We’ve all been there: you’re in the process of preparing an amazing meal for dinner guests and then something major goes wrong.

The sauce curdles.

The meat burns.

The veggies are rotten.

The spices and seasonings you thought you had are missing.

Or, the oven dies.

You’re standing over a simmering disaster and the only thing you can do is try to salvage what you can.

To me, this is a lot like the situation the Miami Dolphins are in today.

Common sense tells us this particular meal isn’t likely to end well. The new head coach doesn’t have a day of coordinator or head coaching experience at any level. The new defensive coordinator hasn’t done the job at the NFL level, or even at a major college. Some of the players the front office tried to sell us on aren’t very good. And there isn’t enough time, even over a bye week, to make major scheme or roster changes.

Happy 50th anniversary Dolfans.

There’s plenty of blame to go around for this self-inflicted wound, with the two people mostly accountable being ex-head coach Joe Philbin (for keeping defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle, a career-breaking decision) and owner Steve Ross (for keeping Philbin).

That being said, there is still some slim measure of hope for new head coach Dan Campbell and his lost boys. What Campbell lacks in experience he makes up for in leadership, energy, and conviction that is probably more necessary now.

“I’m not here just to finish the season out”, he said defiantly. “That’s not my plan.”

“We are coming here to win games.”

“My plan is for this team to be competitive, find ways to win games, win now. It’s still early now. It’s still early. We have time to turn everything around. We have plenty of the season left in us, but we can’t wait.”

It is early, which is a blessing in and of itself. The timely bye week was another, and Campbell hasn’t wasted any of it. Since his October 5 introductory presser, he has reportedly made some minor scheme adjustments, re-cast the coaching staff, and even re-arranged the locker room.

Gone is beleaguered defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle; DB coach Lou Anarumo is the new defensive boss. Coming aboard is passing guru Al Saunders, who made his name as the architect of the Rams’ “Greatest Show on Turf”. He will try to help offensive coordinator Bill Lazor figure out the passing/running game woes.

As for the players, he has met with them both collectively and individually. His message of increased competitive spirit and intensity is a clarion call to action for the team to live up to their God-given talents.

“This is my sixth season with the Miami Dolphins and this is the most talented roster that we have had in those six years”, Campbell rightly said. “We have plenty of talent, we have the people in this building, we have the staff, there may be some things that have to be moved or shuffled as far as that goes, but I need time to sort those things out, but we have enough to win.”

“We have to change the culture”, he continued. “I have to change the culture and that’s what I intend to do. And what that means is that we need to become a more aggressive front or team in general. We need to get our front four on defense, our front five on the offensive line, just as a whole, we need to breed a culture of competiveness, finish and intensity, and to me that’s where it all starts. That’s where we have to change it, we change it in practice, we make it much more competitive and we need these guys to go after each other a little bit.”

Look, big words are nice but it will take more than a speech to get this time headed in the right direction. Practice habits must fundamentally change; Campbell’s use of the Oklahoma drill last week shows this is already happening. But more than anything else, it says here that proper use of personnel must change more than the schemes. This has become the urgent priority now.

Nick Saban took a defensive end (Jason Taylor) and turned him into the NFL Defensive Player of the Year simply by moving him to linebacker and utilizing his dynamic versatility within the scheme. Why can’t Campbell and Anarumo do the same thing with Cam Wake?

Why make Terrence Fede a part time DE when he has shown himself to be the most productive DE on the roster? Why not give a big DB like Tony Lippett more of a role versus taller WRs like Brandon Marshall? Why not shrink the cushion being given to opposing WRs?

Offensively, if they can get rookie WR Devonte Parker caught up from all the time he missed in training camp, why not up his snap count? Why not give the ball more to RB Jonas Gray on short yardage situations, with DE Earl Mitchell in front of him at FB? If TE Dion Sims is healthy again (concussion), why not run more two TE sets which can cause multiple mismatch opportunities for the offense? Why not utilize RB Lamar Miller more in the passing game; there aren’t many LBs that can handle him one-on-one in space.

This is just a sampling of the many options Campbell and his re-tooled staff could and should be considering on a long things to do to get this team headed in the right direction.

Again, the odds are long here. That’s what history teaches us.

Is Campbell the man to buck history and this save this meal from the trash? He’ll have more than a fair chance prove himself worthy beyond an interim status in the days to come.