As the Miami Dolphins await new head coach Brian Flores, the idea of a defensive hire amid the offensive revolution deserves scrutiny. For the first time in Super Bowl history, the four highest scoring teams in the league head into the conference championship games. A place Miami has not seen since 1992, over 25 years ago.
The ancient axiom, defense wins championships, has followed the Dolphins into obscurity. Of the four remaining teams, only the Patriot defense, ranking seventh in points allowed, was better than the league average. The Saints, Chiefs, Rams and Patriots outscored their opponents by a combined 549 points, ranking first, second, third and fifth in point differential.
Here’s the saddest fact of all, the Patriots have the lowest scoring average of the four remaining teams at 27.3 points. The last time the Miami Dolphins averaged anywhere close to that was in 1984. The epic second season of a kid named Dan Marino.
The intent is not to ostracize Brian Flores for being a defensive coach, but as the Patriot’s LB coach and defensive play caller, he certainly is not an offensive guru. This hire reeks of Chris Grier bringing in a friendly face to quell his personal job insecurity. Is it understandable for a first time GM to hire a man he's well acquainted with, but is it in best interest of the Miami Dolphins?
This is consistent with the failings of Stephen Ross. His lack of football knowledge leaves him unable to determine the direction of his football team. Grier may indeed have a solid plan to re-build the Dolphin franchise, but any plan in 2019 and beyond must sway decidedly toward the offense.
There is a reason all the Dolphin coaching candidates are still available, none of them is an offensive coach. Even if Flores has an offensive coordinator up his sleeve, the longevity will be fleeting. As soon as the Miami offense achieves any level of success, the OC will become the hot coordinator of the moment and leave to try his luck as a head coach.
Flores is no Bill Belichick. Even sprouting from the Belichick tree says little about his potential. He landed the Miami job because of New England’s success, but consider the esteemed names that came before him. Bill O’Brien has had a little success at 42-38 (1-3 in playoffs), but Eric Mangini: 33-47, Romeo Crennel: 28-55, Josh McDaniels: 11-17, Matt Patricia: 6-10.
In a league that has litigated out any form of dominant defense, the highest-flying offenses are vying for the title. The Miami Dolphins last attainted any level of success when the team had the highest scoring offense in the league, that was 1984.
Hello, 34 years ago!
Yet the Dolphins hire a Linebacker coach because the rookie GM is comfortable with him?
The team has publicly stated it will draft a franchise quarterback in the next several years. There's a reason Bill Belichick wins, and Andy Reed Wins, and Bill Walsh won, and Don Shula won, it's because they can see and coach greatness at the QB position.
Stephen Ross has entrusted a rookie GM that was the head of college scouting when Miami last picked a first round QB. That was Ryan Tannehill and Chris Grier never spoke loud enough to draft another in seven years when it was apparent Tannehill was nothing special.
The irony in this decision making process is, a linebacker coach is now expected to somehow select and teach the quarterback that will define the future of the Miami Dolphins...
Ross has done it again, he's left his franchise hanging on a whim, good to be rich one guesses...
Pundits will say Bill Belichick is a defensive coach, and while it's true, Belichick evolved his offense around Tom Brady. After so long with Brady, Belichick doesn't need stability at offensive coordinator, the coaches are interchangeable. None has had great success after leaving the system, but Grier expects Flores to be different.
Every person with a modicum of NFL football knowledge knows that a great QB leads every good team in the league. Miami can talk the talk about drafting a QB in the near future. The problem is, what does the team do then, hire a whisperer? Isn't that putting the cart in front of the horse? If there is no one who understands what a great QB looks like, how can the team acquire one?
We're going to build from the inside out... Bla bla bla bla... It's like Bart Simpson. Miami made a declaration, we're drafting a franchise QB in 2020 and will concentrate on the interior line in 2019. Franchise QBs don't fall out of the sky. Tua this and some other guy that in 2020, no one knows if those guys will even be available in two years.
It's the same mistake Bill Parcels made when he thought he was the smartest football guy in the room. Let's draft Jake Long and leave Matty Ice out there because, oh we're building from the inside out. No, Chad Pennington was too frail, Chad Henne was nothing more than a backup and let's not even get into Pat White. They don't grow on trees and thinking they do will get you fired.
The point is, hiring a defensive coach 2019 is a questionable decision. Waiting for a franchise QB to fall in your lap is a questionable decision. Hiring a GM who doesn't understand these facts is a questionable decision.
But this is nothing new...
Stephen Ross may be a real estate genius, but football...
Not so much...
Meanwhile Miami fans wait for a man who can go to the Super Bowl with David Woodley and still pick Dan Marino in the following draft. A man who knows what a great QB looks like.
Stephen Ross, is not that man and it doesn't look like he hired that man either.
Showing posts with label Stephen Ross. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stephen Ross. Show all posts
The Future Could be Changing in Miami
The Miami Dolphins owner unceremoniously announced the team is planning to tank amid reports he’s going to give away two first round picks for John Harbaugh. What you been smoking Boss Ross?
Why the hell would Harbaugh want to join a team that’s set to tank in order to position themselves to draft a QB. They would then have to send the draft picks to Baltimore, so no QB for you. This can’t be true, can it? Throwing ridiculous sums of money at Jim Harbaugh to lure him away from Michigan, sorta makes sense.
This is what’s happened in Miami since Stephen Ross took over the Titanic ship named the Miami Dolphins, he steers it into every iceberg floating in the Atlantic Ocean. Even propping up Chris Grier seems defeatist. “I have no clue who can steer this ship, so I’ll pull the guy out of the engine room.”
Nothing against Grier, he’s much better choice than selecting a failure like Mike Tannenbaum. Yo Ross, didn’t the butt-fumble give you a clue of Tannenbaum’s QB draft history. Maybe that’s why Miami never brought in a serious challenger for Ryan Tannehill. Tannenbaum was afraid of being laughed at for selecting another butt-fumbler.
Mike Tannenbaum wanted a coach that was arrogant enough to think he could make it work with Ryan Tannehill. Yes, the same Tannehill with a career QBR of 49.1 against the league-wide average of 55.1 since 2012. Mike made the awesome decision to extend Tannehill’s contract for some ridiculous millions thinking, he at least hadn’t butt-fumbled yet...
Isn’t Tannenbaum the same guy that paid Ndamukong Suh $100 million to play defensive tackle and then cut him while still owing him $30 million. Oh yeah, so it’s no wonder Miami has no cap space, no quarterback and a bunch of old injured free agents. But the Boss still thinks he can lure in some Harbaugh because they’re Michigan guys right.
Are there icebergs in Lake Michigan or do they all just talk like Uppers, “how ‘bout a beer, ahey…”
Perhaps Jim Harbaugh didn’t laugh loud enough when Boss Ross’ flew in on that big old jet airliner to grovel while he already had a coach. Tony Sparano (RIP) was destined to coach really well that season after his owner and GM hack Jeff Ireland flew off to hire his replacement. The conversation must have gone something like, “hey Jim, how ‘bout a beer, ahey…”
The "Chris Grier Show" has had an interesting start, he’s supposed to covet at least one guy that can make him look stupid when he gets turned down for a place like Cincinnati. At least the current choices Miami cannot stumble over failing to land, now that’s refreshing. Grier either has super top-secret inside information on one of these guys or they are so bad no other team was interested in signing them.
Perhaps Grier knew Brian Flores, Eric Bieniemy, Dennis Allen, Kris Richard and Darren Rizzi would remain available throughout his ponderings so he could make a thorough investigation. There were eight head coaching jobs open and only one besides the Dolphins is still unsettled, Cincinnati.
Even the whisperer who has never whispered, Ex-Dolphin coach Adam Gase, landed a gig in New York. He thought the Miami press was unreasonable, welcome to the Big Apple Adam.
Six head coaches have been hired and all five Miami candidates are still available. It seems odd Miami’s choices did not receive more consideration and leads to speculation about their validity. Usually Miami is scraping the bottom of the bucket after the latest Jeff Fisher has flown off on the big old jet airliner for greener pastures somewhere in quarterback heaven.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, especially if they’re big tom gobblers and you’re super hungry. Wait… A big tom gobbler is probably meaner than hell and would be pecking at your hand like it’s a massive corn kernel.
Wait… Where is this going?
Oh, Darren Rizzi, he’s the bird-in-hand…
Grier may be shrewder than we think, he’s got a guy he can fall back on so he’s not jumping the gun and hiring the quarterback’s coach from Texas Tech. He doesn’t have a whisperee so he doesn’t need a whisperer and hence he can make a clearer decision. He keeps peering into that bush rooting out best damn tom gobbler of the whole freaking rafter.
No, it’s not laughter, it’s rafter… That’s what a group of turkey’s is called (I had to look it up!).
So here all Dolphin fans sit in purgatory, waiting for something to change, paying for the sins of our undefeated past. What is it, five generations (yeah now I’m on biblical crap), five generations is how long it takes for a family to absolve the sins of their fathers. Good Catholic boys know this…
Let’s see our last winning coach was Dave Wannstedt, so not counting interim coaches that’s Satan, Cameron, Sparano, Philbin and Gase! Holy spumoni and eggnog batman we finally paid for our sins! It’s time Miami, it’s time… Chris Grier is going to do the right thing!
Darren Rizzi is the guy I called out in the previous article. After reading up on everything, I’m going to change my mind. The new coach of the Miami Dolphins will be…
Kris Richard
Why the hell would Harbaugh want to join a team that’s set to tank in order to position themselves to draft a QB. They would then have to send the draft picks to Baltimore, so no QB for you. This can’t be true, can it? Throwing ridiculous sums of money at Jim Harbaugh to lure him away from Michigan, sorta makes sense.
This is what’s happened in Miami since Stephen Ross took over the Titanic ship named the Miami Dolphins, he steers it into every iceberg floating in the Atlantic Ocean. Even propping up Chris Grier seems defeatist. “I have no clue who can steer this ship, so I’ll pull the guy out of the engine room.”
Nothing against Grier, he’s much better choice than selecting a failure like Mike Tannenbaum. Yo Ross, didn’t the butt-fumble give you a clue of Tannenbaum’s QB draft history. Maybe that’s why Miami never brought in a serious challenger for Ryan Tannehill. Tannenbaum was afraid of being laughed at for selecting another butt-fumbler.
Mike Tannenbaum wanted a coach that was arrogant enough to think he could make it work with Ryan Tannehill. Yes, the same Tannehill with a career QBR of 49.1 against the league-wide average of 55.1 since 2012. Mike made the awesome decision to extend Tannehill’s contract for some ridiculous millions thinking, he at least hadn’t butt-fumbled yet...
Isn’t Tannenbaum the same guy that paid Ndamukong Suh $100 million to play defensive tackle and then cut him while still owing him $30 million. Oh yeah, so it’s no wonder Miami has no cap space, no quarterback and a bunch of old injured free agents. But the Boss still thinks he can lure in some Harbaugh because they’re Michigan guys right.
Are there icebergs in Lake Michigan or do they all just talk like Uppers, “how ‘bout a beer, ahey…”
Perhaps Jim Harbaugh didn’t laugh loud enough when Boss Ross’ flew in on that big old jet airliner to grovel while he already had a coach. Tony Sparano (RIP) was destined to coach really well that season after his owner and GM hack Jeff Ireland flew off to hire his replacement. The conversation must have gone something like, “hey Jim, how ‘bout a beer, ahey…”
The "Chris Grier Show" has had an interesting start, he’s supposed to covet at least one guy that can make him look stupid when he gets turned down for a place like Cincinnati. At least the current choices Miami cannot stumble over failing to land, now that’s refreshing. Grier either has super top-secret inside information on one of these guys or they are so bad no other team was interested in signing them.
Perhaps Grier knew Brian Flores, Eric Bieniemy, Dennis Allen, Kris Richard and Darren Rizzi would remain available throughout his ponderings so he could make a thorough investigation. There were eight head coaching jobs open and only one besides the Dolphins is still unsettled, Cincinnati.
Even the whisperer who has never whispered, Ex-Dolphin coach Adam Gase, landed a gig in New York. He thought the Miami press was unreasonable, welcome to the Big Apple Adam.
Six head coaches have been hired and all five Miami candidates are still available. It seems odd Miami’s choices did not receive more consideration and leads to speculation about their validity. Usually Miami is scraping the bottom of the bucket after the latest Jeff Fisher has flown off on the big old jet airliner for greener pastures somewhere in quarterback heaven.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, especially if they’re big tom gobblers and you’re super hungry. Wait… A big tom gobbler is probably meaner than hell and would be pecking at your hand like it’s a massive corn kernel.
Wait… Where is this going?
Oh, Darren Rizzi, he’s the bird-in-hand…
Grier may be shrewder than we think, he’s got a guy he can fall back on so he’s not jumping the gun and hiring the quarterback’s coach from Texas Tech. He doesn’t have a whisperee so he doesn’t need a whisperer and hence he can make a clearer decision. He keeps peering into that bush rooting out best damn tom gobbler of the whole freaking rafter.
No, it’s not laughter, it’s rafter… That’s what a group of turkey’s is called (I had to look it up!).
So here all Dolphin fans sit in purgatory, waiting for something to change, paying for the sins of our undefeated past. What is it, five generations (yeah now I’m on biblical crap), five generations is how long it takes for a family to absolve the sins of their fathers. Good Catholic boys know this…
Let’s see our last winning coach was Dave Wannstedt, so not counting interim coaches that’s Satan, Cameron, Sparano, Philbin and Gase! Holy spumoni and eggnog batman we finally paid for our sins! It’s time Miami, it’s time… Chris Grier is going to do the right thing!
Darren Rizzi is the guy I called out in the previous article. After reading up on everything, I’m going to change my mind. The new coach of the Miami Dolphins will be…
Kris Richard
Miami Dolphins Must Step Back to Leap Forward
From a swamp the Miami Dolphins came and to a swamp they have returned. While South Florida has expanded wildly over the past 20 years, the Dolphins have regressed. Interestingly enough, Chris Grier has seen it all in his 19 years with the team. Somehow the longest tenured Dolphin, who rode the ebbing tide, will now reside at the top of the heap.
