I’ve noticed a recurring sentiment online describing our Miami Dolphins coaching staff as “Green Bay Packers South.” Given the theory that this influx of former Packers personnel might impact our performance in colder climates, I posed the following question this past week:
Given that the Miami Dolphins train and play in the hot, humid climate of South Florida, do you think the recent influx of staff from the Green Bay Packers organization will help the team overcome their struggles in cold-weather
games? Will this staff be what we have needed to help level the playing field when we travel to face our division rivals in colder cities during the winter months?
Below are some of your thoughts and answers-
FFFL66IBA&O sees the influx of staff from Green Bay as more valuable from a cultural building standpoint.
Bringing in leadership and staff with Green Bay roots (Sully & Haf etc…) brings valuable organizational culture from a cold-weather franchise, but I would think it is unlikely to instantly fix our beloved Dolphin’s physical and historical troubles playing in freezing temperatures. Sully seems to scout and draft players with rugged traits suited for all weather environments. Practicing in South Florida heat means players still experience physiological shock when stepping into sub-40-degree weather.
Not so fun fact: Our beloved Dolphin’s have dropped 12 straight games when temperatures are 40 degrees or lower.
In short, we need to get a Hell of a lot TOUGHER! Thank GOD we’re finally headed in the right direction…Let’s Go!!!
Phoenix6 believes it will all be alright.
I just don’t see this team having a problem playing & winning in NY, Blowfalo, or Boston this yr.
Just dress for success… & phew!
Lefty5150 points out that it’s not super realistic to expect a team in hot-humid South Florida to acclimate to very cold weather in any realistic time frame to play a game in that environment.
It takes about 2-3 weeks for our bodies to adjust to weather-related temperatures. The only way to do this is to crank up the air conditioning at home and in the practice dome later in the season. Ice baths might help as well. They have to get their bodies acclimated if possible.
Pod of Dolphins wanted to talk about a kid that played in Lubbock, which does get very cold at times in the winter.
There is a report that Jacob Rodriguez made some nice plays on just in his first day at camp. His range in coverage was in full display
Oldarmyguy believes part of adjusting to the cold is a mindset and points out that they have much better cold gear these days that the players can wear under their uniforms and pads.
As a native Floridian while in the Army I was stationed in many cold places including upstate New York & Germany. It’s definitely a mind set & nowadays there’s all kind of warm weather gear comfortable enough to wear underneath uniforms. Jordan Brooks called ’em last year. He knows they wimped out.
Yarganaught points out that heat or cold sucks equally for everyone.
As a 4th generation Floridian who has lived in Chicago and Finland, I can say that while the cold does suck… it sucks for everyone. Same thing for the heat/humidity in Trampa or Gainesville (I lived in those cities too) during the summer. Sure, you can get acclimatized somewhat to the local temps. But when it was 108F every day in Texas, or when it was -20F in The Loop, no one was walking around outside saying “I need to get used to this!”
Diggity Dankster is another who believes the key to success is getting tougher.
Being from Green Bay won’t help them win in cold weather. Not being a bunch of soft wimps will.
Dolfanjoe says run the ball well, play solid D, and don’t throw backward. Clearly has some leftover PTSD from Tannehill.
Run game, good defensive play. Possession receivers who can block and fight for the ball. Might even think about throwing the ball downfield instead of backwards !
Ash the Elder says not much can prepare you for certain levels of cold.
It’s about conditioning. Having real athletes with good cardio is one thing, but nothing prepares you for sucking in that big batch of cold air into your lungs after a hit.
I don’t know if you can really practice that. Unless you spend a fortune on a refrigerated field.
sdphinsfan believes the issue goes beyond cold weather to the fact that this team has overall been a poor road team in recent years.
I don’t think the temperature on game day is an issue. The biggest problem is that over the last couple of decades, this team has had issues going on the road anywhere and beating a quality opponent.
If you want to change that, it boils down to being able to run the ball, playing good defense, and not making stupid mistakes. And I say that not basing it on some brilliant opinion. I say it because the winningest coach in NFL history built his team to play that way. They were a warm weather team that routinely went north late in the year and dominated.
JUK says I got it backwards.
The question has it backwards. If you look the 10 or 15 most inportant players on this roster, 1 (Malik) is from Green Bay. What matters is the attempt to change the culture of the team. To be bigger and tougher and more professional. The guys they brought in from GB are just people they know who meet the standards of that they are looking for
RW#92 says who cares about the coaches? I personally believe that while you must have good/great players, the coaching staff makes all the difference in what happens to and with those same players.
Who cares about the coaches. Run the ball, play defense, and have a QB that can move the chains on 3rd down, with his legs if necessary, and you can win anywhere.
SuperG! has some nuggets about the Jets.
Meanwhile over in Jests land, Minkah is saying all the right things so far. However a couple of days ago Plaxico Burress dropped this bombshell on what it was like playing for the Jests.
One-time Super Bowl champ Plaxico Burress did his time—both on and off the field.
Back in 2009, Burress was sentenced to two years in prison for violating New York’s gun laws and pled guilty to a firearms charge that stemmed from an incident in which Burress inadvertently shot himself in the thigh at a Manhattan nightclub.
Fast forward nearly two decades later, and Burress claims that his experience behind bars was similar to playing with the Jets for one season in 2011 after he was released from prison.
Burress was asked during a recent appearance on Lil Wayne and Craig Carton’s The Joint Venture Show whether spending time in prison or on the Jets was worse.
“So, they’re both kind of similar because when I walked into prison my first day, I was like, ‘Damn man you a f—ing loser,” Burress said, eliciting lots of laughs. “And I had the same damn feeling every day I walked through the door with the Jets. I was like, ‘Damn I hope we can win this weekend.’ Loser!”
UpInPensacola points out that many of the players on the roster have experience playing in colder weather.
Players are from everywhere. Many have played in cold.
The franchise has been around since 1966, with Buffalo, Boston/New England, and New York always there each season.
Every other team in the NFL (save dome teams) plays in cool to cold temperatures at some point. Even the I-10 corridor teams play in cool weather at times. The rest of the U.S. is not Florida. (Heck, Pensacola has had snow two winters in a row, 8 – 10 inches in ‘25! We all survived it. High school teams play in the 40’s here in late autumn, so if they can do it…)
If anything, it’s warmer than it used to be, not colder.
Acclimatizing is fine for the team. It’s different to be outdoors in, but the ball is equally cold for both teams. Same field, same wind chill. It’s 4 parts mind game and 1 part infrequent conditions of play.
It’s time to overcome the cold weather gremlins. If they don’t, the only path to a Suoer Bowl for Miami will always be the number one playoff seed.
FLexile has the best point yet. To hell with the weather elsewhere; it doesn’t matter if you take care of business and can play at home until the Super Bowl.
There is only one solution. Secure home field throughout the playoffs and weather is no longer an issue.
Well, that’s our assortment of comments for this evening. It seems as if most of us believe that the real issue is not playing in cold weather but being a better, tougher team overall going forward. I have to agree. Somehow, Shula always managed to win enough of those games, and few coaches were known for having tougher teams than the GOAT. As always, thank you to each of you who took the time to join in on our Phinsider Question Of The Day.
