Extra Points: Ross turns Dolphins into a loser

Dec 21, 2014 - 11:36 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - You have to believe Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross isn't a big fan of history because he sure didn't learn from it.

Ross was in Sun Life Stadium last December when Woody Johnson surprised most observers by giving Jets coach Rex Ryan a reprieve after a meaningless 20-7 Week 17 win over Miami.

In a rare address to the team, the Jets' owner told his players in the locker room after that insignificant triumph that Ryan would be back despite three straight seasons out of the playoffs.

Fast forward one year and New York is 3-12 entering Week 17 and Ryan has already filed his change of address form and is deciding between Mayflower and Atlas.

The Dolphins, meanwhile, haven't played postseason football since the 2008 season and on the day they were officially eliminated for the sixth straight season, Ross decided to bring back lame-duck coach Joe Philbin for another year despite a tenure that defines mediocrity.

"Here's a Christmas present," Ross said to the assembled reporters. "You don't have to ask me anymore. (Philbin) has one year left on contract and is coming back."

The decision was announced after a euphoric, albeit insignificant 37-35 triumph over a moribund Minnesota club decided only when Vikings' long snapper Cullen Loeffer decided to deliver a ground ball back to punter Jeff Locke in the waning seconds.

"It's frustrating that we didn't make the playoffs. I feel as bad as everybody," Ross said. "But I think we're building something here, and I believe in the coach."

Building what exactly?

Obviously the Vikings were without Adrian Peterson and 60 percent of their offensive line on Sunday yet Miami still needed a host of questionable calls to go against Minnesota, along with a career day from Ryan Tannehill in order to dispose of a rebuilding team with a rookie quarterback on its home field.

You never turn down victories in the NFL but if anything the Dolphins should have been disappointed with the fact that the Vikings were even in position to win the game yet Ross was so exuberant he confirmed that he will be bringing back a 50-50 coach for a fourth season.

"This is where I want to be the head coach," Philbin said. "It's a privilege to be the head coach and I want to do the things I said when I came here -- consistently compete for championships.

"Steve Ross has shown a lot of support for me through the years even in difficult times. I'm very grateful."

He should be.

After the first 47 games of Philbin's regime, the middling Dolphins are 23-24 and the coach helped create the culture which turned Richie Incognito into a national disgrace and the Dolphins into a laughingstock.

Admittedly consistency at the head-coaching position is fare more desirous that constant change but only if that consistency is coupled with competence.

Those close to Ross, a Michigan alum regarded as the University's biggest athletic booster, say he likes Philbin personally and that he's hesitant to change but with Jim Harbaugh, a coach Ross heavily courted back in 2011, likely hitting the open market very soon, this was the time to cut bait and make a splash.

"I didn't put out any feelers," Ross said. "I did not talk to Harbaugh."

Mulling the scoreboard on Sunday, I though the worst loss of the day had to be playoff-hopeful Baltimore losing to a fourth-string quarterback in Houston.

That was until Ross settled for an ordinary, uninspiring, second-rate coach for one final year of his now trademarked mediocrity.

And that's the upside.