Chan Gailey’s return to Dolphins for 2021 up in the air. That raises important questions | Opinion
It takes maybe four seconds to utter the sentence, “I’d like to return next year.”
And that modest investment of time and thriftiness of words would pay off by ending any speculation or uncertainty that, like it or not, is out there and will remain until the topic is finally addressed.
But despite how easy it would be for Chan Gailey to say if he’d like to come back to the Miami Dolphins in 2021 — something this wise man definitely already knows — the offensive coordinator has refused to say it the past few weeks.
And he’s been given ample opportunity to say it.
Like Tuesday, when he was asked by a reporter for the second time in two weeks how he thinks his season has gone and whether he’d like to run it back next year.
“This has been an unusual year to say the least,” Gailey answered. “The experience has been like no other I’ve ever had, that’s for sure. I think somebody — maybe it was you — asked me about this last week.
“I’m thinking about how to go up and beat Buffalo. That’s what I’m thinking about. I’m not thinking about anything else right now. How can I help this football team go beat Buffalo.”
So Gailey, who is spending practically all his valuable time this week figuring out how to attack the Bills defense, decided it wiser to spend more time telling us that’s what he’s doing than to save time and just tell us what’s in his heart.
And I get it. Gailey’s agenda is not my agenda or your agenda.
His timing for addressing an issue is not the same as some reporter’s timing.
But not answering this question does the exact opposite of what Gailey is trying to accomplish. Because instead of putting the issue aside or even to bed, it actually raises more questions. And forces me to write this column when I’m expecting Cuban food delivered soon — which I have much greater interest in attending to.
But, nooooo.
Gailey, who I love and respect for personal reasons, is playing coy. He’s calling one of his trademark trick plays we often see him pluck from his call sheet, except he’s using this one in a mind game instead of a football game.
And just for clarity’s sake, let’s ask Gailey about his 2021 plans again. Just in case that comment about 2020’s weirdness is a hint at his mindset for next year.
“No,” Gailey responds. “I was just saying — somebody asked me how the experience was this year. It was just the most unusual experience I’ve ever been through.”
Fine, so why is this a thing?
It begins with the fact Gailey is going to be 69 years old next week. And he already retired once after the 2016 season before Dolphins coach Brian Flores unexpectedly called him in December of 2019 to ask him back into the league.
And that age and improbable return leaves a lot of room for the man to change his mind after getting a taste of the Dolphins job and a renewed taste of the league’s demands.
So maybe Gailey picked up where he left off his previous 46 years of coaching and loves every single arduous minute of the work. In that case that four-second sentence would have let me get to my delicious food sooner.
But maybe things have changed. And Gailey is fulfilling his Miami duties his final couple of weeks before heading back home to Georgia and his comfortable retirement.
Thus the questions the last two weeks.
And, you’re asking, why is this topic important?
Because Tua Tagovailoa is important.
Gailey, you see, is the man most responsible for whatever rise and development the Dolphins rookie quarterback has made this season and will or won’t make in coming seasons.
He’s the guy working to make sure Tagovailoa is comfortable with the offense, comfortable with the plays, comfortable with the personnel groupings.
Whatever a young NFL quarterback becomes has a lot to do with what his offensive coordinator makes him. And with the Dolphins that means we’re all looking at Gailey.
Another reason this is important? Stability.
If Gailey wants to stay, that means stability for Tagovailoa. It means the offense he learned this year he can run next year with his eyes closed.
If Gailey wants to leave, the stability that guys such as Tom Brady and Drew Brees and Patrick Mahomes enjoyed early in their development won’t be afforded to Tagovailoa. That stability would leave with Gailey.
So now you understand why that four-second sentence is a big deal.
And that brings us back to timing. Gailey obviously won’t address this issue because he doesn’t want to cause any distraction during the season. He’d rather this get resolved after the season when, by the way, he doesn’t have to speak with reporters once a week.
Except that’s checkers thinking when everyone’s hoping the Dolphins can play chess.
If Gailey was wanting to stay, it would be wise (and easy) to say so as to dismiss the issue and help the season he’s trying to save from distraction to actually be free from this distraction. Because the fact he won’t say if he wants to stay not only keeps the issue alive, it highlights it for its awkwardness.
Because Chan Gailey refusing to say he wants to return in 2021 gives life to the possibility he might want to go.
This story was originally published December 29, 2020 at 5:35 PM.