And it is a heap… 31st in offense, 29th in defense, scored the 26th most points on offense and gave up the 27th most on defense. The Dolphins were outgained by 1619 yards and outscored by 114 points. Miami’s 31 sacks were fourth fewest in the league, while allowing 52, tied for fifth most. The quarterback was ranked dead last by Pro Football Focus.
It is amazing this team was able to scrape out 7 wins while being so statistically horrendous. The axe fell on Adam Gase and Mike Tannenbaum, but Gase realistically had little to work with as a fool’s game was playing out behind the scenes. The win now philosophy was doomed without a true star at quarterback and a penchant for paying older free agents that plagued the team with injuries.
The Miami Dolphins are a complete mess and any coach with winning aspirations is certain to choke on this franchise. Not only is Miami once again in a middling draft position, they have very little cap space to work with and enough dead money to fill Davy Jones’ locker.
The Dolphins would have to cut, Ryan Tannehill, Robert Quinn, Cameron Wake, Ja’Wuan James, Andre Branch and rescind the fifth-year option for receiver DeVante Parker, in order to amass $60 million in cap space. Even with these drastic cuts the Dolphins will carry close to $30 million in dead money from Tannehill and Ndomukong Suh’s terrible contracts.
Not a good look for a coach to step into, no money, no quarterback and no early draft picks to acquire one. While division rivals are loaded with cap space and have either the GOAT at QB, or a shiny new QB heading into his second year. The win now philosophy that only ever produced mediocrity has left the Miami Dolphins in dire straights that may take years to overcome.
Wherever Adam Gase is at, he’s probably grinning from ear to ear, having a Miami Miracle of his own being pushed off the sinking ship just before the final plunge. Sometimes a team must sink before it can swim, and Miami is destined to be underwater for the next two or three years trying to amend the mistakes Mike Tannenbaum inflicted.
The only players likely to see the renaissance are Larimy Tunsil, Minkah Fitzpatrick and Xavien Howard. That means Miami should trade players like Reshad Jones, TJ MacDonald, Kenny Stills, Albert Wilson, Kiko Alonzo. Even Kenyan Drake should be included because by the time Miami is relevant, he will be an older running back. The cuts and trades will leave the cupboard bare, but only then can Miami find a way out of the perpetual purgatory of mediocrity.
The six prominent choices making a splash in the press are, Chiefs offensive coordinator - Eric Bieniemy. Bears defensive coordinator - Vic Fangio, Patriots linebacker’s coach - Brian Flores, Steelers’ offensive line coach - Mike Munchak, Cowboys’ passing game coordinator/DBs - Kris Richard, and the Dolphins own special team’s coordinator and assistant head coach - Darren Rizzi.
Of the above names, only Mike Munchak has prior head coaching experience in the NFL and in three seasons with the Tennessee Titans, he never produced a winning team. The problem with this coaching search is, no candidate with any hopes of winning for three years should take this job.
The Miami Dolphins have been gutted and more cuts are needed to add draft picks and cap space. The Dolphins need to find a true stud at quarterback before any coach is going to win with any consistency. The truth is, the Miami Dolphins are at least a three-year project away from winning anything. Coaches who lose for three seasons, are fired like the last five in Miami.
There is one candidate in this bunch that will approach this job without any illusions. Darren Rizzi knows exactly what he is getting into. Rizzi knows what must happen, knows the expectations of Chris Grier and Stephen Ross and knows the players currently on the roster. Rizzi can quickly look at these players and decide which will be peaking in three years and which will have passed their prime.
Rizzi is not the shiny new coordinator of the moment looking to blaze into head coaching with last-to-first aspirations. It’s not to say the next Dolphin coach shouldn’t have expectations, but the shiny coordinators are much like Adam Gase, they want win now and it’s just not going to happen in Miami.
The Dolphins need a coach willing to purge and rebuild. They need a coach who knows this roster. When it’s open season for trading and cutting, there is no worry about being the jerk who sent some player to Cleveland. This coach gets a clean slate without the expectation of winning now. It’s the perfect place for a first time coach with the patience to rebuild.
Miami also needs a homer coach that really likes South Florida, one who understands the pitfalls of places like South Beach. That knowledge is critical in the player selection process because no matter how talented, troubled players always find the dark side of Miami. Rizzi knows this, he knows this town. Newcomers may have heard tales, but when presented with super talent, they make the critical mistake of believing they can change and control people.
For these reasons, Darren Rizzi is the best candidate for the Miami Dolphins. He must tell the ownership he cannot be judged by his record for at least three seasons. After his third season, then the clock can begin ticking because make no mistake about it, the Miami Dolphins will take at least three years to overcome the win-now philosophy that has gutted this team.
Sorry Dolphin fans, sometimes it takes a step backwards to make a leap forward…
And it is a heap… 31st in offense, 29th in defense, scored the 26th most points on offense and gave up the 27th most on defense. The Dolphins were outgained by 1619 yards and outscored by 114 points. Miami’s 31 sacks were fourth fewest in the league, while allowing 52, tied for fifth most. The quarterback was ranked dead last by Pro Football Focus.
It is amazing this team was able to scrape out 7 wins while being so statistically horrendous. The axe fell on Adam Gase and Mike Tannenbaum, but Gase realistically had little to work with as a fool’s game was playing out behind the scenes. The win now philosophy was doomed without a true star at quarterback and a penchant for paying older free agents that plagued the team with injuries.
The Miami Dolphins are a complete mess and any coach with winning aspirations is certain to choke on this franchise. Not only is Miami once again in a middling draft position, they have very little cap space to work with and enough dead money to fill Davy Jones’ locker.
The Dolphins would have to cut, Ryan Tannehill, Robert Quinn, Cameron Wake, Ja’Wuan James, Andre Branch and rescind the fifth-year option for receiver DeVante Parker, in order to amass $60 million in cap space. Even with these drastic cuts the Dolphins will carry close to $30 million in dead money from Tannehill and Ndomukong Suh’s terrible contracts.
Not a good look for a coach to step into, no money, no quarterback and no early draft picks to acquire one. While division rivals are loaded with cap space and have either the GOAT at QB, or a shiny new QB heading into his second year. The win now philosophy that only ever produced mediocrity has left the Miami Dolphins in dire straights that may take years to overcome.
Wherever Adam Gase is at, he’s probably grinning from ear to ear, having a Miami Miracle of his own being pushed off the sinking ship just before the final plunge. Sometimes a team must sink before it can swim, and Miami is destined to be underwater for the next two or three years trying to amend the mistakes Mike Tannenbaum inflicted.
The only players likely to see the renaissance are Larimy Tunsil, Minkah Fitzpatrick and Xavien Howard. That means Miami should trade players like Reshad Jones, TJ MacDonald, Kenny Stills, Albert Wilson, Kiko Alonzo. Even Kenyan Drake should be included because by the time Miami is relevant, he will be an older running back. The cuts and trades will leave the cupboard bare, but only then can Miami find a way out of the perpetual purgatory of mediocrity.
The six prominent choices making a splash in the press are, Chiefs offensive coordinator - Eric Bieniemy. Bears defensive coordinator - Vic Fangio, Patriots linebacker’s coach - Brian Flores, Steelers’ offensive line coach - Mike Munchak, Cowboys’ passing game coordinator/DBs - Kris Richard, and the Dolphins own special team’s coordinator and assistant head coach - Darren Rizzi.
Of the above names, only Mike Munchak has prior head coaching experience in the NFL and in three seasons with the Tennessee Titans, he never produced a winning team. The problem with this coaching search is, no candidate with any hopes of winning for three years should take this job.
The Miami Dolphins have been gutted and more cuts are needed to add draft picks and cap space. The Dolphins need to find a true stud at quarterback before any coach is going to win with any consistency. The truth is, the Miami Dolphins are at least a three-year project away from winning anything. Coaches who lose for three seasons, are fired like the last five in Miami.
There is one candidate in this bunch that will approach this job without any illusions. Darren Rizzi knows exactly what he is getting into. Rizzi knows what must happen, knows the expectations of Chris Grier and Stephen Ross and knows the players currently on the roster. Rizzi can quickly look at these players and decide which will be peaking in three years and which will have passed their prime.
Rizzi is not the shiny new coordinator of the moment looking to blaze into head coaching with last-to-first aspirations. It’s not to say the next Dolphin coach shouldn’t have expectations, but the shiny coordinators are much like Adam Gase, they want win now and it’s just not going to happen in Miami.
The Dolphins need a coach willing to purge and rebuild. They need a coach who knows this roster. When it’s open season for trading and cutting, there is no worry about being the jerk who sent some player to Cleveland. This coach gets a clean slate without the expectation of winning now. It’s the perfect place for a first time coach with the patience to rebuild.
Miami also needs a homer coach that really likes South Florida, one who understands the pitfalls of places like South Beach. That knowledge is critical in the player selection process because no matter how talented, troubled players always find the dark side of Miami. Rizzi knows this, he knows this town. Newcomers may have heard tales, but when presented with super talent, they make the critical mistake of believing they can change and control people.
For these reasons, Darren Rizzi is the best candidate for the Miami Dolphins. He must tell the ownership he cannot be judged by his record for at least three seasons. After his third season, then the clock can begin ticking because make no mistake about it, the Miami Dolphins will take at least three years to overcome the win-now philosophy that has gutted this team.
Sorry Dolphin fans, sometimes it takes a step backwards to make a leap forward…
Miami Dolphins Fire Adam Gase
Adam Gase was fired after another Miami Dolphin football season came to an agonizing end. The team lost three games in a row for the second straight year. Some glaring problems surfaced as the season ground to a screeching halt. Players once again ejected in the final minutes of play, dispelling the notion that good guys replacing locker room bad guys really made a difference.
When referencing the three out of four games he does not play well, Ryan Tannehill used the word “obviously” a lot. “Obviously myself, and the team, we need to finish better… Obviously, we didn’t finish strong and you want to be playing in the postseason and competing for a championship.”
When asked to define the problems he replied, “We need to find a way to win these games down the stretch when we have opportunities to put ourselves in the postseason. To answer your question, I don’t know.”
Obviously, the quarterback didn’t know how to win, but it went much deeper.
There were subtleties in player comments that gave outsiders a glimpse of their true feelings. “It’s been up and down,” Danny Amendola said. “Had some great wins. Tough losses. Lost some key players to injuries. It’s the NFL. Ultimately, we’ve got to play better. We’ve got to learn how to practice and play at a championship level. And we didn’t have it.”
“We’ve got to learn how to practice and play at a championship level.”
“It’s been a roller-coaster,” Xavien Howard said. “A couple injuries. Everybody couldn’t get on the same page. It was either the offense, defense or special teams. We’ve just got to be on one page and just work together. So, you know we haven’t been on the same page and the injuries haven’t helped at all.”
“Everybody couldn’t get on the same page.”
“We bite ourselves in the feet,” Ja’Wuan James said. “Penalties. Not starting fast. We just. We never honestly had an identity. When you don’t have an identity as an offense it’s hard because you don’t know what to go to when things go wrong. You’re just trying stuff. We never really found our identity this year.”
“We never really found our identity this year.”
Put all those comments together and what’s under the surface begins rising to the top…
“Obviously myself, and the team, we need to finish better.”
“We’ve got to learn how to practice and play at a championship level.”
“Everybody couldn’t get on the same page.”
“We never really found our identity this year.”
Tannehill can’t finish games or seasons or even third downs very well and when taken in the context of, “Everybody couldn’t get on the same page.” “We never really found our identity this year.” “We’ve got to learn how to practice and play at a championship level.”
How do you accomplish this when half the starting roster is on injured reserve and those players have very specific skill sets? Albert Wilson and Jakeem Grant have very similar body types and Gase’s early offensive game plan was based around those skills. When an offense is built around certain skills and those skills end up on injured reserve, the offense must adjust to healthy players.
Easier to understand why, “We never really found our identity this year,” was true, without those speedsters. Once those players were lost, Gase tried to use Frank Gore in a power running game but after practicing fancy RPOs through training camp, “everybody couldn’t get on the same page.”
Gore is another player Gase fell in love with, while Kenyan Drake sat. Drake the ascending player, sat watching Gore probably playing in his last season. It made little sense.
The whole thing begs to ask, how do you “learn how to practice and play at a championship level,” While sitting your most explosive player? Gase could never settle and was continually changing the offense to use players with drastically different skill sets.
Gase had built the Miami Dolphins without an identity.
Gase's platform was not team identity or systemic, it was whether or not he loved the player, even if the player did not fit the system. Gase could not hope to find consistency with perpetually injured players all having random skill sets.
This is the failure of the Miami Dolphin triumvirate, Gase, Grier and Tannenbaum. Gase fell in love with players and was smart enough to design an offense around the skills of those players. But this trait betrayed him when he designed his offense around one or two of key players. The offense tailored around them changed drastically when they went down due to injury.
With a stable identity, the team may have filled the roster with players fitting the identity. Then, game planning and practices would not alter drastically during the course of the season. Gase never understood the importance of continuity on his roster, on both sides of the ball. Because of this, his team, like his plan, played Jekyll and Hyde all season never knowing which would show up.
The Miami Dolphins lost a good coach, it was reported that he would not relinquish control of the 53-man roster. In other words, he would go down in the same ship with Ryan Tannehill.
The coach killer claims another victim…
Take two lessons Adam Gase:
Don’t fall in love with players…
Build your team around an identity so there is depth to mitigate injures…
Good luck Adam Gase...
When referencing the three out of four games he does not play well, Ryan Tannehill used the word “obviously” a lot. “Obviously myself, and the team, we need to finish better… Obviously, we didn’t finish strong and you want to be playing in the postseason and competing for a championship.”
When asked to define the problems he replied, “We need to find a way to win these games down the stretch when we have opportunities to put ourselves in the postseason. To answer your question, I don’t know.”
Obviously, the quarterback didn’t know how to win, but it went much deeper.
There were subtleties in player comments that gave outsiders a glimpse of their true feelings. “It’s been up and down,” Danny Amendola said. “Had some great wins. Tough losses. Lost some key players to injuries. It’s the NFL. Ultimately, we’ve got to play better. We’ve got to learn how to practice and play at a championship level. And we didn’t have it.”
