The Dolphins parted ways with an assistant coach on defense today. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported the dismissal after Sports Illustrated’s Alain Poupart sighted the absence of out of doors linebackers coach Ryan Crow on the team website.
Crow had been arrested in late-August on domestic battery charges. Shortly after his arrest, head coach Mike McDaniel announced that Crow had been placed on indefinite administrative leave while his case played out.
Crow has only been with Miami for 2 years, coming over from Tennessee after defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver was hired away from Baltimore. Crow began as a defensive assistant with the Titans in 2018, working the role for 2 years before moving to assistant special teams coach.
After only a yr with that title, Crow earned his first position coaching gig as Tennessee’s outside linebackers coach. In his first yr on the job, in 2021, Crow coached outside linebacker Harold Landry to his first and only Pro Bowl season, by which he led the team with 12.0 sacks. Injury held Landry out for the whole next season, though, and Bud Dupree, Rashad Weaver, and Monty Rice weren’t able to exchange his production. Landry returned for one more double-digit sack season in 2023, and Arden Key stepped up as a possible latest weapon beside him.
Crow’s first yr in Miami forced some extreme challenges onto him as starters Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb were each dealt long-term injuries. Veteran Emmanuel Ogbah and rookie first-rounder Chop Robinson did an honest job leading the pass rush for the remaining of the season, combining for 11.0 sacks. He was set to return Chubb and Phillips back this yr, but his leave kept him from attending to work with the starters.
In Crow’s absence, senior defensive assistant Sean Ryan began to work with the position group. Ryan, 53, is simply in his second yr coaching on the defensive side of the ball after coaching quarterbacks and wide receivers for the Giants, Texans, Lions, and Panthers from 2007-22. Phillips eventually was traded to Philadelphia after only logging three sacks in nine games. Through 13 games this yr, Chubb currently leads the team with 6.5 sacks, while Robinson and veteran Matt Judon have attempted to fill the opening left by Phillips. With Crow now gone, Ryan will finish out the season in his position.