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The dynamics between Ryan Tannehill and his coaches

Sometimes when news comes to the forefront, even when it seems to come late or quite far after the fact, more details begin to pour in from other sources that color in the gray areas to provide a more complete picture.

And that has been happening the past week or so based on some reporting I did last week about the relationship between former Dolphins coach Joe Philbin and quarterback Ryan Tannehill. You'll recall I reported Philbin became disenchanted with Tannehill after the 2013 season and before the 2014 draft -- so much so, the coach wanted the Dolphins to draft Derek Carr in the first round of 2014.

Well, since that report, people have informed me Philbin's desire to move in a different direction was manifested in a weird way. That's because the coach apparently stayed silent about his desire to go in that other direction until mere days before the draft.

So for weeks the Dolphins had been grading players and piecing together their draft strategy ...

And a few days before the actual first round, Philbin made it known to some of his offensive assistants and the personnel department that he wanted to go in a different direction. The story was so strange, it still makes the rounds at Dolphins camp today.

Mind boggling.

That's not all.

I am told that it was then, in that very offseason, that seeds of trouble were sown between new offensive coordinator Bill Lazor and Tannehill. Lazor, you see, was hired early in 2014. And people within the organization believe he may have been affected by his new boss's opinion of the starting quarterback. He saw the head coach wanted to replace Tannehill and that may have planted doubt in the new offensive coordinator's mind about his QB.

And those doubts showed up at times. But despite reports of discord between Lazor and several offensive players throughout 2014, Tannehill defended Lazor. He showed confidence in Lazor. Lazor, on the other hand, didn't seem to show the same confidence in Tannehill privately.

I'm told the issue of the audibles -- Tannehill wanting the ability to call new plays, and Lazor not budging on simply giving the QB a couple of choices to pick from at the line of scrimmage -- festered. The two also disagreed on how strong a voice Tannehill should have about portions of the game plan. Tannehill wanted to be more involved, and Lazor was apparently not eager to give away such power because thought he knew better.

It is correct to say that instead of having the relationship between the offensive coordinator and the quarterback growing, it actually went in the other direction. It got stale. Uncomfortable sometimes. Oh, it was professional. But it wasn't a meeting of like minds reaching total agreement or a bonded relationship built on mutual trust.

So given this environment, Is it any wonder the production of Lazor's offense declined? Is it surprising Tannehill stopped improving at the rate he showed from 2013 to 2014?

Indeed, the Dolphins offense regressed as the unit spent more time together. They were better in their first year together than their second year together.

That is history now. Lazor on Monday landed the quarterback coach job in Cincinnati. Tannehill will have a new QB coach, a new offensive coordinator and a new head coach.

But the history needed to be chronicled because it explains things. Success or failure is not always about the presence or lack of talent. There are other factors at work sometimes that also play a role in what we see on game day.

The prowess of the Dolphins offense and quarterback Ryan Tannehill in 2015 might be one of those.

By the way, it is definitely up to Tannehill to make the new situation work now. He gets the benefit of the doubt from the organization because he remains while Philbin, Lazor and others are gone.

But if Tannehill encounters similar problems with new coach Adam Gase and/or new offensive coordinator Clyde Christensen -- both of whom have a reputation for getting along with their quarterbacks -- then it might be Tannehill and not the coaches moving on next time.

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