Dave Wannstedt Started The Downhill Spiral Of The Dolphins

Dave Wannstedt Started The Downhill Spiral Of The Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins just wrapped up their voluntary OTAs under new head coach Jeff Hafley. He had some guests who showed up to camp, like former players Zach Thomas and Louis Oliver, and former Dolphins HC Dave Wannstedt. Wannstedt was invited by Coach Hafley because he gave Hafley his first coaching opportunity at the University of Pittsburgh in 2006, and Hafley considers him a mentor and is grateful for the opportunity. I think that’s great that he remembers people who have influenced him in his coaching career and stays connected. My dad taught me that growing up to do that. 

However, seeing Wannstedt just reminds me of how his tenure as HC started the Dolphins’ downhill fall. 

He came to the Dolphins in 1999, by then-coach Jimmy Johnson, to be his assistant HC, as Johnson thought about retiring after the 1998 season after the death of his mother, but then owner Wayne Huizenga talked him out of it, and Wannstedt was brought aboard. It wasn’t officially told at the time, but it was assumed by most that Wannstedt was the coach in waiting when Johnson decided to step away, which came a year later after the 1999 season. 

Johnson left Wannstedt with a team with a very good young defense with Jason Taylor, Zach Thomas, Sam Madison, and Patrick Surtain, all guys entering the prime of their careers. The Dolphins defense was one of the better defenses in the league, but they needed to make changes on offense to help them out. 

Dave was with the Dolphins for 4 seasons and had a 42-31 record and was the coach of their last playoff win in 2000. The biggest issue was that Wannstedt had the final say in all personnel decisions of the team, and that is where the biggest issue was. Huizenga didn’t have an issue with this, as he had Don Shula and Johnson before Wannstedt did the same thing. Also back in 2000, that was becoming a popular trend in the league with the HC having final say in all decisions related to the team and salary cap. Bill Belichick, Tom Coughlin, Dan Reeves, Mike Holmgren, and others had that type of power back then. In fact, when Wannstedt was the HC of the Chicago Bears from 1993-1998, he had power over decisions for the last few years, and he failed, which is something Huizenga should have realized and addressed by bringing in a GM to work with Wannstedt. Instead, things went downhill slowly, but surely. 

In 2000, Wannstedt coached the team to an AFC East Division title as well as their last playoff win with Jay Fiedler at QB and Lamar Smith running for over 1,000yads, including over 200yds in the playoff win over the favored Indianapolis Colts, before losing in the divisional round to the Oakland Raiders. It was a feat no one saw that year, as most felt the Dolphins would finish last in the division in the first year without Dan Marino at QB. That was the highlight of his tenure as things started to slip away in the 2001 offseason. 

Fiedler was a journeyman QB when Wannstedt signed him in 2000. Fiedler brought an athletic skill set not seen from the Dolphins since David Woodley, but Fiedler had his limitations as a passer. He flashed at times, but wasn’t consistent, especially in big. He won a lot of games in the regular season from 2000-2003, but he wasn’t a franchise QB. If we are being honest, those who remember the playoff win over the Colts know the team won in spite of Fiedler, as he threw 3 first-half interceptions, and the Dolphins kept the game close by not giving up multiple touchdowns to the Colts, led by Peyton Manning, Edgerrin James, and Marvin Harrison.

The Dolphins were only down 14-0 at halftime, and it should have been worse, but the Dolphins ran the ball down the field to start the second half with Smith and chipped away at the lead before going to overtime and winning the game.

However, Wannstedt was stubborn and stuck by Fiedler despite the limitations that everyone saw except him. Wannstedt believed in running the football and not needing a big-time quarterback. It didn’t help that the Baltimore Ravens won the Super Bowl that year with that formula, so it reinforced it in Wannstedt’s mind. 

In the 2001 offseason, Wannstedt had a chance to sign QB Brad Johnson but passed, and went to Tampa Bay and won a Super Bowl in 2002. He could have made a trade for Matt Hasselbeck or Trent Green but passed, and Wannstedt once said What has Trent Green done that Jay Fiedler hasn’t. Well, he had a nice run with the Kansas City Chiefs from 2001-2006 until he got concussions and threw for 4,000 yards for 3 straight years. Hasselbeck went on to have a nice career with the Seattle Seahawks and got them to the Super Bowl in 2005.

