What a long, strange week it’s been for Chan Gailey, and it’s only Wednesday. News circulated Monday that Gailey had been fired from his post as Dolphins offensive coordinator with Adam Schefter initially credited with breaking the story. However, the report was later debunked with ESPN and others having to scrap published articles that had already been live for some time. In a regrettable instance of journalistic haste, news outlets neglected to verify their sources, failing to realize the story had been shared by a fake Schefter account on Twitter.
GM Chris Grier confirmed the team had no plans to move on from Gailey in Tuesday’s year-end press conference, seemingly putting the issue to bed. But in 2021, which, through six days, has proven no less chaotic than the year that preceded it, that couldn’t be the end of it. The Gailey saga took another bizarre turn Wednesday morning with this tweet, courtesy of the real Adam Schefter (notice the blue check):
So after all that, Gailey will NOT be back in 2021. That means Miami will be searching for its third offensive coordinator in as many years under coach Brian Flores. Chad O’Shea, who preceded Gailey as Dolphins OC, lasted a single season in Vice City before getting the heave-ho (he now serves as Cleveland’s wide receivers coach/passing-game coordinator). It’s unclear what the future holds for Gailey, a 30-year NFL vet who enjoyed previous head coaching stints with Dallas (1998-99) and Buffalo (2010-12) prior to joining Flores’ staff in Miami.
Whoever succeeds Gailey—tight ends coach George Godsey and running backs coach Eric Studesville reportedly top the Fins’ list of in-house candidates—will be tasked with developing quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who labored through an uneven debut season in 2020.
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