HBO 'Hard Knocks': Popular Series Will Spotlight Miami Dolphins

Bad news for all of the fans who were hoping to see Tim Tebow and Mark Sanchez wage war against each other on the small screen this summer. Another AFC East team will be doing the honors.

The Miami Dolphins will be the stars of this summer's season of Hard Knocks on HBO, according to a tweet from The Palm Beach Post's Ben Volin:

"

Philbin announces that the #Dolphins will be on Hard Knocks. Says it was a "football decision."

— Ben Volin (@BenVolinPBP) May 29, 2012"

The first episode will air on Tuesday, August 7 at 10 p.m., according to the Miami Dolphins' official Twitter account. 

There will be lots of changes for the Dolphins this season—one of which will hopefully involve a winning record for the first time since 2008—and they'll have first-year head coach Joe Philbin attempting to help Miami compete with the New York Jets and the New England Patriots in one of the toughest divisions in football.

Philbin served as the offensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers from 2007 to 2011 and was a member of the coaching staff since 2003. This is his first head coaching position, and he was hired just weeks after his 21-year-old son drowned in a Wisconsin river.

What It Means

This is a new age for the post-Tony Sparano, post-Bill Parcells Dolphins. Whereas it would've been crazy to expect Miami to participate in an HBO reality TV show while the two of them were calling the shots, it's a different story with Philbin and Jeff Ireland in charge.

The 2012 edition of the Dolphins will be nothing if not intriguing, given the plethora of front office changes and what is sure to be an exciting quarterback competition between 2012 first-round draft pick Ryan Tannehill, Matt Moore and David Garrard.

It may not be Sanchez versus Tebow, but there will still be plenty of drama to see as it unfolds in front of the cameras.

What Comes Next

A new team, a first-year head coach, a summer spent in front of HBO's cameras...will all of it add up to additional publicity or a distraction-filled disaster?

Let's hope it's the former for the sake of the Dolphins, who have only had a winning record twice in the last seven seasons and haven't managed to advance past Wild Card Weekend in the postseason since 2000. They haven't made it to the conference championship since 1992 and haven't won a conference championship since 1984.