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1976 Miami Dolphins season

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1976 Miami Dolphins season
Head coachDon Shula
Home fieldOrange Bowl
Results
Record6–8
Division place3rd AFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro Bowlers4
QB Bob Griese
G Bob Kuechenberg
C Jim Langer
PR/KR Nat Moore

The 1976 Miami Dolphins season was the team's 11th, and seventh as a member of the National Football League (NFL). The Dolphins failed to improve on their previous season's output of 10–4, winning only six games.[1] One of these wins came over their new in-state rivals, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — who proceeded to lose all 14 games that year. The 6–8 finish marked the first losing record of head coach Don Shula's career.

The Dolphins would not have another losing season until the 1988 Season.

Offseason

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1976 Expansion Draft

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Miami Dolphins selected during the Expansion Draft
Round Overall Name Position Expansion Team
0 0 Bruce Elia Linebacker Tampa Bay Buccaneers
0 0 Norm Evans Offensive tackle Seattle Seahawks
0 0 Doug Swift Linebacker Tampa Bay Buccaneers

NFL Draft

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1976 Miami Dolphins draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 17 Larry Gordon  Linebacker Arizona State
1 19 Kim Bokamper *  Defensive end San Jose State
2 49 Loaird McCreary  Tight end Tennessee State
3 80 Duriel Harris  Wide receiver New Mexico State
4 98 Melvin Mitchell  Guard Tennessee State
6 174 Gary Davis  Running back Cal Poly-SLO
7 185 Joe Ingersoll  Guard UNLV
7 200 John Owens  Defensive end Tennessee State
8 230 Bob Simpson  Defensive end Colorado
9 257 Norris Thomas  Defensive back Southern Miss
10 281 Gary Fencik *  Safety Yale
10 282 Don Testerman  Running back Clemson
11 312 Dexter Pride  Running back Minnesota
12 339 Randy Young  Tackle Iowa State
12 342 Darryl Brandford  Defensive tackle Northwestern
13 366 Bernie Head  Center Tulsa
14 396 Bob Gissler  Linebacker South Dakota State
15 423 Ron Holmes  Running back Utah State
16 450 Mike Green  Punter Ohio
17 480 Jeff Grantz  Quarterback South Carolina
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[2]

Personnel

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Coaches / Staff

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1976 Miami Dolphins staff

Front office

Head coaches

  • Head Coach – Don Shula

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special Teams – Carl Taseff
  • Punting – Tom Keane

Strength and conditioning

  • None - N/A


Roster

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1976 Miami Dolphins roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Practice squad
  • None - N/A

Reserve


Rookies in italics

Regular season

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Schedule

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Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 13 at Buffalo Bills W 30–21 1–0 Rich Stadium 77,683
2 September 19 at New England Patriots L 14–30 1–1 Schaefer Stadium 46,053
3 September 26 New York Jets W 16–0 2–1 Miami Orange Bowl 49,754
4 October 3 Los Angeles Rams L 28–31 2–2 Miami Orange Bowl 60,753
5 October 10 at Baltimore Colts L 14–28 2–3 Memorial Stadium 58,832
6 October 17 Kansas City Chiefs L 17–20 (OT) 2–4 Miami Orange Bowl 43,325
7 October 24 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 23–20 3–4 Tampa Stadium 61,437
8 October 31 New England Patriots W 10–3 4–4 Miami Orange Bowl 52,863
9 November 7 at New York Jets W 27–7 5–4 Shea Stadium 53,344
10 November 14 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 3–14 5–5 Three Rivers Stadium 48,945
11 November 22 Baltimore Colts L 16–17 5–6 Miami Orange Bowl 62,104
12 November 28 at Cleveland Browns L 13–17 5–7 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 74,715
13 December 5 Buffalo Bills W 45–27 6–7 Miami Orange Bowl 43,475
14 December 11 Minnesota Vikings L 7–29 6–8 Miami Orange Bowl 46,543

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

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AFC East
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Baltimore Colts(2) 11 3 0 .786 7–1 11–1 417 246 W1
New England Patriots(4) 11 3 0 .786 6–2 10–2 376 236 W6
Miami Dolphins 6 8 0 .429 5–3 6–6 263 264 L1
New York Jets 3 11 0 .214 2–6 3–9 169 383 L4
Buffalo Bills 2 12 0 .143 0–8 2–10 245 363 L10

References

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  1. ^ 1976 Miami Dolphins
  2. ^ "1976 Miami Dolphins draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
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