“We’ve got to learn how to practice and play at a championship level.”
“It’s been a roller-coaster,” Xavien Howard said. “A couple injuries. Everybody couldn’t get on the same page. It was either the offense, defense or special teams. We’ve just got to be on one page and just work together. So, you know we haven’t been on the same page and the injuries haven’t helped at all.”
“Everybody couldn’t get on the same page.”
“We bite ourselves in the feet,” Ja’Wuan James said. “Penalties. Not starting fast. We just. We never honestly had an identity. When you don’t have an identity as an offense it’s hard because you don’t know what to go to when things go wrong. You’re just trying stuff. We never really found our identity this year.”
“We never really found our identity this year.”
Put all those comments together and what’s under the surface begins rising to the top…
“Obviously myself, and the team, we need to finish better.”
“We’ve got to learn how to practice and play at a championship level.”
“Everybody couldn’t get on the same page.”
“We never really found our identity this year.”
Tannehill can’t finish games or seasons or even third downs very well and when taken in the context of, “Everybody couldn’t get on the same page.” “We never really found our identity this year.” “We’ve got to learn how to practice and play at a championship level.”
How do you accomplish this when half the starting roster is on injured reserve and those players have very specific skill sets? Albert Wilson and Jakeem Grant have very similar body types and Gase’s early offensive game plan was based around those skills. When an offense is built around certain skills and those skills end up on injured reserve, the offense must adjust to healthy players.
Easier to understand why, “We never really found our identity this year,” was true, without those speedsters. Once those players were lost, Gase tried to use Frank Gore in a power running game but after practicing fancy RPOs through training camp, “everybody couldn’t get on the same page.”
Gore is another player Gase fell in love with, while Kenyan Drake sat. Drake the ascending player, sat watching Gore probably playing in his last season. It made little sense.
The whole thing begs to ask, how do you “learn how to practice and play at a championship level,” While sitting your most explosive player? Gase could never settle and was continually changing the offense to use players with drastically different skill sets.
Gase had built the Miami Dolphins without an identity.
Gase's platform was not team identity or systemic, it was whether or not he loved the player, even if the player did not fit the system. Gase could not hope to find consistency with perpetually injured players all having random skill sets.
This is the failure of the Miami Dolphin triumvirate, Gase, Grier and Tannenbaum. Gase fell in love with players and was smart enough to design an offense around the skills of those players. But this trait betrayed him when he designed his offense around one or two of key players. The offense tailored around them changed drastically when they went down due to injury.
With a stable identity, the team may have filled the roster with players fitting the identity. Then, game planning and practices would not alter drastically during the course of the season. Gase never understood the importance of continuity on his roster, on both sides of the ball. Because of this, his team, like his plan, played Jekyll and Hyde all season never knowing which would show up.
The Miami Dolphins lost a good coach, it was reported that he would not relinquish control of the 53-man roster. In other words, he would go down in the same ship with Ryan Tannehill.
The coach killer claims another victim…
Take two lessons Adam Gase:
Don’t fall in love with players…
Build your team around an identity so there is depth to mitigate injures…
Good luck Adam Gase...
Tannehill Decision Will Define Gase's Future
The Miami Dolphins spiral into another dismal off-season with some amazingly offensive stats…
2 of 9 on third down against Jacksonville…
57.7 completion percentage…
83 yards gained on the first drive and 100 on the final nine possessions...
Tannehill’s sixth time in 10 games failing to throw for 200 yards...
Averaging 183.2 passing yards per game...
Failed to generate 200 yards of offense in three of the past four games...
Miami’s offense is 25th in points this year, was 25th in points last year, and was 24th in points in 2016...
Former first-round pick DeVante Parker has three catches for 31 yards in his past three games and 122 receiving yards in the past six games.
“It’s terrible,” coach Adam Gase said. “I mean, the offense was awful. It was brutal to watch, to be a part of. I think today was a rough day for {Ryan}. I wish he would have played a little better. I wish he would have made a few more decisions that were different. I think there’s been games that he has – that he’s played really well – and there’s been some games where we haven’t played well.”
“I think every position has its faults,” Tannehill said about the inept offense. “Start with me and just go right down the line. I think when you have that, it all stacks up and you’re not moving the ball. We have to be cleaner, every position, starting with me and that will give us our best chance, obviously, to put the ball in the end zone.”
Why take a 36-year-old Frank Gore and make him the fixture of your offense when it takes carries away from more explosive backs like Kenyan Drake and Kalen Ballage? The reason is because there is no trust in the passing game and the only true option left is a power running game.
The stats above define why there is no trust in the passing game and it’s time the Miami Dolphins face the simple truth, Ryan Tannehill is not a Super Bowl quarterback…
There seems to be a misunderstanding in Miami as to why there are football games. There is a single goal in professional football…
Win the Super Bowl.
Certainly, no team can win the big game every year, but the big picture focus seems to have eluded the Miami Dolphins. Frank Gore is a great locker room guy, but he’s not going to take this team to that Super Bowl in the sky. Sitting future players like Kenyan Drake and Kalen Ballage and using Gore makes little sense in the big picture.
Sitting them because the quarterback cannot consistently show up for football games and then praising that quarterback opens all kinds of questions…
Winning is an interesting conundrum when taken in the context of time. A momentary win can actually hinder long-term success. There is a simple way to remember this, “short-term gains no long-term returns.”
Those short gains by Gore can keep the ball moving slowly down the field in hopes of some success, but in the end the big prize is just an illusion. That prize goes to players like Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, who is averaging 324.5 yards passing in his second NFL season.
Seven years later, any thought of creating a great person out of one that never was, is an illusion. This needs to be addressed unless Stephen Ross is also delusional. If the coach has no ability to project long-term success and is simply mired in short-term day-to-day management, than the expectation for the future should be the results of the present.
Simply stated, doing the same thing over and over again will produce the same results…
The expectation cannot be to remain with Ryan Tannehill, whether it’s perceived as his fault or not. Calling out injuries, or penalties, poor game planning, not playing complimentary football, are all excuses that will not change the result. The only constant on this team has been Ryan Tannehill, not Joe Philbin, Jeff Ireland, Mike Sherman, Bill Lazor, Mike Tannenbaum, Chris Grier or Adam Gase…
Ryan Tannehill...
Tannehill is a really good person and that is what keeps the illusion alive, but make no mistake, it is an illusion.
Think - big-picture - Super Bowl picture.
The Miami Dolphins must somehow find this understanding. Adam Gase has the potential to be a great football coach, but great coaches have one thing in common, they can sense and see great quarterbacks. They can take that quarterback, make him better and together they can achieve the ultimate football success…
Winning the Super Bowl.
This is what Stephen Ross should be looking for, a coach who can sense a great quarterback and make him better. Adam Gase? Maybe, but if he’s locked in on Ryan Tannehill, than he’s caught in the illusion. He’s not what Ross though he was and the boss-man has no other option but to move on from Gase and keep searching for a coach that can see greatness.
It is pivotal for the Miami Dolphins to make a clear rational decision and cut ties with Ryan Tannehill. Once the cord is cut, then other pieces of the future can begin to establish themselves. A team cannot plan for the future if it is stalled in the past.
Adam Gase ran the most productive offense in NFL history with Payton Manning. Gase has shown the ability to work with greatness, but attaching himself to Tannehill will end his career in Miami. Fighting to keep Tannehill this off-season will only prolong the agony of Miami fans should both remain. Gase will be fired before the 2019 season is concluded and the Dolphins will be left floundering.
Will Adam Gase’s legacy be remembered for being the guy who signed Jay Cutler and stuck with Ryan Tannehill. Will he be the coach who fell in love with players, has no business savvy or vision. Will laughs and scoffing follow decisions like offing Jarvis Landry, Jay Ajayi and Ndamukong Suh.
Gase must square his jaw and step boldly into his future. Those aforementioned players never took to a team led by Ryan Tannehill. It is not a coach’s job to create leadership at the highest level on the football field. Either that player has the respect of his teammates or he does not and clearly there’s something wrong with Tannehill’s leadership in the huddle.
From the outside, it appears Tannehill is the teacher’s pet. The boy who finishes every assignment on time, brings in cookies and listens intently to every word from the teacher’s mouth. In the back of the room, the boys who should defend this QB on the field secretly despise him. This can no longer go on, and if Gase cannot see it, than he’s as blind as the teacher and it’s time for a change.
Gase must come to terms with all of these obvious issues or he may never land a head coaching job again.
It’s time coach...
Time to find your own quarterback...
Time to stake your own future...
Before the coach killer strikes again…
2 of 9 on third down against Jacksonville…
57.7 completion percentage…
83 yards gained on the first drive and 100 on the final nine possessions...
Tannehill’s sixth time in 10 games failing to throw for 200 yards...
Averaging 183.2 passing yards per game...
Failed to generate 200 yards of offense in three of the past four games...
Miami’s offense is 25th in points this year, was 25th in points last year, and was 24th in points in 2016...
Former first-round pick DeVante Parker has three catches for 31 yards in his past three games and 122 receiving yards in the past six games.
“It’s terrible,” coach Adam Gase said. “I mean, the offense was awful. It was brutal to watch, to be a part of. I think today was a rough day for {Ryan}. I wish he would have played a little better. I wish he would have made a few more decisions that were different. I think there’s been games that he has – that he’s played really well – and there’s been some games where we haven’t played well.”
“I think every position has its faults,” Tannehill said about the inept offense. “Start with me and just go right down the line. I think when you have that, it all stacks up and you’re not moving the ball. We have to be cleaner, every position, starting with me and that will give us our best chance, obviously, to put the ball in the end zone.”
Why take a 36-year-old Frank Gore and make him the fixture of your offense when it takes carries away from more explosive backs like Kenyan Drake and Kalen Ballage? The reason is because there is no trust in the passing game and the only true option left is a power running game.
The stats above define why there is no trust in the passing game and it’s time the Miami Dolphins face the simple truth, Ryan Tannehill is not a Super Bowl quarterback…
There seems to be a misunderstanding in Miami as to why there are football games. There is a single goal in professional football…
Win the Super Bowl.
Certainly, no team can win the big game every year, but the big picture focus seems to have eluded the Miami Dolphins. Frank Gore is a great locker room guy, but he’s not going to take this team to that Super Bowl in the sky. Sitting future players like Kenyan Drake and Kalen Ballage and using Gore makes little sense in the big picture.
Sitting them because the quarterback cannot consistently show up for football games and then praising that quarterback opens all kinds of questions…
Winning is an interesting conundrum when taken in the context of time. A momentary win can actually hinder long-term success. There is a simple way to remember this, “short-term gains no long-term returns.”
Those short gains by Gore can keep the ball moving slowly down the field in hopes of some success, but in the end the big prize is just an illusion. That prize goes to players like Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, who is averaging 324.5 yards passing in his second NFL season.
Seven years later, any thought of creating a great person out of one that never was, is an illusion. This needs to be addressed unless Stephen Ross is also delusional. If the coach has no ability to project long-term success and is simply mired in short-term day-to-day management, than the expectation for the future should be the results of the present.
Simply stated, doing the same thing over and over again will produce the same results…
The expectation cannot be to remain with Ryan Tannehill, whether it’s perceived as his fault or not. Calling out injuries, or penalties, poor game planning, not playing complimentary football, are all excuses that will not change the result. The only constant on this team has been Ryan Tannehill, not Joe Philbin, Jeff Ireland, Mike Sherman, Bill Lazor, Mike Tannenbaum, Chris Grier or Adam Gase…
Ryan Tannehill...
Tannehill is a really good person and that is what keeps the illusion alive, but make no mistake, it is an illusion.
Think - big-picture - Super Bowl picture.
The Miami Dolphins must somehow find this understanding. Adam Gase has the potential to be a great football coach, but great coaches have one thing in common, they can sense and see great quarterbacks. They can take that quarterback, make him better and together they can achieve the ultimate football success…
Winning the Super Bowl.
This is what Stephen Ross should be looking for, a coach who can sense a great quarterback and make him better. Adam Gase? Maybe, but if he’s locked in on Ryan Tannehill, than he’s caught in the illusion. He’s not what Ross though he was and the boss-man has no other option but to move on from Gase and keep searching for a coach that can see greatness.
It is pivotal for the Miami Dolphins to make a clear rational decision and cut ties with Ryan Tannehill. Once the cord is cut, then other pieces of the future can begin to establish themselves. A team cannot plan for the future if it is stalled in the past.
Adam Gase ran the most productive offense in NFL history with Payton Manning. Gase has shown the ability to work with greatness, but attaching himself to Tannehill will end his career in Miami. Fighting to keep Tannehill this off-season will only prolong the agony of Miami fans should both remain. Gase will be fired before the 2019 season is concluded and the Dolphins will be left floundering.
Will Adam Gase’s legacy be remembered for being the guy who signed Jay Cutler and stuck with Ryan Tannehill. Will he be the coach who fell in love with players, has no business savvy or vision. Will laughs and scoffing follow decisions like offing Jarvis Landry, Jay Ajayi and Ndamukong Suh.
Gase must square his jaw and step boldly into his future. Those aforementioned players never took to a team led by Ryan Tannehill. It is not a coach’s job to create leadership at the highest level on the football field. Either that player has the respect of his teammates or he does not and clearly there’s something wrong with Tannehill’s leadership in the huddle.
From the outside, it appears Tannehill is the teacher’s pet. The boy who finishes every assignment on time, brings in cookies and listens intently to every word from the teacher’s mouth. In the back of the room, the boys who should defend this QB on the field secretly despise him. This can no longer go on, and if Gase cannot see it, than he’s as blind as the teacher and it’s time for a change.
Gase must come to terms with all of these obvious issues or he may never land a head coaching job again.
It’s time coach...
Time to find your own quarterback...
Time to stake your own future...
Before the coach killer strikes again…
Miami Miracle Crashes and Burns in Minneapolis
Twenty-one first quarter points quickly erased the Miami Miracle as the Dolphins crashed and burned in Minneapolis. The Vikings running game gashed the Miami defense on three straight drives, while the Miami offense floundered. The game and Miami's playoff hopes ended before halftime. An average Minnesota Vikings team resembled the purple people eaters, annihilating the hapless Dolphins.