Then the most frustrating decision came in the 2001 NFL draft when the Dolphins had pick 26 in the first round, and QB Drew Brees was there for the Dolphins, and director of scouting Tom Bratz advocated and pounded on the table for the Dolphins to take Brees, but instead Wannstedt took cornerback Jamar Fletcher. Wannstedt felt the Dolphins needed a third cornerback. The Dolphins already had Surtain and Madison in the prime of their careers and locked into long-term contracts, and taking another corner with a first-round pick over a QB? I don’t know any GM that has that thinking, especially when you have nothing at QB. On top of that, Fletcher was a bust and ended up getting traded after 3 years before flaming out of the league.  

In 2001, the Dolphins went 11-5 but finished 2nd in the AFC East and lost at home in the wildcard round to the Ravens 20-3. Fiedler did have a good season, throwing for over 3,000 yards, but Smith couldn’t duplicate his 2000 season. The Dolphins then gave Fiedler a new contract worth over $20 million. Why? Because Wannstedt was stubborn. Wannstedt had to do something at running back. 

In the 2002 offseason, Wannstedt executed a trade that brought in Ricky Williams, a former Heisman Trophy winner and a running back with great talent the Dolphins had never had, for what turned out to be 2 first-round picks. After giving Fiedler a new contract, Wannstedt did nothing except get Ray Lucas to back up Fiedler.  

In 2002, Williams dazzled all Dolphins fans with his running as he ran for 1,853 yards a new franchise record, but there was no passing game to compliment the running game and the Dolphins lost their last two games of the season to miss the playoffs at 9-7 including choking away an 11 point lead to the Patriots in the season finale, which gave the New York Jets the division title over the Dolphins.

The Dolphins started 5-1, and Fiedler was off to a good start, but then he got hurt, and Lucas played horribly, and the Dolphins hit a mid-season funk, and Fiedler didn’t play as well when he came back. Can you imagine if the Dolphins had Brees, Green, or Hasselbeck with Williams taking the NFL buy storm with his running, but of course Wannstedt was stubborn.  It was fun watching Ricky Williams that year with his running, as the Dolphins had never had a running back of his talent omg if Marino had a back like him, wow.  

Wannstedt refused to change in 2003. In the 2nd round of the 2003 draft, with the team needing a receiver, Anquan Boldin was there for the taking, but instead Wannstedt took an LB named Eddie Moore who played only 2 seasons and was out of the league. While Boldin went on to have a borderline Hall of Fame career and set a then-NFL record with 90 receptions in his rookie season. The Dolphins did sign Brian Griese to backup Fiedler, but he wasn’t the answer. The Dolphins went 10-6 and missed the playoffs. 

Wannstedt was stripped of his decision-making after 2003, but the Dolphins were getting older on defense, and Wannstedt didn’t draft good players as they fell to 4-12 in 2004 with Wannstedt resigning in the middle of the season. Plus, Williams quit before training camp because of the pounding he had been taking, the Dolphins not addressing the QB, and, of course, his marijuana use, which was going to result in a suspension. 

Wannstedt was handed a good team, especially on defense, and while he was able to keep things afloat, the team eventually crashed and burned due to his decision-making with the team. He didn’t put any emphasis on getting a QB, which was his biggest mistake period. The game was starting to change from a running league to a passing league, and Wannstedt didn’t have the foresight to see that. 

Wannstedt doesn’t get the full blame for the Dolphins’ failures over the last 25 years, but it started with him, and then things have spiraled out of control under different regimes. Mr. Huizenga should have brought in a GM to work with Wannstedt or opened the HC and GM searches, but Huizenga was local to Wannstedt and loyal to a fault in this case.  

People can disagree with me on this, and that’s fine, but I feel like things started going downhill with him, and then everything else just spilled over. 

Hopefully with a GM and HC rebuilding this football team, things will be different, and we can get out of 25 years of frustration and being mediocre.