected on a lot of different fronts. He said, ‘You’d better go after that job. Michael would want you to.’
“That was the start of me getting back and getting moving again.”
Philbin met Wednesday for a second interview with Dolphins owner Stephen Ross and general manager Jeff Ireland, who admired the way the coach dealt with the family tragedy.
“You find out what a person is all about in times like that,” Ross said. “He’s a strong person, a family person. He has a lot to look forward to. I think this … change of scenery is probably great for him.”
Ross fired Tony Sparano last month with three games to go in his fourth season as coach. The Dolphins finished 6-10, their third consecutive losing season, and haven’t won a playoff game since 2000.
Philbin becomes Miami’s seventh coach – including two interim coaches – in the past eight years. Ross is desperate for some stability, which sounds good to Philbin.
“I’m 50 years old,” the coach said. “I anticipate this being the last job I ever take.”
COLTS READY TO GO
Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay plans to name the team’s new head coach by the end of this week, he said Saturday on Twitter.
Irsay has been interviewing candidates, reportedly including former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel. Some outlets are also reporting that the Colts are interested in University of Oregon coach Chip Kelly.
“The #1 pick debate will rage on, what a great year to have it . . . the HC search is wide ranging
• thorough, decision by mid 2 late next week,” Irsay tweeted.
Irsay told ESPN the team plans to take a quarterback with the No. 1 pick in the draft, and mentioned it would likely be between Stanford’s Andrew Luck or Baylor’s Robert Griffin III.
