Dan Campbell: 'I'm Not Here Just to Finish The Season Out'
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DAVIE (CBSMiami) -- Dan Campbell appears to be everything Joe Philbin was not.
At least as a public speaker.
The hulking, 6-foot-5 former NFL tight end of 11 years oozed confidence -- both in himself and in his 1-3 team -- during his introductory press conference in Davie as interim head coach of the Miami Dolphins.
"I'm not here just to finish the season out," Campbell said. "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."
Within the powerful message conveyed during his first hours as a head coach is that he doesn't think the team is lacking in effort or talent, saying the talent is as good as it has been in his six seasons with the team since coming aboard as a coaching intern in 2010.
"This team plays hard," he said. "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."
Dolphins owner Stephen Ross still has his sights on the playoffs despite the abysmal start.
"My goal is still to make the playoffs and I thought this was the best opportunity," Ross said via conference call, saying the reason for the firing was because he "owed it to the fans and myself."
Campbell, 39, becomes the youngest head coach in the NFL.
His first game in his new role will be a week from Sunday on the road against the Tennessee Titans.
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