Minkah Fitzpatrick stepping in front of a Kirk Cousins pass and dashing into the endzone and a Kalen Ballage 75-yard touchdown run were the only hint of life Miami showed all day.
It was not enough, Ryan Tannehill stood flat footed in the face of a fierce pass rush, throwing for only 108 yards. After a brilliant performance against New England, Tannehill completed only 11 of 24 passes, looking beleaguered, confused and shell-shocked.
Enough of the Tannehill debate...
Clearly we've seen enough.
The Miami offensive line played an atrocious game allowing nine sacks. Even the invincible Frank Gore could not endure the pounding and left the game with an injured ankle. The Dolphin defense surrendered the line of scrimmage from the onset as the Vikings rushed for 220 yards and Cousins passed for another 215.
Six straight road losses for the Dolphins is the tale of the season. Miami does not bring the same intensity on the road, playing uninspired football in a game broadcast nationally. The euphoria of a walk off victory the previous week quickly gave way to the reality that the Miami Dolphins cannot match up with quality teams on the road. Miami has lost by an average of 17.7 points per road game during the six game skid.
The Dolphins are 7-17 on the road during Adam Gase's tenure and only three of those defeats have been less than ten points. While the Miami defense looked like a revolving door, the offense was equally pathetic. After the 75 yard Kalen Ballage burst to open the second half, Miami's next five drives totaled -27 yards...
Reverting to bad Tannehill, the Miami quarterback completed only 45.8 percent of his passes for 108 yards. His magical 155 rating a week ago, sunk to 59 this week as the Vikings took away the dink passes and forced him off his spot. The offensive line was downright offensive and did not show up for the game.
Enough debate...
It's time for a change.
Both sides of the ball looked lackadaisical and the 41-17 loss was not even that close. Nine sacks are a team record for a single game. Kirk Cousins came into the game as the worst free agent acquisition of the season only to put up 215 yards, 2 TDs and a 112 rating against perhaps the worst defense in the NFL.
It is time for this team to take a long realistic view at how far it is from the next level. In the present form, mediocrity is the definition of the Miami Dolphins. The quarterback has been here for seven years and has yet to reach the playoffs or finish a winning season. The coach has been here three years and his team has played 500 football and is routinely blown out on the road.
It is time for a change. If Adam Gase is unwilling to part ways with Ryan Tannehill, than it is time for Stephen Ross to fire the coach and allow the QB to move on. Any fear that Tannehill will somehow acquire greatness is a foolish notion. Quarterbacks do not take eight years to find some magic formula and anyone who thinks differently is delusional, including the coach of the Miami Dolphins.
Adam Gase has the potential to be a great coach, he can win games he should lose. Unfortunately he will never be that coach with a wildly inconsistent quarterback. If Dan Marino had been in that huddle, the words from his mouth would be ringing in the stands. Tannehill has no leadership skills and it shows vividly on the road.
Enough debate...
It's time for a change.
If Gase is unwilling to make the changes needed on this football team, there is no other recourse than to fire him. Tannehill is what he is, a backup quarterback. Joe Philbin was fired for trying to draft his replacement...
Will Adam Gase be fired for trying to keep the same quarterback?
Tannehill is a coach killer...
Meanwhile, Dolphin fans must agonize season after season mired in his mediocrity. If Mike Tannenbaum is unwilling to do what is right for this team and insists on maintaining the status quo, than he too must be fired.
The personnel people have been changed, the coaches have been changed and the Miami Dolphins remain the same. The only constant on this team is Ryan Tannehill, whether he's a tough guy, whether he has a rocket arm, whether he's smart, whether he's a team guy is irrelevant, you are what your record says you are... Mediocre.
Miami beat New England with a miracle play...
It was a euphoric moment in a season that has been grinding down to this, 7-7 mediocrity. It will be eight years next season.
Enough debate...
We've seen enough...
Time to move on...
Minkah Fitzpatrick stepping in front of a Kirk Cousins pass and dashing into the endzone and a Kalen Ballage 75-yard touchdown run were the only hint of life Miami showed all day.
It was not enough, Ryan Tannehill stood flat footed in the face of a fierce pass rush, throwing for only 108 yards. After a brilliant performance against New England, Tannehill completed only 11 of 24 passes, looking beleaguered, confused and shell-shocked.
Enough of the Tannehill debate...
Clearly we've seen enough.
The Miami offensive line played an atrocious game allowing nine sacks. Even the invincible Frank Gore could not endure the pounding and left the game with an injured ankle. The Dolphin defense surrendered the line of scrimmage from the onset as the Vikings rushed for 220 yards and Cousins passed for another 215.
Six straight road losses for the Dolphins is the tale of the season. Miami does not bring the same intensity on the road, playing uninspired football in a game broadcast nationally. The euphoria of a walk off victory the previous week quickly gave way to the reality that the Miami Dolphins cannot match up with quality teams on the road. Miami has lost by an average of 17.7 points per road game during the six game skid.
The Dolphins are 7-17 on the road during Adam Gase's tenure and only three of those defeats have been less than ten points. While the Miami defense looked like a revolving door, the offense was equally pathetic. After the 75 yard Kalen Ballage burst to open the second half, Miami's next five drives totaled -27 yards...
Reverting to bad Tannehill, the Miami quarterback completed only 45.8 percent of his passes for 108 yards. His magical 155 rating a week ago, sunk to 59 this week as the Vikings took away the dink passes and forced him off his spot. The offensive line was downright offensive and did not show up for the game.
Enough debate...
It's time for a change.
Both sides of the ball looked lackadaisical and the 41-17 loss was not even that close. Nine sacks are a team record for a single game. Kirk Cousins came into the game as the worst free agent acquisition of the season only to put up 215 yards, 2 TDs and a 112 rating against perhaps the worst defense in the NFL.
It is time for this team to take a long realistic view at how far it is from the next level. In the present form, mediocrity is the definition of the Miami Dolphins. The quarterback has been here for seven years and has yet to reach the playoffs or finish a winning season. The coach has been here three years and his team has played 500 football and is routinely blown out on the road.
It is time for a change. If Adam Gase is unwilling to part ways with Ryan Tannehill, than it is time for Stephen Ross to fire the coach and allow the QB to move on. Any fear that Tannehill will somehow acquire greatness is a foolish notion. Quarterbacks do not take eight years to find some magic formula and anyone who thinks differently is delusional, including the coach of the Miami Dolphins.
Adam Gase has the potential to be a great coach, he can win games he should lose. Unfortunately he will never be that coach with a wildly inconsistent quarterback. If Dan Marino had been in that huddle, the words from his mouth would be ringing in the stands. Tannehill has no leadership skills and it shows vividly on the road.
Enough debate...
It's time for a change.
If Gase is unwilling to make the changes needed on this football team, there is no other recourse than to fire him. Tannehill is what he is, a backup quarterback. Joe Philbin was fired for trying to draft his replacement...
Will Adam Gase be fired for trying to keep the same quarterback?
Tannehill is a coach killer...
Meanwhile, Dolphin fans must agonize season after season mired in his mediocrity. If Mike Tannenbaum is unwilling to do what is right for this team and insists on maintaining the status quo, than he too must be fired.
The personnel people have been changed, the coaches have been changed and the Miami Dolphins remain the same. The only constant on this team is Ryan Tannehill, whether he's a tough guy, whether he has a rocket arm, whether he's smart, whether he's a team guy is irrelevant, you are what your record says you are... Mediocre.
Miami beat New England with a miracle play...
It was a euphoric moment in a season that has been grinding down to this, 7-7 mediocrity. It will be eight years next season.
Enough debate...
We've seen enough...
Time to move on...
Draft Value is QB for the Miami Dolphins
The first NFL draft was held in 1936 and had 9 rounds. As the sport grew in popularity, the draft followed, expanding to 20 rounds in 1939, then 30 rounds in 1943. Teams began investing in scouting departments, which actually reduced the draft to 17 rounds in 1967. In 1977, drafting as one unified league, the NFL reduced the number of rounds to 12. Finally, in 1994 the current 7 round draft format was adopted and has remained.
The reduction in draft rounds over the years is a direct result of the massive influx of information. In 1936, teams found players from reading newspaper articles and hearsay. Today, the draft has become a season of its own with seemingly more experts than players available!
With only seven rounds, there are unlimited opportunities in the undrafted free agent market, but as scouting has evolved players outside the draft rarely survive long in the NFL.
For this reason, the idea of positional draft value has enabled some NFL teams to acquire more picks. For instance, from 2006 to 2016 over an 11 year span, the New England Patriots had 101 draft picks. An extra two draft picks every season. Over the same period of time, the Miami Dolphins drafted 83 players, just over the allotted 7 players per season. New England drafted 18 more players than the Miami Dolphins.
How does this happen?
The rich get richer by understanding positional draft value… A QB is worth more than a Center.
New England picked Jimmy Garoppolo in the second-round of the 2014 draft with Tom Brady at QB. They got 3 years out of Garoppolo and then acquired a higher 2nd round pick in trade. The thing is, they did not need Garoppolo because they already had Ryan Mallett, drafted in the third round of 2011. They knew the value of the position and drafted Garoppolo anyway. At the right moment, they traded Mallett for a seventh-round pick. That could seem like a small gain, but they got a few years with Mallett as a backup and then a draft pick.
Every draft pick is an opportunity…
Three years and then additional picks over and over again because unlike a guard, a QB has lasting value. Matt Cassel was picked in the seventh round of the 2005 NFL draft. After three years, the Patriots obtained a second-round draft choice and veteran leader, linebacker Mike Vrabel. There is no adulation here for the Patriots or Bill Belichick, these examples are to prove the point.
BPA is not the same for every position on a draft board. A QB is worth more than a tackle.
There’s a saying in these parts, “keep drafting a quarterback until you get it right.”
The rich can’t get richer unless they’re already rich!
A team must have a great QB before a backup QB has any value. This is why every team in the top echelon of the NFL has a great QB. It can’t be a maybe he’s good, it can’t be a possibility he’s good and he can’t be potentially good… The QB must be great otherwise the back-up has less value.
There is little value in Garoppolo or Mallett or Cassel if Tom Brady is not great…
The question in Miami then is simple, is Ryan Tannehill great?
The answer is emphatically NO!
Miami cannot join the rich at getting richer because they’re not rich!
Drafting into the riches comes once every season, but like most common folk who never strike gold, Miami does not understand positional value. The Dolphins still believe Ryan Tannehill can be great long after greatness would have shown itself. Along the way, they have not even invested in another opportunity. Meanwhile, a team with a great QB, New England, continues to enrich itself at the value position every season and reaps the benefits.
It doesn’t matter if the evaluator is a Tannehill fan or a hater, the question has little do with the Tannehill at all when taken in the proper context.
Is Ryan Tannehill great?
It’s doubtful many would answer yes to that question… “Keep drafting a quarterback until you get it right,” and then draft more because the value is undeniable. It even reflects in the current Super Bowl champions. The Eagles are relatively new in “QB value-stream economics” but look what they’ve done. They made every maneuver possible to jump up in the 2016 draft to obtain Carson Wentz. They saw the value and boldly snatched it up.
To make sure they had an adequate backup, they acquired Nick Foles. When Wentz went down (remember when Brady got hurt) and Foles subsequently finished the season as the Super Bowl MVP, the Eagles joined the club of riches. Whether they are shrewd enough to get the value out of Foles will determine how long they reign amongst the rich.
What is the point of this article?
In a year where there is exceptional QB talent in the draft, the Miami Dolphins have a chance to make the right decision and draft one. As hopefully described above, how we think about Ryan Tannehill does not matter, more is always better!
The mistaken belief of every mediocre team in the NFL is that they are a couple of players away from contention with an average QB. Nick Foles won, it was the Eagles defense, like the Ravens or Bucs before them.
NOT!!!
With perhaps a single exception, only the teams with historically great QBs have maintained sustained success. The Miami Dolphins must invest heavily in the NFL value position or they will always be looking up in envy at the rich guys…
Keep drafting a quarterback until you get it right!
The reduction in draft rounds over the years is a direct result of the massive influx of information. In 1936, teams found players from reading newspaper articles and hearsay. Today, the draft has become a season of its own with seemingly more experts than players available!
With only seven rounds, there are unlimited opportunities in the undrafted free agent market, but as scouting has evolved players outside the draft rarely survive long in the NFL.
For this reason, the idea of positional draft value has enabled some NFL teams to acquire more picks. For instance, from 2006 to 2016 over an 11 year span, the New England Patriots had 101 draft picks. An extra two draft picks every season. Over the same period of time, the Miami Dolphins drafted 83 players, just over the allotted 7 players per season. New England drafted 18 more players than the Miami Dolphins.
How does this happen?
The rich get richer by understanding positional draft value… A QB is worth more than a Center.
New England picked Jimmy Garoppolo in the second-round of the 2014 draft with Tom Brady at QB. They got 3 years out of Garoppolo and then acquired a higher 2nd round pick in trade. The thing is, they did not need Garoppolo because they already had Ryan Mallett, drafted in the third round of 2011. They knew the value of the position and drafted Garoppolo anyway. At the right moment, they traded Mallett for a seventh-round pick. That could seem like a small gain, but they got a few years with Mallett as a backup and then a draft pick.
Every draft pick is an opportunity…
Three years and then additional picks over and over again because unlike a guard, a QB has lasting value. Matt Cassel was picked in the seventh round of the 2005 NFL draft. After three years, the Patriots obtained a second-round draft choice and veteran leader, linebacker Mike Vrabel. There is no adulation here for the Patriots or Bill Belichick, these examples are to prove the point.
BPA is not the same for every position on a draft board. A QB is worth more than a tackle.
There’s a saying in these parts, “keep drafting a quarterback until you get it right.”
The rich can’t get richer unless they’re already rich!
A team must have a great QB before a backup QB has any value. This is why every team in the top echelon of the NFL has a great QB. It can’t be a maybe he’s good, it can’t be a possibility he’s good and he can’t be potentially good… The QB must be great otherwise the back-up has less value.
