In years past the off-season of the Miami Dolphins held out glimmers of hope. Sometimes it was a coaching change or a new general manager. Sometimes it was free agent shopping or the NFL Draft. Whatever it was it gave hope that the team would land that player to make everything else right in the universe again.

Each season there was some degree of hope. Last year it was the firing of Mike Sherman and the addition of Branden Albert to start the fix along an offensive line. Three years ago it was the search for a head coach and the hope that the Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator would bring to Miami what they had in Green Bay. Each year since we only hoped for progress. Instead we got the year before.

Here we are again. 2015. The off-season is under way and yet nothing ahead says there is hope for anything but the same thing from last year. The coaches are the same but the players likely won’t be. Not all of them. Instead of looking towards free agency for that new attitude we instead will await decisions on Mike Wallace, Brian Hartline, Brandon Gibson, Dannell Ellerbe, and Phillip Wheeler. Instead of wondering who might become the Dolphins big play maker we are wondering if really matters.

There isn’t one specific person to blame for the melancholy feeling. Stephen Ross has done very little to instill confidence in the future of the franchise. Joe Philbin has shown an insane ability to not learn from previous mistakes. Kevin Coyle can’t make in game adjustments. Does it really matter who the ball is being thrown to?

Fixing the offensive line could surely improve the production of the offense and the play of Ryan Tannehill but are you optimistic this regime can find the right pieces to make it work and then play the right guys? Do you feel confident that they can make changes when a player isn’t working?

The Dolphins were close two seasons ago. They needed one win in two games against bad teams and scored a total of seven points to watch the post-season walk away. Last year they controlled their own fate and really needed only to beat New England or Baltimore and in both games played well enough to win until the second half when they collapsed and once again sulked away from a post-season opportunity.

Many have questioned the comments made by Stephen Ross regarding the continuity of this team and the belief that they are headed in the right direction. It’s a tough bitter pill to swallow and the Dolphins are almost assuredly facing a make the playoffs next season or reboot.

Previous seasons have left a cold mark on our souls but that empty feeling usually subsides by the divisional rounds of the playoffs. That hasn’t been the case this year as many fans I have spoken with still feel as though there is no direction moving forward. Uncertainty in the front office and even more uncertainty with the head coach is making it more than difficult to focus on what could happen in the 2015 league year which starts in March.

To be fair and perhaps it’s the only point of optimism I can muster is that last year Dennis Hickey has a good up front draft and a good but not great free agency in his first season as and NFL GM. Perhaps he will, unlike the team itself, get better with a 2nd season.

Are you excited about the possibilities that await the club in March in free agency or the draft in late April?

Are you excited for the Miami Dolphins 2015 season? Yes - I think this team is ready to take a big step to the playoffs

No - It's going to be continuity of mediocrity

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