Packers' OC Philbin takes over Dolphins

A month of wrenching emotion for Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Joe Philbin took another turn Friday when he landed the Miami Dolphins’ head coaching job.

The deal was sealed less than two weeks after Philbin’s 21-year-old son drowned in an icy Wisconsin river. The Dolphins confirmed the hiring in a news release and plan a news conference today.

Philbin, who has never been a head coach, first interviewed with Miami on Jan. 7. The body of son Michael, one of Philbin’s six children, was recovered the next day in Oshkosh.

After spending a week away from the Packers, Philbin rejoined the team last Sunday for its divisional playoff loss to the New York Giants.

Philbin has been with Green Bay since 2003, serving as offensive coordinator since 2007. Coach Mike McCarthy called the plays, but Philbin put together the game plan for one of the NFL’s most prolific offenses.

The Dolphins’ top choice, Jeff Fisher, turned them down a week ago to become coach of the St. Louis Rams. Miami owner Stephen Ross and general manager Jeff Ireland then conducted a second round of interviews this week with Philbin, Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy and Todd Bowles, the Dolphins’ interim coach at the end of the season.

“Joe has all the attributes that we were looking for when we started this process,” Ross said in a statement. “Jeff Ireland and I felt Joe was the right choice to bring the Dolphins back to the success we enjoyed in the past.”

The Dolphins are coming off a third consecutive losing season, their longest such stretch since the 1960s. Even so, Philbin called them “one of the premier franchises in professional sports.”

“The Dolphins have a strong nucleus to build around,” he said in a statement. “And working with everyone in the organization, I know that together we will return the team to its winning tradition.”

Ross fired Tony Sparano last month with three games to go in his fourth season.

With Philbin’s help, the Packers have ranked in the top 10 in the NFL in yardage each of the past five seasons, including third in 2011. A year ago they won the Super Bowl.

“A huge congratulations to Joe Philbin,” Green Bay tight end Jermichael Finley tweeted. “No one deserves it more than this guy.”

Philbin becomes the seventh coach in the past eight years for the Dolphins, who went 6-10 this season and missed the playoffs for the ninth time in the past decade. It has been 19 years since they reached the AFC championship game, 27 years since they reached the Super Bowl and 38 years since they won an NFL title.

BIG BEN SETTLES SUIT

Lawyers for Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and a woman who accused him of raping her at a Lake Tahoe hotel-casino in 2008 have reached a settlement that ends her civil lawsuit against the Steelers quarterback.

Cal Dunlap, the Reno lawyer representing the woman, confirmed the settlement but declined to discuss the terms.

The original lawsuit filed in 2009 sought a minimum of $440,000 in damages from the quarterback, at least $50,000 in damages from the Harrah’s officials – a claim that was dropped in the settlement – and an unspecified amount in punitive damages.

EXTRA POINTS

The NFL says the St. Louis Rams have agreed to play regular-season games in London for the next three years, first facing the New England Patriots in 2012. The Rams and Patriots will play Oct. 28 at Wembley Stadium, the sixth year in a row the league will play regular-season games in the British capital. … Steelers coach Mike Tomlin says offensive coordinator Bruce Arians, 57, is retiring from coaching. Pittsburgh also signed 2006 Heisman Trophy quarterback Troy Smith to a reserve/futures contract. … The Packers signed quarterback Nick Hill, who last played in the Arena Football League for the Orlando Predators in 2010-11.