There is little value in Garoppolo or Mallett or Cassel if Tom Brady is not great…
The question in Miami then is simple, is Ryan Tannehill great?
The answer is emphatically NO!
Miami cannot join the rich at getting richer because they’re not rich!
Drafting into the riches comes once every season, but like most common folk who never strike gold, Miami does not understand positional value. The Dolphins still believe Ryan Tannehill can be great long after greatness would have shown itself. Along the way, they have not even invested in another opportunity. Meanwhile, a team with a great QB, New England, continues to enrich itself at the value position every season and reaps the benefits.
It doesn’t matter if the evaluator is a Tannehill fan or a hater, the question has little do with the Tannehill at all when taken in the proper context.
Is Ryan Tannehill great?
It’s doubtful many would answer yes to that question… “Keep drafting a quarterback until you get it right,” and then draft more because the value is undeniable. It even reflects in the current Super Bowl champions. The Eagles are relatively new in “QB value-stream economics” but look what they’ve done. They made every maneuver possible to jump up in the 2016 draft to obtain Carson Wentz. They saw the value and boldly snatched it up.
To make sure they had an adequate backup, they acquired Nick Foles. When Wentz went down (remember when Brady got hurt) and Foles subsequently finished the season as the Super Bowl MVP, the Eagles joined the club of riches. Whether they are shrewd enough to get the value out of Foles will determine how long they reign amongst the rich.
What is the point of this article?
In a year where there is exceptional QB talent in the draft, the Miami Dolphins have a chance to make the right decision and draft one. As hopefully described above, how we think about Ryan Tannehill does not matter, more is always better!
The mistaken belief of every mediocre team in the NFL is that they are a couple of players away from contention with an average QB. Nick Foles won, it was the Eagles defense, like the Ravens or Bucs before them.
NOT!!!
With perhaps a single exception, only the teams with historically great QBs have maintained sustained success. The Miami Dolphins must invest heavily in the NFL value position or they will always be looking up in envy at the rich guys…
Keep drafting a quarterback until you get it right!
Did Chris Foerster Compromise the Miami Dolphins?
Entering the long off-season it honestly felt like the Miami Dolphins lost their direction in 2017. Leadership in general came into question in early October when the video of Chris Foerster snorting the white stuff surfaced. It didn’t feel like it at the time, but those actions ran so deep, the season was probably done on that fateful day. As it turned out, it was…
We all know the tale, Chris Foerster filmed himself in his Miami Dolphin’s office prior to a team meeting. There’s no sense in rehashing the details, but what is worth writing about is the effect Foerster’s actions had on the Miami Dolphins. Kijuana Njie’s reason for leaking the video coupled perfectly with what NFL players were protesting, racial inequality in America.
Chris Foerster left Adam Gase hanging out to dry…
How does Gase insist on players being entirely focused on football when his assistant head coach has completely compromised his message? This wasn’t some seedy bar or strip joint, this was right in the very facility where players are expected to respect the code. How does Gase tell the players not to protest, or to remain united and stay out of trouble when his assistant head coach was sending videos to his snorting platter “girlfriend” from his office?
Shouldn’t someone in the Miami Dolphin’s organization have known about Foerster’s issue?
Pandora’s Box opens wider when the whole situation seemed to disappear with the disappearance of Kijuana Njie. One is left to wonder how wide Stephen Ross’ wallet opened to make her go away. There was obviously a price for her silence, but there is no price for the integrity of the Miami Dolphins, especially in the eyes of players believing there is racial inequality.
Like Kijuana Njie, Chris Foerster just went away. Money talks and makes bullshit walk…
There are reports that prior to his altercation, Rey Maualuga was regular on the late night party scene. “Why did Adam Gase allow this to go on? Where was the institutional control?” Well that answer is pretty simple, his assistant head coach was sending drug videos from his freaking office desk!
“Rey don’t you go out there and drink!”
Yeah, it all works really well together doesn’t it? Thank you Chris Foerster!
Adam Gase has been tight lipped about Foerster and Boss Ross certainly told him to never mention it again, but Gase must be stewing inside. Foerster was a supposedly a respected NFL coach and if we assume he hid these issues well enough, than this came as a complete blindside. How do you tell Laremy Tunsil to stay off the weed when Foerster is snorting in the other room?
How do you tell players to spend more time in their playbooks when your coach is in Las Vegas making a platter of his “girlfriend” because you’re stuck in LA during a hurricane?
Perhaps this is the problem on a grand-scale. There are distractions and illicit activities in every city in America, but Miami… Mix a few rich football players in with a few South Beach hotties looking for a good time and what does that equal? TROUBLE!
Mix a snorting coach in with the trouble and you got double-trouble…
The leader is leading the party!
Perhaps paying for this to go away is not the right approach to fixing the problem. The Miami Dolphins cannot ignore the issues inherent with where the team resides. This community has a seedy underside and if the Dolphins want players to avoid that side of the street they are going to have choose the players on this football team very wisely.
More importantly, the Miami Dolphins must choose their leaders wisely…
Chris Foerster left Adam Gase hanging out to dry…
Should Gase and his assistants submit to drug testing? Are NFL coaches’ drug tested or is this another example of racial inequality when the players must submit, but the hierarchy is exempt?
The web continues to tangle when Colt’s owner Jim Irsay's mistress, Kimberly Wundrum, overdosed and died in a house that Irsay controversially purchased with money belonging to the Indianapolis Colts. According to Indianapolis Star sports columnist Bob Kravitz, Irsay has an ongoing drug problem…
How does the NFL balance out team doctors giving pain killers to players so they can take the field on Sunday and then ask for a urine sample on Monday? Put all of these instances together and it seems clear the NFL has fostered a culture of drug abuse. It leads to the question, did Chris Foerster’s video get him caught publically for doing what was accepted privately?
Anyone who has ever worked 16 hours a day will tell you there was a lot of coffee involved…
It almost seems like this is a case of what goes on in the locker room stays in the locker room. In the long term, expecting locker room antics to stay contained in our social media connected world is probably foolish. Bad things happen when these antics go public, ask Richie Incognito. Choose wisely Miami, expecting 20 something rich kids to act like they’re responsible 60 somethings is asking a lot.
Oh wait, they're just acting like Chris Foerster and Jim Irsay…
Never mind… Never mind… Never mind…
Anyone have a carpet we can brush this under? We need a carpet over here…
We all know the tale, Chris Foerster filmed himself in his Miami Dolphin’s office prior to a team meeting. There’s no sense in rehashing the details, but what is worth writing about is the effect Foerster’s actions had on the Miami Dolphins. Kijuana Njie’s reason for leaking the video coupled perfectly with what NFL players were protesting, racial inequality in America.
Chris Foerster left Adam Gase hanging out to dry…
How does Gase insist on players being entirely focused on football when his assistant head coach has completely compromised his message? This wasn’t some seedy bar or strip joint, this was right in the very facility where players are expected to respect the code. How does Gase tell the players not to protest, or to remain united and stay out of trouble when his assistant head coach was sending videos to his snorting platter “girlfriend” from his office?
Shouldn’t someone in the Miami Dolphin’s organization have known about Foerster’s issue?
Pandora’s Box opens wider when the whole situation seemed to disappear with the disappearance of Kijuana Njie. One is left to wonder how wide Stephen Ross’ wallet opened to make her go away. There was obviously a price for her silence, but there is no price for the integrity of the Miami Dolphins, especially in the eyes of players believing there is racial inequality.
Like Kijuana Njie, Chris Foerster just went away. Money talks and makes bullshit walk…
There are reports that prior to his altercation, Rey Maualuga was regular on the late night party scene. “Why did Adam Gase allow this to go on? Where was the institutional control?” Well that answer is pretty simple, his assistant head coach was sending drug videos from his freaking office desk!
“Rey don’t you go out there and drink!”
Yeah, it all works really well together doesn’t it? Thank you Chris Foerster!
Adam Gase has been tight lipped about Foerster and Boss Ross certainly told him to never mention it again, but Gase must be stewing inside. Foerster was a supposedly a respected NFL coach and if we assume he hid these issues well enough, than this came as a complete blindside. How do you tell Laremy Tunsil to stay off the weed when Foerster is snorting in the other room?
How do you tell players to spend more time in their playbooks when your coach is in Las Vegas making a platter of his “girlfriend” because you’re stuck in LA during a hurricane?
Perhaps this is the problem on a grand-scale. There are distractions and illicit activities in every city in America, but Miami… Mix a few rich football players in with a few South Beach hotties looking for a good time and what does that equal? TROUBLE!
Mix a snorting coach in with the trouble and you got double-trouble…
The leader is leading the party!
Perhaps paying for this to go away is not the right approach to fixing the problem. The Miami Dolphins cannot ignore the issues inherent with where the team resides. This community has a seedy underside and if the Dolphins want players to avoid that side of the street they are going to have choose the players on this football team very wisely.
More importantly, the Miami Dolphins must choose their leaders wisely…
Chris Foerster left Adam Gase hanging out to dry…
Should Gase and his assistants submit to drug testing? Are NFL coaches’ drug tested or is this another example of racial inequality when the players must submit, but the hierarchy is exempt?
The web continues to tangle when Colt’s owner Jim Irsay's mistress, Kimberly Wundrum, overdosed and died in a house that Irsay controversially purchased with money belonging to the Indianapolis Colts. According to Indianapolis Star sports columnist Bob Kravitz, Irsay has an ongoing drug problem…
How does the NFL balance out team doctors giving pain killers to players so they can take the field on Sunday and then ask for a urine sample on Monday? Put all of these instances together and it seems clear the NFL has fostered a culture of drug abuse. It leads to the question, did Chris Foerster’s video get him caught publically for doing what was accepted privately?
Anyone who has ever worked 16 hours a day will tell you there was a lot of coffee involved…
It almost seems like this is a case of what goes on in the locker room stays in the locker room. In the long term, expecting locker room antics to stay contained in our social media connected world is probably foolish. Bad things happen when these antics go public, ask Richie Incognito. Choose wisely Miami, expecting 20 something rich kids to act like they’re responsible 60 somethings is asking a lot.
Oh wait, they're just acting like Chris Foerster and Jim Irsay…
Never mind… Never mind… Never mind…
Anyone have a carpet we can brush this under? We need a carpet over here…
Adam Gase Next Head Coach of the Miami Dolphins
After a short but exhaustive search, the Miami Dolphins have hired Adam Gase as their new head coach. Gase most recently was the Offensive Coordinator of the Chicago Bears. Prior to taking the Bear's job, Gase was the OC for John Fox in Denver coaching Peyton Manning. Gase is 37 years old and never played college football. He is married to the daughter of New Orleans Saints linebackers coach Joe Vitt.
Gase previously coached for the LSU Tigers, Detroit Lions, San Francisco 49ers, Denver Broncos and Chicago Bears on his way to the head coaching job in Miami. Gase was definitely this year’s hot candidate, but arrives in Miami as an offensive coordinator with no head-coaching experience at any level.
Gase is clearly able to coexist in an atmosphere dominated by men like Mike Tannenbaum, having run an offense in Denver with Peyton Manning wanting to call his own game. Working with such diverse personalities as Peyton Manning and Jay Cutler, Gase may have a chance to make the most of Ryan Tannehill's skills in Miami.
Gase was high on Stephen Ross’ list of potential candidates. It looks like Ross may have finally got the coach he actually wanted. It was Parcells who brought in Sparano, who Ross tried to bump for Jim Harbaugh. Philbin was only hired after Ross' choice, Jeff Fisher, opted for the Saint Louis Ram's over Miami.
So Boss Ross finally gets his man, hopefully the long suffering Miami faithful will embrace his choice and Gase will deliver the goods.
Gase previously coached for the LSU Tigers, Detroit Lions, San Francisco 49ers, Denver Broncos and Chicago Bears on his way to the head coaching job in Miami. Gase was definitely this year’s hot candidate, but arrives in Miami as an offensive coordinator with no head-coaching experience at any level.
Gase is clearly able to coexist in an atmosphere dominated by men like Mike Tannenbaum, having run an offense in Denver with Peyton Manning wanting to call his own game. Working with such diverse personalities as Peyton Manning and Jay Cutler, Gase may have a chance to make the most of Ryan Tannehill's skills in Miami.
Gase was high on Stephen Ross’ list of potential candidates. It looks like Ross may have finally got the coach he actually wanted. It was Parcells who brought in Sparano, who Ross tried to bump for Jim Harbaugh. Philbin was only hired after Ross' choice, Jeff Fisher, opted for the Saint Louis Ram's over Miami.
So Boss Ross finally gets his man, hopefully the long suffering Miami faithful will embrace his choice and Gase will deliver the goods.
Miami Dolphin Owner Stephen Ross Finally Gets His Man ?
NOTE; This article was written with included pictures just after the loss to New England last week, and was to be posted had Miami lost to Minnesota! The Dolphins Won!
BLACK MONDAY 12-29-2014.
The NFL'S day of administrative reckoning is a week or so away, and door's are ajar!
It is beginning to appear that the Miami Dolphin owner Stephen Ross may finally be able to put his manipulative BUSINESS PROWESS to work in the NFL world through a side door.
The universe is aware that Mr. Ross is infatuated with current 48 - 22 - 1 San Francisco Head Coach Jim (Tasmanian Devil) Harbaugh, and it is looking like Ross may get his man this time around.
Oakland, and the New York Jets are interested in Harbaugh too.
The collegiate Michigan Wolverines are also in the market for a head coach, but it's cold there while the now established as one of the NFL's best coaches in Jim Harbaugh has nothing to prove at the college level.
Stephen Ross and Jim Harbaugh are both Michigan Alumni.
Ross is one of Michigan's top money donators to their overall campus' mystique as well as educational, and football programs. The Miami Dolphin owner has A LOTTT to say about who and how much the Michigan Wolverines might pay someone to be a part of their program.
The Dolphins can not currently negotiate and/or tamper with anything Harbaugh (due to NFL rules), but Michigan can.
