Joe Philbin already had plenty on his plate this summer as he embarks on his maiden voyage as head coach of the Miami Dolphins. Adding HBO's "Hard Knocks" to the mix will shine a spotlight on the entire organizational process.
Philbin, like so many other coaches around the NFL, might privately tell you he wants nothing to do with an intrusive production crew documenting his every move. But rookie coaches don't typically carry a big stick when it comes to internal decisions.
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Dolphins owner Stephen Ross has season tickets to sell, and he craved the publicity that HBO could bring his team. It becomes Philbin's challenge -- he'll be the first rookie coach to appear on "Hard Knocks" -- to make the best of it.
"Let's face it. The easy answer is to say, 'No, it's a huge distraction. They are going to have cameras everywhere. We are not going to be able to deal with all that stuff,'Â " Philbin said this week, according to ESPN.com. "That's the easy thing to say. But this program is not based on doing what is easy, and we thought that it was in the best interest of the organization at this point in time to do it. So that is what we are doing."
Philbin even found a way to spin the presence of HBO cameras into a tool for growth.
"We're going to learn more about these guys from this show, and I think it'll be good exposure for those guys," he said. "Obviously, if they can't handle this stuff, then we might be in some trouble when it's fourth-and-7 and we got to make a play."
The Miami Herald reported Wednesday that not everyone in the organization is as happy about this move as Ross is. Philbin is wise to quickly get on board with the decision. Then again, what other choice does he have?
