A man named Joe Philbin is the newest caretaker put in charge of the Miami Dolphins’ deeply tarnished good name. He must chip away a decade of losses and lost luster, and erase years of fan erosion and growing cynicism. He must reestablish the abandoned stature of this team, this brand, in what used to be a “football town.”

He has become the man in charge of hope for a fan base so desperate for that.

He must win. Now.

And he must do all of this even as he mourns his own loss, one far greater than any coach ever encountered on any football field.

Philbin, 50, is the Dolphins’ new head coach as of Friday evening, the eighth in the franchise’s 46-year history (or 10th if you include two interim coaches). He also is a father who just buried his son, Michael, who drowned in Wisconsin’s Fox River on Jan. 9 at the age of 21 — personal tragedy and professional challenge intersecting now.

Maybe this is where the healing starts.

For a man.

For a franchise.

You want to support this hire, and not just for the emotional element, the sympathy due Philbin.

You want to support it because the job he leaves to take this one, the bottom line on Philbin’s coaching resume, looks very, very impressive:

Offensive coordinator, Green Bay Packers.

The faith emanating from those five words is why Philbin will be the man formally introduced Saturday at Dolphins’ headquarters in Davie.

The imprimatur of his having been integral in the best offense in the NFL — Green Bay’s 560 points scored led the league in 2011 — is why this man ultimately was selected over two other finalists, Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy and Dolphins interim head coach Todd Bowles.

Bowles was 2-1 after taking over for the fired Tony Sparano late this past season. He offered continuity. He would have been a popular pick with Miami players.

McCoy’s bid was enhanced by the fact he had worked (in Carolina) with current Dolphins quarterback Matt Moore and more recently in Denver with receiver Brandon Marshall, now Miami’s top receiver. Speculation earlier Friday was that McCoy might be the guy hired.

Philbin, though, offered those five words, words that can be mesmerizing for what they imply if not guarantee:

Offensive coordinator, Green Bay Packers.

Dolfans know well, of course, that titles and reputations and supposed-to-be’s assure nothing at all. Cam Cameron arrived in 2007 reputed to be the same offensive genius. He went 1-15 and was summarily fired.

The fact is, since the legendary Don Shula departed following the 1995 season, this franchise has had a small parade of coaches all fail to live up to the legacy.

Whether Philbin proves to be another Cameron or the next Shula or one of a hundred shades in between, we shall see.

For now, the hire qualifies as a big gamble for the men running the Dolphins, owner Stephen Ross and general manager Jeff Ireland. It is a justifiable hire if only based on that shiny title Philbin brings here. But a gamble nonetheless.

Philbin has not been a head coach before. He is bereft of experience at the very job he has just been hired to do. Once more the Dolphins have rolled dice and offered themselves up as a proving ground for a man who arrives with his training wheels still on in terms of the job he has been asked to take on.

It must also be noted that Philbin in Green Bay succeeded largely because he was gifted with a superstar quarterback in Aaron Rodgers. And Philbin was not a full-fledged offensive coordinator there in that he did not call the plays. He developed the weekly game-plans and strategy, but his head coach took over the execution come Sundays.

Philbin has a lot of proving to do, in other words, and all the more so because of these five other words:

He is not Jeff Fisher.

Fisher is all that Philbin is not: an experienced NFL head coach with proof on his resume’. With the been-there-done-that mojo that offsets the feeling of risk.

Miami went hard after Fisher, only to lose him to the St. Louis Rams in a close, could-have-gone-either-way decision. That means Ross and Ireland went hard after Fisher, only to fail.

That makes Philbin, good as he might prove to be, the second choice. The guy the Dolphins ultimately settled for.

That is a perception he will overcome, or not. And whether he does will have much to do with whether Ross and Ireland are able to mend their reputations with skeptical Dolfans who don’t have much faith in the way this club is being run.

The new coach steps into a difficult situation made exponentially tougher by the recent death of his son — personal sorrow an incongruous shadow over professional celebration.

The positive for Joe Philbin is that the long barren stretch this franchise has endured — 11 seasons since the most recent playoff victory, 38 years since the last Super Bowl title — makes this a team and a fan base longing for a coach to rescue them. Looking for a hero.

This man arrives with a city’s condolences for his personal loss.

He arrives welcomed with open, desperate arms.

He also arrives as an unproven coach who’d better win. Pronto, por favor.