Michigan who again, (Ross holds a ton of influential power with) has (subliminally) put a ridiculous number on the table for Harbaugh as well as his current employers to consider, (8 MILLION PER OVER 6 YEARS).
Could it be that Stephen Ross is putting his extraordinary BUSINESS PROWESS to work in an attempt to corner the market? In order to steer Jim Harbaugh toward being the head coach of his Miami Dolphins.
Harbaugh (who is under contract for one more year at 5 mill), is at serious odds with San Francisco Management, have been since their honeymoon! The Forty-Niners are demanding while hoping to get a high draft pick, or two for the rights to their head coach rather than just simply terminating his contract.
Again However.
Michigan has (subliminally) put a ridiculous number on the table that will scare the slum of Oakland and the Jets away, an offer that the Raiders, Jets, and Niners can't and won't touch. Therefore a draft pick bidding war for Harbaughs NFL rights are more than likely out of the equation. The Forty-Niners want to rid themselves of the GM's thorn. Upon the end of this season, one way or another, they will, though they would like to strong arm someone into compensation beforehand. Due to such a scenario of no bidding war amongst NFL teams. San Francisco will now need to significantly lower their high draft picks trade demands for Harbaugh, or risk his walking out the door to Michigan for nothing in return. (Subliminally)!
San Francisco Brass has bumped heads with Jim Harbaugh too many times, and they want him gone, while Harbaugh would be more than willing to jump ship a year early for the money that Michigan/(Ross) have (subliminally) put on the table.
Apparently.
Dolphin owner Stephen Ross' Michigan influence has all but eliminated the Raiders, Jets, and likely any other NFL team from the process.
Meanwhile, Ross as the Miami Dolphin owner,(when permitted to negotiate with Harbaugh directly) is more than willing to crush the Michigan offer to get him to Miami as the head coach. (Suggested numbers are hovering in the 10 plus million per year neighborhood) which would make Mr. Harbaugh the highest paid coach in any football venue.
Again, the egotistical Harbaugh has nothing to prove at the college level where Alabama's Nick Saban would still be making more money than him.
Could it be that the two individual entities (though bound at the hip) are working as one? Stephen Ross (due to his enormous donations to the Michigan program), and the Wolverines (in order to compensate the loyal Mr. Ross for all his much appreciated charity), as well as to keep the cash flow coming from his direction. Could it be that the two are in this game together?
The strategy, and goal to such a game is for Stephen Ross to land Jim Harbaugh as the head coach for his Miami Dolphins which would bring him more dough to donate in the future!
Way back when in 2011. Trent Baalke (a guy with 14 total years of NFL white collar experience) became the Forty-Niner General manager. He hired Harbaugh (an NFL player of 14 years, and 17 year coach). Harbaugh was happy to to get his first professional head coaching opportunity while remaining in the astounding San Francisco Bay Area that he and family had already resided in for the previous four years as the head coach of Stanford. The Forty-Niner facilities at the time was a stones throw from the Stanford Campus. Also influential toward him staying in the Bay Area was that the highly successful talent evaluator Tom Gamble was already with the SF organization. Harbaugh immediately promoted the now 28 year veteran Gamble from 7 year SF pro personnel director to player personnel director. Long time Jocks Jim Harbaugh, and Tom Gamble quickly clashed with the bookworm GM Trent Baalke. Shortly thereafter, Gamble was lured back to Philadelphia in 2013 with a promotion to Vice President of player personnel by Chip Kelly, where Tom Gamble began his career.
Stephen Ross may have been of some belief that Gamble was one of the keys that kept Harbaugh from opening the door to Miami. Ross has attempted to lure Gamble south a time or two since, and has supposedly become close with him since missing out on Harbaugh way back when. Tom Gamble is currently Philly's Vice President of player personnel while still pursuing a title of General Manager, and is very much liked by Harbaugh.
Stephen Ross may be able to honor both of their wishes this time around, in promoting Tom Gamble to a much deserved GM position, while simultaneously reuniting he and his buddy Jim Harbaugh. Tom Gamble has extensive experience in college as well as pro scouting, contract negotiations, and has also been a coach. While Dennis Hickey has done a more than admirable job in his one year with the Dolphins, and he will remain the General Manager that potentially hires his own Head Coach in Miami, Jim Harbaugh. If Gamble doesn't bite!
Current Dolphins Offensive Coordinator Bill Lazor came from the Eagles, so maybe Gamble likes him, though they spent just 2013 together in Philadelphia, so maybe not? Harbaugh was an NFL Quarterback who's expertise is offense, but a Head Coach needs to be a Head Coach, and an Offensive Coordinator should still be a necessary requirement!
Stephen Ross is putting some 400 million of his own money into the renovation of HIS Miami Dolphin Stadium, and the job will be completed in three to four years!
Is it possible that a Bizzillionaire that is used to winning is tired of losing?
Could Ross be putting his BUSINESS PROWESS to work in cornering the Harbaugh market? In order to assure that HIS 400 million dollar renovated stadium doesn't have a single empty seat due to a (potentially) inferior product on the field and/or sidelines.
Jim Harbaugh is a great player coach, motivator, leader, proven winner, and fan favorite (which equates to positive vibes from within as well as from afar)!
Quite honestly, he'd be every bit as likely to turn this current trend around as the present might be able to! Not suggesting that the present can't turn it around (with some key additions, and reasonable health, etc, etc). It's just that Jim Harbaugh is highly experienced as a BIG GAME Head Coach via college as well as in the NFL including two Conference titles games, and a Super Bowl appearance in his four head coaching NFL years. A proven winner, great player motivator, seat filler, fan favorite, and College Brethren to Stephen Ross!
It seems as though that business man Stephen Ross might get his man this time.
Potential Final scenario, if all else fails?
Harbaugh agrees with Michigan for 8 mill per without Miami having to relinquish a draft pick as trade compensation to San Francisco. Then during Harbaughs flight to Ann Arbor Michigan (on Stephen Ross' Private Jet) in a pre-arranged amongst all parties deal. Ross diverts the journey, and gives his Alma-Mata another crazy donation to buy out the rights to the Head Coach while giving Harbaugh an additional two plus million more than the 8 million per year offer that initially frees Jim Harbaugh from San Francisco.
If It Has To Be ?
Jim (The Tasmanian Devil) Harbaugh is the only legitimate alternative to Joe Philbin!!
Another beginner PUP is not a good option!!
THANK YOU for an Open Minded Read, and we look forward to your angle of view! : ))
HAPPY HOLIDAY'S, and MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!
GOFINS!!!
NOTE; This article was written with included pictures just after the loss to New England, and was to be posted had Miami lost to Minnesota!
Upon an exciting victory over the Vikings!
Miami Dolphin Owner Stephen Ross announced that Joe Philbin will return in 2015!
BLACK MONDAY 12-29-2014.
The NFL'S day of administrative reckoning is a week or so away, and door's are ajar!
It is beginning to appear that the Miami Dolphin owner Stephen Ross may finally be able to put his manipulative BUSINESS PROWESS to work in the NFL world through a side door.
Oakland, and the New York Jets are interested in Harbaugh too.
The collegiate Michigan Wolverines are also in the market for a head coach, but it's cold there while the now established as one of the NFL's best coaches in Jim Harbaugh has nothing to prove at the college level.
Stephen Ross and Jim Harbaugh are both Michigan Alumni.
Ross is one of Michigan's top money donators to their overall campus' mystique as well as educational, and football programs. The Miami Dolphin owner has A LOTTT to say about who and how much the Michigan Wolverines might pay someone to be a part of their program.
The Dolphins can not currently negotiate and/or tamper with anything Harbaugh (due to NFL rules), but Michigan can.
Michigan who again, (Ross holds a ton of influential power with) has (subliminally) put a ridiculous number on the table for Harbaugh as well as his current employers to consider, (8 MILLION PER OVER 6 YEARS).
Could it be that Stephen Ross is putting his extraordinary BUSINESS PROWESS to work in an attempt to corner the market? In order to steer Jim Harbaugh toward being the head coach of his Miami Dolphins.
Harbaugh (who is under contract for one more year at 5 mill), is at serious odds with San Francisco Management, have been since their honeymoon! The Forty-Niners are demanding while hoping to get a high draft pick, or two for the rights to their head coach rather than just simply terminating his contract.
Again However.
Michigan has (subliminally) put a ridiculous number on the table that will scare the slum of Oakland and the Jets away, an offer that the Raiders, Jets, and Niners can't and won't touch. Therefore a draft pick bidding war for Harbaughs NFL rights are more than likely out of the equation. The Forty-Niners want to rid themselves of the GM's thorn. Upon the end of this season, one way or another, they will, though they would like to strong arm someone into compensation beforehand. Due to such a scenario of no bidding war amongst NFL teams. San Francisco will now need to significantly lower their high draft picks trade demands for Harbaugh, or risk his walking out the door to Michigan for nothing in return. (Subliminally)!
San Francisco Brass has bumped heads with Jim Harbaugh too many times, and they want him gone, while Harbaugh would be more than willing to jump ship a year early for the money that Michigan/(Ross) have (subliminally) put on the table.
Dolphin owner Stephen Ross' Michigan influence has all but eliminated the Raiders, Jets, and likely any other NFL team from the process.
Meanwhile, Ross as the Miami Dolphin owner,(when permitted to negotiate with Harbaugh directly) is more than willing to crush the Michigan offer to get him to Miami as the head coach. (Suggested numbers are hovering in the 10 plus million per year neighborhood) which would make Mr. Harbaugh the highest paid coach in any football venue.
Again, the egotistical Harbaugh has nothing to prove at the college level where Alabama's Nick Saban would still be making more money than him.
Could it be that the two individual entities (though bound at the hip) are working as one? Stephen Ross (due to his enormous donations to the Michigan program), and the Wolverines (in order to compensate the loyal Mr. Ross for all his much appreciated charity), as well as to keep the cash flow coming from his direction. Could it be that the two are in this game together?
The strategy, and goal to such a game is for Stephen Ross to land Jim Harbaugh as the head coach for his Miami Dolphins which would bring him more dough to donate in the future!
Way back when in 2011. Trent Baalke (a guy with 14 total years of NFL white collar experience) became the Forty-Niner General manager. He hired Harbaugh (an NFL player of 14 years, and 17 year coach). Harbaugh was happy to to get his first professional head coaching opportunity while remaining in the astounding San Francisco Bay Area that he and family had already resided in for the previous four years as the head coach of Stanford. The Forty-Niner facilities at the time was a stones throw from the Stanford Campus. Also influential toward him staying in the Bay Area was that the highly successful talent evaluator Tom Gamble was already with the SF organization. Harbaugh immediately promoted the now 28 year veteran Gamble from 7 year SF pro personnel director to player personnel director. Long time Jocks Jim Harbaugh, and Tom Gamble quickly clashed with the bookworm GM Trent Baalke. Shortly thereafter, Gamble was lured back to Philadelphia in 2013 with a promotion to Vice President of player personnel by Chip Kelly, where Tom Gamble began his career.
Stephen Ross may be able to honor both of their wishes this time around, in promoting Tom Gamble to a much deserved GM position, while simultaneously reuniting he and his buddy Jim Harbaugh. Tom Gamble has extensive experience in college as well as pro scouting, contract negotiations, and has also been a coach. While Dennis Hickey has done a more than admirable job in his one year with the Dolphins, and he will remain the General Manager that potentially hires his own Head Coach in Miami, Jim Harbaugh. If Gamble doesn't bite!
Current Dolphins Offensive Coordinator Bill Lazor came from the Eagles, so maybe Gamble likes him, though they spent just 2013 together in Philadelphia, so maybe not? Harbaugh was an NFL Quarterback who's expertise is offense, but a Head Coach needs to be a Head Coach, and an Offensive Coordinator should still be a necessary requirement!
Stephen Ross is putting some 400 million of his own money into the renovation of HIS Miami Dolphin Stadium, and the job will be completed in three to four years!
Is it possible that a Bizzillionaire that is used to winning is tired of losing?
Could Ross be putting his BUSINESS PROWESS to work in cornering the Harbaugh market? In order to assure that HIS 400 million dollar renovated stadium doesn't have a single empty seat due to a (potentially) inferior product on the field and/or sidelines.
Jim Harbaugh is a great player coach, motivator, leader, proven winner, and fan favorite (which equates to positive vibes from within as well as from afar)!
Quite honestly, he'd be every bit as likely to turn this current trend around as the present might be able to! Not suggesting that the present can't turn it around (with some key additions, and reasonable health, etc, etc). It's just that Jim Harbaugh is highly experienced as a BIG GAME Head Coach via college as well as in the NFL including two Conference titles games, and a Super Bowl appearance in his four head coaching NFL years. A proven winner, great player motivator, seat filler, fan favorite, and College Brethren to Stephen Ross!
It seems as though that business man Stephen Ross might get his man this time.
Harbaugh agrees with Michigan for 8 mill per without Miami having to relinquish a draft pick as trade compensation to San Francisco. Then during Harbaughs flight to Ann Arbor Michigan (on Stephen Ross' Private Jet) in a pre-arranged amongst all parties deal. Ross diverts the journey, and gives his Alma-Mata another crazy donation to buy out the rights to the Head Coach while giving Harbaugh an additional two plus million more than the 8 million per year offer that initially frees Jim Harbaugh from San Francisco.
If It Has To Be ?
Jim (The Tasmanian Devil) Harbaugh is the only legitimate alternative to Joe Philbin!!
Another beginner PUP is not a good option!!
THANK YOU for an Open Minded Read, and we look forward to your angle of view! : ))
HAPPY HOLIDAY'S, and MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!
GOFINS!!!
NOTE; This article was written with included pictures just after the loss to New England, and was to be posted had Miami lost to Minnesota!
Miami Dolphin Owner Stephen Ross announced that Joe Philbin will return in 2015!
Miami Dolphin Expectations are an Illusion
Before getting into whether the Dolphins will win on Sunday in London, let’s take a little journey into illusion and see what comes out on the other side.
