Cameron fired as head coach of the Dolphins

Published 11:00 am Thursday, January 3, 2008

DAVIE, Fla. — Cam Cameron was fired as the Miami Dolphins’ head coach Thursday by new boss Bill Parcells after plunging to an 0-13 start in his first year on the job and finishing with just one victory.

The dismissal comes three days after Parcells ousted general manager Randy Mueller and means the reeling franchise will soon have its fifth coach in five seasons.

Parcells began work Dec. 27 as executive vice president of football operations and quickly concluded the Dolphins need another fresh start.

It had been 37 years since the Dolphins fired a coach. But they never finished 1-15 before.

All but two members of Cameron’s coaching staff were also fired, although some might be rehired by the new head coach, the Dolphins said. Retained were assistant special teams coach Steve Hoffman and linebackers coach George Edwards.

Parcells made the decision to fire Cameron in consultation with new general manager Jeff Ireland, hired Wednesday after seven years in player personnel with the Dallas Cowboys.

“We just felt in order to move forward and not look back, we needed someone in place who shared the same philosophical compatibilities we shared,” Ireland said. “We didn’t really know the guy that well. We were going to try to get someone that does share those things, and we weren’t completely sold that he did.”

Ireland said the philosophy he and Parcells share involves creating a culture of winning.

“We want strong character around here,” Ireland said. “The vision of the team will be discipline, passionate players, highly competitive. And we’ll be a big team.”

Ireland said he’ll have final say regarding all player personnel decisions.

The early front-runner to replace Cameron is another Cowboys employee, assistant head coach Tony Sparano. He’s scheduled to interview Friday for the head-coaching vacancy in Atlanta.

Ireland said plans for the coaching search were still being formulated.

“We’re going to try to make a quick decision, but we don’t have a timetable,” he said. “We’ll have a broad range of candidates. We’ll look into every possibility.”

The Miami coaching job became a revolving door in 2004, when Dave Wannstedt quit after nine games and was replaced by Jim Bates. Nick Saban became the coach in 2005 but lasted just two years before leaving for Alabama. He was succeeded by Cameron.