Lowly Dolphins have to dig deep for help

Firing the Miami coach would only make the
franchise more unstable.

DAVIE, Fla. (AP) — When Cam Cameron began his first training camp as an NFL head coach in late July, he said he was unfazed by the many challenges facing the Miami Dolphins.

“I’m not a worrier,” he said. “I don’t go down that road.”

Maybe that’s why Cameron appeared remarkably relaxed Monday. He even cracked a hint of a smile a couple of times.

Most coaches would be ready to explode or implode. An 0-13 record tends to have that effect. But Cameron calmly repeated the pledge to perseverance that has become his mantra.

“We’ve said it all along: We’re not in the position we want to be in,” he said. “But we have to face it. We need to deal with it. We need to attack it.”

The clock is running. Cameron has been on the job nearly 11 months and still seeks his first victory, which raises a question: How much longer does he have with the Dolphins?

His job may be in jeopardy after only one season if he becomes the first coach to go 0-16.

“We are all in this thing together,” Cameron said.

But his future may hinge on his players, a scary proposition because the team that may be remembered as the most woeful in NFL history seems to be getting worse.

The Dolphins have lost their past two games by a combined 78-30. In Sunday’s 38-17 loss at snowy Buffalo, Miami had a franchise record eight fumbles and tied a team record by giving up 24 points in the first quarter.

The defeat was Miami’s 16th in a row — a season’s worth.

“Obviously it hasn’t gotten easier,” Cameron said.

The Dolphins are last and least in the league by such a wide margin they’re already virtually assured of the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft for first time.

Owner Wayne Huizenga last spoke to the media in October, when he said Cameron had done a “great job” keeping the team together and the atmosphere positive despite an 0-7 start. But Huizenga must be alarmed by the direction of a franchise that has become a national punch line.

Cameron is under contract through 2010. Firing him would acknowledge Huizenga made a bad decision choosing Cameron over at least 12 other candidates after a two-week coaching search, the most extensive since the franchise’s first season in 1966. Cameron’s departure would add to the instability of a franchise that has had four coaches in the past four seasons.

Also uncertain is the future of general manager Randy Mueller, who with Cameron has made several key personnel decisions that have yet to reap much benefit. That includes the acquisitions of veterans Trent Green and Joey Porter, and the selections of rookies Ted Ginn Jr. and John Beck.