I’m not sure how illusions start… It’s amazing, simple clear logic usually matches actual results but those damn emotions somehow obscure the obvious. How many times have Dolphin fans heard this term recently, “he can’t be expected to learn on the job.” The object of that statement could be Ross, Hickey, Philbin, Lazor, Coyle or Tannehill.
He can’t be expected to learn on the job…
Well I’m here to present the bad news, everyone in this entire organization is learning on the job, starting at the top. Miami’s owner had no clue what it took to own a professional sports franchise five years ago. There are teams in this league with ownership ties to the infancy of professional football. Ross may have expected to dodge the shark-infested waters based on his experience selling real estate to Donald Trump, but unfortunately, it ain’t happening.
See, we talk about successful NFL franchises having long-term planning then conveniently forget about it 30 seconds later (another symptom of illusion). Foundations, not only in tenure, but also in a team’s style of play are indicative of long-term ownership.
The Dolphins were a “perfect” example of this back when Joe Robbie and Don Shula roamed the facility. The reality is, Miami last won a Super Bowl in 1974. The illusionists can point to that as lacking success, but they lost 3 Super Bowls over the next 20 years and were perennial playoff contenders.
Understanding what changed is easy, the long winning tradition ended with the death of Joe Robbie...
The league was simpler then and Robbie didn’t split time in New York or allow corporate “professionals” to his run franchise. He did not select employees based off skillfully written resumes, his hires needed at least a day of NFL experience at the job they were interviewing for.
Robbie stalked the halls of that building and knew every nuance of his football team. Football was his passion and New York was a place where enemy Jet fans forced him to keep his hands in his pockets for fear of slapping them.
These are the roots of true NFL ownership and any newcomer is learning on the job...
Okay, let’s start… New England – Robert Craft, Denver – Pat Bowlen, 49ers – Jed York (nephew of Edward J. DeBartolo Jr.), Pittsburg – Dan Rooney, New York Giants - John Mara, should I continue…
The Seahawks are the closest thing to new comers to raise the Vince Lombardi trophy since Tampa Bay. The Ravens had the same GM for 12 years through 2 owners. The Saints had an experienced coach and a great QB, not to mention the feel good story after Katrina. Teams can rise quickly, but the ingredients better be dynamic.
What is it about Florida, Tampa gave up 2 first round draft picks for John Gruden and then foolishly dumped him when the local media pressured the inexperienced ownership. The same media-fueled Tampa fans that booed Gruden, are now wishing he was back stalking the sidelines with his leering Chucky glare.
BTW, a guy named Robbie gave up a 1st round pick for coach Shula, Hummmmmm… After Robbie was gone, inexperienced ownership listened to know-it-all media and well, you know the rest…
In Seattle, Pete Carroll brought NFL coaching experience, college national championships and a burning desire to prove himself at the NFL level. Sounds a little like Nick Saban without all the outrageous expectations.
In Miami, replicating the winningest coach in football history is the only option before the media starts down the road of eviction. Yes, the same media that ran Shula out of town…
Nasty Nick Satan was just too hardnosed for those “professional” football players. He wanted them to do what it took to win and they wanted to bask over on South Beach. The media drooled over the “unnamed sources” telling them Nicky Satan wasn’t the saintly version they built him up to be. Yes Nick made mistakes, but in time, he would have put a winning team on the field. The media was not going to allow him that time and he bolted.
Nick's owner, H. Wayne Huizenga is the same guy that allowed local media run off The Don. Yep, H. Wayne knew all about garbage collecting, but was too worried about press clippings to do what was right as an NFL owner. The Don should have selected his own successor when he was ready, leaving a foundation that would continue to grow for years to come.
Water under the bridge I know, so that brings us to our maligned head coach Joe Philbin...
Oh, the media is just warming up to axe old terrible Joe and every loss is like a dry stump feeding the bonfire…
He’s too stoic, emotionless, won’t tell the poor deprived reporters who is starting at QB…
The woo, the indignity, the disgrace of it all…
They resort to asking a QB who led the Miami offense to a grand total of 2 TDs in the last 2 games whether he thinks it’s fair of mean old Joe. The QB, like the media, certainly must know more than the despicable mouth breathing coach.
Here comes that quote again, “he can’t be expected to learn on the job.” He should be prepared after all, it’s okay for the QB to still be learning in year 3, but a coach who has never been a head coach, at any level, better know how this works. That shiny resume said he could do the job and by golly, the media could do it better because they certainly will tell everyone what’s wrong.
Never head coached at any level, but can’t be expected to learn on the job...
There’s that illusion thing rearing its ugly head again. How the hell are you not expected to learn something you’ve never done before? What does that mean? Is it me? It’s like asking a kid to deliver the paper as fast as the kid before because he's smart and has a map of the paper route!
Looking past the masters of the obvious might lead to the right questions...
Given enough time, will Joe Philbin learn to be a great NFL head coach? Is he smart enough? Does he understand the game well enough? Does he have the motivational skills? Can he see talent? Can he groom talent? These are the questions a great owner will ask himself. If the answers are affirmative than a great owner will stick by his guns and there’s a reason why.
Those names of old school owners had the perspective of experience to know how to select Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin. They knew what a great coach looked like and had the conviction to rebuild with complete disregard to what the sensationalists had to say.
They gave those coaches the opportunity to learn…
Folks in Miami just want to skip that whole learning part…
Tannehill should be great, well in all likelihood Tannehill may be the only bird in this nest that actually has experience and he has shown the same tendencies throughout his entire QB career. Here comes the illusion again, we see this strapping youth, height, weight, arm strength, foot-speed, brains, brawn, every freaking tangible thing that could be asked for in a QB.
It’s the illusive intangibles that differentiate Ryan Tannehill and Tom Brady. The "W" in the win column. The furious 4th quarter rallies that make you sit back and say, "wow this kid's got the stuff!" Brady did that in college... Just sayin.
I’ve hear people argue that Dan Marino wasn’t that good because he never won a Super Bowl and then predict Ryan Tannehill will be great.
Will be great… Tannehill can learn on the job, but the owner, GM, HC, OC or DC not so much. Let’s get back to the illusion thing. Of all the folks listed above, only one of them is actually on the field during a game. Only one of them is affectionately referred to as the “Field General.”
Those management folks who do not take the field have never held their positions in the NFL before, not one of them. So are we expecting Ryan Tannehill to teach them?
This is the illusion I’m trying to point out, how the hell can the expectation be so enormously high for a group of individuals that are indeed learning on the job?
So there is only one answer people, only one route to success…
They all grow up together; we all suffer the same defeats that teach them how to win together.
I don’t like it.
I hate it, but I know any magic, is an illusion. If the plan is well thought out, success will follow when the pieces grow into place.
Was Stephen Ross expected to walk into the NFL and know instinctively how to build a franchise?
Was Dennis Hickey expected to have the greatest draft in NFL history on his first attempt?
Was Joe Philbin expected to understand not breaking the sanctity of the locker-room would lead to a scandal ignited by the press?
Did anyone really think Bill Lazor would call perfect games his first year as an NFL play caller?
Can Kevin Coyle truly be expected to disguise the lack of proficient players at linebacker for more than one game?
Those questions are reality.
I read all the lofty projections about games Miami should win, winning records and post-season play. I’m not sure if anyone even noticed the silence over here in reality land…
“PLAYOFFS, PLAYOFFS! DON’T TALK TO ME ABOUT PLAYOFFS!”
Let’s just start learning how to win against the Raiders. Just one little victory, one right call, one complete pass, one QB pressure, because…
The Miami Dolphins from the top to the bottom are learning how to win in the NFL…
Demanding anything more, is an illusion.
I’m not sure how illusions start… It’s amazing, simple clear logic usually matches actual results but those damn emotions somehow obscure the obvious. How many times have Dolphin fans heard this term recently, “he can’t be expected to learn on the job.” The object of that statement could be Ross, Hickey, Philbin, Lazor, Coyle or Tannehill.
He can’t be expected to learn on the job…
Well I’m here to present the bad news, everyone in this entire organization is learning on the job, starting at the top. Miami’s owner had no clue what it took to own a professional sports franchise five years ago. There are teams in this league with ownership ties to the infancy of professional football. Ross may have expected to dodge the shark-infested waters based on his experience selling real estate to Donald Trump, but unfortunately, it ain’t happening.
See, we talk about successful NFL franchises having long-term planning then conveniently forget about it 30 seconds later (another symptom of illusion). Foundations, not only in tenure, but also in a team’s style of play are indicative of long-term ownership.
The Dolphins were a “perfect” example of this back when Joe Robbie and Don Shula roamed the facility. The reality is, Miami last won a Super Bowl in 1974. The illusionists can point to that as lacking success, but they lost 3 Super Bowls over the next 20 years and were perennial playoff contenders.
Understanding what changed is easy, the long winning tradition ended with the death of Joe Robbie...
The league was simpler then and Robbie didn’t split time in New York or allow corporate “professionals” to his run franchise. He did not select employees based off skillfully written resumes, his hires needed at least a day of NFL experience at the job they were interviewing for.
Robbie stalked the halls of that building and knew every nuance of his football team. Football was his passion and New York was a place where enemy Jet fans forced him to keep his hands in his pockets for fear of slapping them.
These are the roots of true NFL ownership and any newcomer is learning on the job...
Okay, let’s start… New England – Robert Craft, Denver – Pat Bowlen, 49ers – Jed York (nephew of Edward J. DeBartolo Jr.), Pittsburg – Dan Rooney, New York Giants - John Mara, should I continue…
The Seahawks are the closest thing to new comers to raise the Vince Lombardi trophy since Tampa Bay. The Ravens had the same GM for 12 years through 2 owners. The Saints had an experienced coach and a great QB, not to mention the feel good story after Katrina. Teams can rise quickly, but the ingredients better be dynamic.
What is it about Florida, Tampa gave up 2 first round draft picks for John Gruden and then foolishly dumped him when the local media pressured the inexperienced ownership. The same media-fueled Tampa fans that booed Gruden, are now wishing he was back stalking the sidelines with his leering Chucky glare.
BTW, a guy named Robbie gave up a 1st round pick for coach Shula, Hummmmmm… After Robbie was gone, inexperienced ownership listened to know-it-all media and well, you know the rest…
In Seattle, Pete Carroll brought NFL coaching experience, college national championships and a burning desire to prove himself at the NFL level. Sounds a little like Nick Saban without all the outrageous expectations.
In Miami, replicating the winningest coach in football history is the only option before the media starts down the road of eviction. Yes, the same media that ran Shula out of town…
Nasty Nick Satan was just too hardnosed for those “professional” football players. He wanted them to do what it took to win and they wanted to bask over on South Beach. The media drooled over the “unnamed sources” telling them Nicky Satan wasn’t the saintly version they built him up to be. Yes Nick made mistakes, but in time, he would have put a winning team on the field. The media was not going to allow him that time and he bolted.
Nick's owner, H. Wayne Huizenga is the same guy that allowed local media run off The Don. Yep, H. Wayne knew all about garbage collecting, but was too worried about press clippings to do what was right as an NFL owner. The Don should have selected his own successor when he was ready, leaving a foundation that would continue to grow for years to come.
Water under the bridge I know, so that brings us to our maligned head coach Joe Philbin...
Oh, the media is just warming up to axe old terrible Joe and every loss is like a dry stump feeding the bonfire…
He’s too stoic, emotionless, won’t tell the poor deprived reporters who is starting at QB…
The woo, the indignity, the disgrace of it all…
They resort to asking a QB who led the Miami offense to a grand total of 2 TDs in the last 2 games whether he thinks it’s fair of mean old Joe. The QB, like the media, certainly must know more than the despicable mouth breathing coach.
Here comes that quote again, “he can’t be expected to learn on the job.” He should be prepared after all, it’s okay for the QB to still be learning in year 3, but a coach who has never been a head coach, at any level, better know how this works. That shiny resume said he could do the job and by golly, the media could do it better because they certainly will tell everyone what’s wrong.
Never head coached at any level, but can’t be expected to learn on the job...
There’s that illusion thing rearing its ugly head again. How the hell are you not expected to learn something you’ve never done before? What does that mean? Is it me? It’s like asking a kid to deliver the paper as fast as the kid before because he's smart and has a map of the paper route!
Looking past the masters of the obvious might lead to the right questions...
Given enough time, will Joe Philbin learn to be a great NFL head coach? Is he smart enough? Does he understand the game well enough? Does he have the motivational skills? Can he see talent? Can he groom talent? These are the questions a great owner will ask himself. If the answers are affirmative than a great owner will stick by his guns and there’s a reason why.
Those names of old school owners had the perspective of experience to know how to select Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin. They knew what a great coach looked like and had the conviction to rebuild with complete disregard to what the sensationalists had to say.
They gave those coaches the opportunity to learn…
Folks in Miami just want to skip that whole learning part…
Tannehill should be great, well in all likelihood Tannehill may be the only bird in this nest that actually has experience and he has shown the same tendencies throughout his entire QB career. Here comes the illusion again, we see this strapping youth, height, weight, arm strength, foot-speed, brains, brawn, every freaking tangible thing that could be asked for in a QB.
It’s the illusive intangibles that differentiate Ryan Tannehill and Tom Brady. The "W" in the win column. The furious 4th quarter rallies that make you sit back and say, "wow this kid's got the stuff!" Brady did that in college... Just sayin.
I’ve hear people argue that Dan Marino wasn’t that good because he never won a Super Bowl and then predict Ryan Tannehill will be great.
Will be great… Tannehill can learn on the job, but the owner, GM, HC, OC or DC not so much. Let’s get back to the illusion thing. Of all the folks listed above, only one of them is actually on the field during a game. Only one of them is affectionately referred to as the “Field General.”
Those management folks who do not take the field have never held their positions in the NFL before, not one of them. So are we expecting Ryan Tannehill to teach them?
This is the illusion I’m trying to point out, how the hell can the expectation be so enormously high for a group of individuals that are indeed learning on the job?
So there is only one answer people, only one route to success…
They all grow up together; we all suffer the same defeats that teach them how to win together.
I don’t like it.
I hate it, but I know any magic, is an illusion. If the plan is well thought out, success will follow when the pieces grow into place.
Was Stephen Ross expected to walk into the NFL and know instinctively how to build a franchise?
