Dolphins owner Steve Ross addressed the media by conference call second ago. Here's what he had to say:

### He said interim coach Dan Campbell is a candidate for the permanent job and he spoke to several former coaches and others about him, including Bill Parcells.

### Here's what Ross had to say: "Today was a tough day. Someone you care a lot about as a person and you relieve him of his duties, it's a very difficult thing. I thought it was hard to do but something I felt needed to be done. I believe in our roster and didn't believe we're performing to the potential we had. I felt this was the time to make this decision. We've played four games. I haven't seen a lot of improvement. I've seen same old, same old. I believe this team has a lot of opportunities. My goal is still to make the playoffs. I thought this was best opportunity we had."

### He said he started considering a coaching change after the Buffalo game. "We won the first game, didn't look good. Jacksonville, a team we should have beaten - we outplayed them but didn't look good at all. Seeing same type of performance, we had to get off to a fast start. Our first quarters, the best way to call them, would be abysmal. There was a lot of the same type of play by the team. I felt I owed it to the fans, I run organizations, to be best in class, and I didn't see that happening."

### Did he overestimate the roster? "That could be. We'll find out if I did or didn't. With the salary cap, there is no such thing as having a perfect roster. We have a lot of great players on our team. We know what our weaknesses are but thought we could overcome those weaknesses. I didn't see development happening.

"In retrospect, sure. I didn't believe it then. Of course the answer is if you knew something then, you should have acted on it. I may be accused of having too much loyalty. I felt we had the right people in place. I bought this team to win. That's my obligation to the community. I'm a steward of this team. I don't think anyone out there wants to win more than I do.

"I have always observed, talked to people about our staff. While I never spent a lot of time with Dan, I've spoken to people."

"You want to promote from within instead of going without. I saw the way Dan answered those questions on dolphins.com [during his press conference] and the confidence he has the whole demeanor and something he represents is something I have a lot of respect for. It made me feel confident and happy we had somebody like him we could turn to."

Ross said he does not believe Dolphins players quit. "Word would get out and other people would be talking" if that happened.

He said he didn't consider changing coordinators instead. "I believed it was time to replace at the top."

#############################################

Dan Campbell began the decade as a Miami Dolphins coaching intern, his first job after an 11-year NFL career.

Midway through the decade, Campbell has risen to the most prominent non-playing job in the organization.

Campbell, the Dolphins tight ends coach since 2011, took over as Dolphins interim coach on Monday after Joe Philbin was fired in the wake of a 1-3 start.

Campbell will be considered for the permanent job if the team is successful over the next 12 games.

The Dolphins picked Campbell because owner Stephen Ross and president/football operations Mike Tannenbaum are impressed by his enthusiasm, passion and demeanor and believe he can connect with players, according to a source.

Ross and team executives believe the team needs an emotional spark.

Campbell was given the authority to fire maligned defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle and any other assistants. Campbell had not informed Coyle of a decision, as of midday, but several media outlets have reported Coyle is expected to be fired.

Ross concluded he needed to fire Philbin soon after the Dolphins’ 27-14 loss to the Jets in London and stuck by that decision when he woke up today. He was very angry about the team's performance the past two weeks and concluded the Dolphins were playing far below their talent level.

According to a source, he gave no serious thought to hiring an outside candidate, and the Dolphins were told they would be required to interview at least one minority candidate if they went outside the organization to hire an interim coach.

Special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi also received consideration for the interim job.

Ross, who is not in South Florida, could not immediately reach Philbin on Monday morning when he called to inform Philbin of the decision.

When Ross informed Philbin he was being let go, Philbin asked if he could leave team headquarters to tell his wife in person, and then return to tell his coaching staff at noon, before an announcement was made.

The Dolphins granted that request, though ESPN already was reporting that a change from Philbin to Campbell was very likely.

Campbell, 39, was born in Bosque County, Texas, and attended Texas A&M, and was selected in the third round by the New York Giants in the 1999 NFL Draft. He played for the Giants, Cowboys, Lions and Saints. He missed the 2009 season with a knee injury and retired after that.

