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A month ago the reasons I detailed why I think Gailey and the Dolphins would part ways had to do with the clear differences between how Gailey called the games with Tua in versus Fitzpatrick. That's not new or revelatory (anymore). But it showed Gailey had a preference.
When Flores had to replace Tua in the Broncos game, he described it as being because he wanted more tempo. One thing that was clear, at that time, was that Gailey was uncomfortable calling tempo for Tua. He was more comfortable doing it with Fitzpatrick.
I think the tempo thing continued to be a sticking point. Before a game, Gailey even told some members of non-local media that he hates all that hurry-up stuff, doesn't buy into it. Meanwhile you could see Flores agitatedly motioning for better tempo on the sidelines of games.
Gailey is a good dude, and good coach, and I don't think he dislikes Tua in the slightest. But he clearly loves Ryan Fitzpatrick. The two have been together for Gailey's last 6 seasons in the NFL. There was a rumor Gailey found out about Fitz being benched for Tua via the media.
I remember seeing Gailey (he's such a candid guy you can't help but love him) flat out say Fitzpatrick can do far more with the offense since Tua is so young. That's pretty much straight up contradicting Flores, who insisted Tua is starting because he's the best for winning now.
When Fitz started another game against the Jets, what did Gailey do? Pass, pass, pass, pass, pass. Like 80% passing, often out of empty backfields, and featuring the up-tempo that Gailey himself says he hates. It was like he was showing Fitz off, "See what we can do together?"
But when Tua was back, they kept backsliding into less tempo, more condensed splits, heavier personnel, shorter passes, more play-action, etc. That is, until the game got desperate, and Flores had to turn to Fitzpatrick, and suddenly everything is wide open.
This represented a fundamental disappointment in one of the core reasons Gailey was brought to Miami in the first place, which is to install a system that was easier for a rookie to learn and grow in than Chad O'Shea's offense. When the thesis behind a hire fails, what happens?
Flores has always kept close tabs on Tua himself. Weekly meetings between the two for film watch, as revealed by Tua himself. When Robby Brown (Gailey's guy) got COVID, Flores had George Godsey (Flores's guy) replace him on the sidelines...and never gave that job back to Brown.
Anyway that's a bit of a ramble. Back when I first started to follow the bread crumbs, I really just wanted to differentiate it from the common fan calls for the OC to be fired because of "bad" play-calling. We're really not very good judges of that, let's be honest.