Philbin finished his Dolphins career with a record of 24-28 and no playoff appearances. He said in recent months that he had made an effort to connect more with his players, but some of those players have said Philbin lacked the ability to inspire or motivate them.

Please check back in the next 30 minutes for comments from today's news conference to introduce Campbell. Here's what Mike Tannenbaum and Campbell had to say:

### Tannenbaum: "[Philbin] gave us everything he had for four years. Obviously, things weren't going as well as we hoped. When we made the decision to make Dan Campbell the interim coach, the thinking was we could accomplish all of our goals this year.

"It's not a three-year rebuild. He brings leadership, toughness, energy. We weren't happy with the direction the team was going. This morning, the decision was finalized by Steve.... We're trying to figure out the best way to move forward. Dan's name come to the top of the list pretty quick. Based on Dan's leadership, experience, he gave us the best chance to move forward. It was a unanimous decision."

### Campbell, who spoke to Ross and Tannenbaum separately today: "I don't want guys just to do their job. I want them to dominate. Just doing you're job is this. You go 8-8, 7-9, 9-7....

This is the most talented roster we have had in [my] six years. We have plenty of talent. We have the people in this building. We may have some things that need to be moved or shuffled. I need to sort that out. We have to change the culture. We need to become a more aggressive front and team in general. Our front four on defense and the offensive line, we need to breed a culture of competitiveness, finish and intensity. That is where we have to change it. We need to change it in practice.

"We need these guys to go after each other. On the best teams I've been on, during the week, they go after it. It gets heated. It gets intense. It's not just going through the motions. That's what's got to change. If we start there, that will put us in the right direction. X's and O's will come later from there."

"I talked to Mr. Ross earlier today and this is the fifth organization I've been a part of and nobody on these teams has spent more resources or committed more on wanting to win than Mr. Ross. He told me, whatever you need, I will be there for you. Whatever you need to turn the team around, you've got it.

"I feel I relate to the players. I understand them. I feel like, whether a player or coach, can pull the best out of people. There is different ways to motivate players. Some players need a kick in the rear. Some needed to be patted on the back. Some need to be told they're not good enough; that's when they rise to the top. That's my strength; I understand people very much; I understand players."

### Campbell was non-committal about whether he would make staff changes. He said defensively, "we have time to evaluate what we're doing, what we're not doing. I'll get to that."

"I feel there's a lot more we can get out of these guys and we need to get it out. We need to change the culture where it's so competitive on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, where it's very heated. That's when you really get good. That's when you get the most of your players. You can't just go through the motions on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and get the most out of them. They have to be challenged.

"As great as Mike Pouncey is, he needs to have someone pushing him. That's the first thing I'm changing. I'm challenging them."

### Campbell said getting the job "was a little surreal. There are only 32 of these spots. I'm ready for this. I can do this. I understand these players. I've been around some really good players. I know what it needs to look like."

### Campbell: "This team plays hard. But they're not competing. I have to get them to compete more. We have to go back to the basics. We have to learn how to fight for a win on any rep at any time.

"You can't just go out on Sunday and say, 'I'm going to win.' We have some very good players. I'm going to talk the talk and walk the walk and you follow me. I feel I've built relationships with these players through the years."

### Campbell: "I'm not here just to finish the season out. That's not my plan. My plan is for this team to be competitive, find ways to win games, win now. It's still early. We have time to turn everything around. But we can't wait. The bye can't come at a better time."

### Campbell said he's not ready to say if the team needs to run more or drop the read and react approach that defensive linemen aren't happy about.

He said his vision is having "hard nosed guys that go out every day for practice and they're ultra competitive and it's fueled with intensity. Very intense, very heated. We go out Sunday and it's that same team.

We are going to play by the rules. But we are going to be much more aggressive. We're going to walk that line. Not saying I want dirty players. I don't want us playing conservative and playing on our heels. We are going forward and going through more."

### Campbell: "I learned a lot from Bill Parcells. You either loved Bill or hated Bill."

### Campbell, on his playing career: "I was an emotional player. I was dependable. I could be counted on."

Twitter: @flasportsbuzz