Was Dennis Hickey expected to have the greatest draft in NFL history on his first attempt?
Was Joe Philbin expected to understand not breaking the sanctity of the locker-room would lead to a scandal ignited by the press?
Did anyone really think Bill Lazor would call perfect games his first year as an NFL play caller?
Can Kevin Coyle truly be expected to disguise the lack of proficient players at linebacker for more than one game?
Those questions are reality.
I read all the lofty projections about games Miami should win, winning records and post-season play. I’m not sure if anyone even noticed the silence over here in reality land…
“PLAYOFFS, PLAYOFFS! DON’T TALK TO ME ABOUT PLAYOFFS!”
Let’s just start learning how to win against the Raiders. Just one little victory, one right call, one complete pass, one QB pressure, because…
The Miami Dolphins from the top to the bottom are learning how to win in the NFL…
Demanding anything more, is an illusion.
Miami Dolphin Season Rests on Ryan Tannehill
The Miami Dolphins enter 2014 season transitioning a new general manager supposedly finally on the same page with the head coach. A roster boasting the possibility of 12 rookies. The Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel’s David Hyde calling for the playoffs or house-cleaning... It's the annual beginning of the season ritual for the Dolphins, boom or bust!
A dose of reality shouldn’t be difficult for the Miami faithful when considering the last Super Bowl victory was a mere forty years ago. A forty-year drought should provide enough caffeine in the wake-up-call to resist the formula of constant churn, but it’s good media. Turmoil sells, the media figured this out long ago. Unfortunately for the writers, Stephen Ross intends to stand by the men he chose to lead this team after the Parcells debacle, leaving one person with the ball clearly in his hands.
Ryan Tannehill...
Certainly, it’s a lot of burden to place on one man, but the NFL is a league dominated by the performance of one player, the quarterback. To imply there are no other problematic areas on the football team would be foolish, but the playoffs are not like the illusive forty-year drought monster. Any NFL team can make the playoffs with stellar QB play. The Dolphins have enough weapons to join the playoff ranks.
It would be quick to say this article is another stirring of the pot but the message is simple, don’t blow up all the pieces if only one is the problem. The intent is not to hand Ryan Tannehill a pink-slip stamped with a declaration of his inability to play quarterback at the NFL level. The message is for him to prove he belongs.
Boss Ross has a unique ability to see beyond the BS and make proper conclusions. Jeff Ireland’s ineptitude made it easy for Ross to see the need for a new GM. Watching Daniel Thomas and Michael Egnew hit the waiver wire certainly added credence to that decision. Given the opportunity to prove he belonged, Ireland’s top 3 picks in 2013 barely touched the field.
Mike Sherman may have been a little harder decision with the OL problems and inconsistency at QB, but it was obvious the offense lacked flair. Mike Sherman was not going to be the OC to provide a progressive scheme, with or without an OL or consistent QB. From the beginning, Ross said he wanted a high-octane NFL offense, to get there Sherman had to go. Ross gave both Ireland and Sherman the opportunity and when they failed, he fired them.
Herein lies the problem for Ryan Tannehill, Sherman was undoubtedly influential in the decision to draft the Texas A&M QB. In this high-stakes arena, Sherman placed his future on the line by guaranteeing Tannehill was the man for the job. Without Sherman, Tannehill would probably not be in Miami. Luckily, Stephen Ross gives opportunity before making rash decisions.
During the 2014 preseason, it was quite interesting to watch Bill Lazor’s offense. It was obvious Ross and Philbin made an excellent choice at offensive coordinator. Seeing Ja’Wuan James step in at right tackle and a Miami team sporting 12 rookies validates Dennis Hickey. These two choices have one thing in common, they go against the good-old-boy network of replacing retreads with retreads. Tannehill was not chosen by the GM and not indorsed by the OC.
Ryan Tannehill is in a precarious position this year, he needs to perform or his job is in jeopardy like Ireland and Sherman before him. Ross has done his weeding in the front office, for the moment. He is happy with the performance of the head coach he selected and he likes the GM he chose. Should the offense flounder, Tannehill stands as the fall guy if he is incapable of running Bill Lazor’s scheme.
There is a positive thread in what may be interpreted as a negative narrative, it has been a long time since the key positions off the field have been competently filled. Kevin Coyle is a good defensive coordinator and 12 rookies hints at the lack of depth on his roster (not to mention Ireland's brilliance at selecting FA linebackers). It means the churning is over for the Miami Dolphin coaching staff and front office. Stephen Ross is finally happy.
In a league dominated by QB play, Tannehill’s performance will dictate whether the Dolphins reach the playoffs. The issue is of a larger magnitude for Ross, the playoffs are fine and dandy but the name of this game is Super Bowl. It is very difficult even for the ardent Tannehill fan to project him as a Super Bowl QB at this point in his career. Ross looks to end the forty year drought and knows Tannehill’s ability to play the position is paramount to seeing his dream become reality.
The reverse nature of sports is interesting; supposedly, great coaches and personnel people make great teams. The reality is, great players’ make great coaches and personnel people. Churning coaches and personnel people is usually a panacea for the inability of players, particularly the QB. Firing Jeff Ireland was correct… He was abysmal. Had he selected Matt Ryan instead of Jake Long, he would still be working in Miami.
Ireland Selected Ryan Tannehill…
From this perspective, it seems Ross has set this season up for Ryan Tannehill to make his statement or follow Ireland and Sherman out the door. Over the course of a season, the QB is the player most capable of influencing the win/loss column. If a team has a great QB, they win and if they don’t, they lose. There can be playoff seasons, maybe a Super Bowl or two, but long-term stability in the NFL rests squarely on the shoulders of the QB.
Miami has done everything right in nurturing Tannehill. They did not place undue pressure on him to be great, while at the same time gave him the experience of starting 32 NFL games. It is concerning, after 32 starts his future is still not obvious, but he has a shot. The Dolphins removed an OC who lacked vision and fired a GM with questionable talent evaluation skills. Now it is up to Tannehill to prove he has the ability to play quarterback at a high level in the NFL.
There is no right or wrong. There is no derogatory assessment of his ability. There is no prediction of the outcome. There is simply one variably that will lead to success or failure for the Miami Dolphins this season and his name is Ryan Tannehill. Stephen Ross gave Jeff Ireland and Mike Sherman the opportunity and they failed. It’s all a professional can ask for, an opportunity to be great.
Every Dolphin fan wonders the same question…
Can the Dolphins find a QB to slay the forty-year drought monster?
If Ryan Tannehill shows the way, house-cleaning will be forgotten in Miami…
A dose of reality shouldn’t be difficult for the Miami faithful when considering the last Super Bowl victory was a mere forty years ago. A forty-year drought should provide enough caffeine in the wake-up-call to resist the formula of constant churn, but it’s good media. Turmoil sells, the media figured this out long ago. Unfortunately for the writers, Stephen Ross intends to stand by the men he chose to lead this team after the Parcells debacle, leaving one person with the ball clearly in his hands.
Ryan Tannehill...
Certainly, it’s a lot of burden to place on one man, but the NFL is a league dominated by the performance of one player, the quarterback. To imply there are no other problematic areas on the football team would be foolish, but the playoffs are not like the illusive forty-year drought monster. Any NFL team can make the playoffs with stellar QB play. The Dolphins have enough weapons to join the playoff ranks.
It would be quick to say this article is another stirring of the pot but the message is simple, don’t blow up all the pieces if only one is the problem. The intent is not to hand Ryan Tannehill a pink-slip stamped with a declaration of his inability to play quarterback at the NFL level. The message is for him to prove he belongs.
Boss Ross has a unique ability to see beyond the BS and make proper conclusions. Jeff Ireland’s ineptitude made it easy for Ross to see the need for a new GM. Watching Daniel Thomas and Michael Egnew hit the waiver wire certainly added credence to that decision. Given the opportunity to prove he belonged, Ireland’s top 3 picks in 2013 barely touched the field.
Mike Sherman may have been a little harder decision with the OL problems and inconsistency at QB, but it was obvious the offense lacked flair. Mike Sherman was not going to be the OC to provide a progressive scheme, with or without an OL or consistent QB. From the beginning, Ross said he wanted a high-octane NFL offense, to get there Sherman had to go. Ross gave both Ireland and Sherman the opportunity and when they failed, he fired them.
Herein lies the problem for Ryan Tannehill, Sherman was undoubtedly influential in the decision to draft the Texas A&M QB. In this high-stakes arena, Sherman placed his future on the line by guaranteeing Tannehill was the man for the job. Without Sherman, Tannehill would probably not be in Miami. Luckily, Stephen Ross gives opportunity before making rash decisions.
During the 2014 preseason, it was quite interesting to watch Bill Lazor’s offense. It was obvious Ross and Philbin made an excellent choice at offensive coordinator. Seeing Ja’Wuan James step in at right tackle and a Miami team sporting 12 rookies validates Dennis Hickey. These two choices have one thing in common, they go against the good-old-boy network of replacing retreads with retreads. Tannehill was not chosen by the GM and not indorsed by the OC.
Ryan Tannehill is in a precarious position this year, he needs to perform or his job is in jeopardy like Ireland and Sherman before him. Ross has done his weeding in the front office, for the moment. He is happy with the performance of the head coach he selected and he likes the GM he chose. Should the offense flounder, Tannehill stands as the fall guy if he is incapable of running Bill Lazor’s scheme.
There is a positive thread in what may be interpreted as a negative narrative, it has been a long time since the key positions off the field have been competently filled. Kevin Coyle is a good defensive coordinator and 12 rookies hints at the lack of depth on his roster (not to mention Ireland's brilliance at selecting FA linebackers). It means the churning is over for the Miami Dolphin coaching staff and front office. Stephen Ross is finally happy.
In a league dominated by QB play, Tannehill’s performance will dictate whether the Dolphins reach the playoffs. The issue is of a larger magnitude for Ross, the playoffs are fine and dandy but the name of this game is Super Bowl. It is very difficult even for the ardent Tannehill fan to project him as a Super Bowl QB at this point in his career. Ross looks to end the forty year drought and knows Tannehill’s ability to play the position is paramount to seeing his dream become reality.
The reverse nature of sports is interesting; supposedly, great coaches and personnel people make great teams. The reality is, great players’ make great coaches and personnel people. Churning coaches and personnel people is usually a panacea for the inability of players, particularly the QB. Firing Jeff Ireland was correct… He was abysmal. Had he selected Matt Ryan instead of Jake Long, he would still be working in Miami.
Ireland Selected Ryan Tannehill…
From this perspective, it seems Ross has set this season up for Ryan Tannehill to make his statement or follow Ireland and Sherman out the door. Over the course of a season, the QB is the player most capable of influencing the win/loss column. If a team has a great QB, they win and if they don’t, they lose. There can be playoff seasons, maybe a Super Bowl or two, but long-term stability in the NFL rests squarely on the shoulders of the QB.
Miami has done everything right in nurturing Tannehill. They did not place undue pressure on him to be great, while at the same time gave him the experience of starting 32 NFL games. It is concerning, after 32 starts his future is still not obvious, but he has a shot. The Dolphins removed an OC who lacked vision and fired a GM with questionable talent evaluation skills. Now it is up to Tannehill to prove he has the ability to play quarterback at a high level in the NFL.
There is no right or wrong. There is no derogatory assessment of his ability. There is no prediction of the outcome. There is simply one variably that will lead to success or failure for the Miami Dolphins this season and his name is Ryan Tannehill. Stephen Ross gave Jeff Ireland and Mike Sherman the opportunity and they failed. It’s all a professional can ask for, an opportunity to be great.
Every Dolphin fan wonders the same question…
Can the Dolphins find a QB to slay the forty-year drought monster?
If Ryan Tannehill shows the way, house-cleaning will be forgotten in Miami…
Stephen Ross is Guilty of Trying Too Hard
Badgered incessantly for failing to lure a prominent head coach or GM, Ross’s shortcoming has not been rejection. Ross is guilty of trying too hard…
Most successful NFL teams have two things in common, a great quarterback and organizational stability.
Jim Harbaugh was never coming to Miami. He lived in the Bay area where QB Alex Smith was selected number one in the draft, but Ross tried to lure him anyway. Jeff Fisher wanted full control and probably would have gotten it, but Saint Louis had Sam Bradford and a bevy of draft picks, the choice again was obvious, but Ross still tried. Had Jeff Fisher proposed a contract number and insisted on Jeff Ireland’s removal, Ross quite possibly would have relented. The negotiation never got to contract talks.
Peyton Manning had the choice between coming to Miami and helping rebuild a franchise or going to Denver which had won a playoff game the previous season with Tim Tebow at quarterback! Manning was thinking about going to Super Bowls, rebuilding was not on his agenda. John Elway, a fellow member of the QB mutual admiration society, was running the Broncos and at least Manning was honest enough to decline an interview. Yet Ross went to the extent of asking Dan Marino to help.
During the GM selection process, Ross never lost sight of the two keys to success in the NFL. Ross defined the real problem, “we needed to have harmony within the organization. We had to think as one organization where everybody had respect for each other. That operates in the same mindset at all times in all situations.”
Ross knew Jeff Ireland did not have a mutual respect for Joe Philbin and said as much, “It goes back to having respect for each other. I didn’t feel it. We had to make a decision and move on.”
New England Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio and Tennessee Titans vice president Lake Dawson came into the interview with the expectation of being able to fire Joe Philbin. Ross was willing to try to work with these men and proved it by offering the position, but he made the offer with the expectation of organizational stability. Both men wished to keep Miami on the merry-go-round by starting over yet again with a new coach. Ross refused, and he and his team were labeled dysfunctional.
Ignoring the Ross mandate for organizational stability the critics call it blind loyalty to Philbin. The question is, can there be stability without loyalty? When an organization is criticized no matter what move they make, the only option is to ignore the critics and make decisions based on the guidelines that predict success. Stability begins with loyalty, Ross gave that same loyalty to Jeff Ireland only Jeff forgot the word “organizational.” Achieving organizational stability comes with mutual respect which is another form of loyalty to those on the same team. Ireland broke the chain of respect and the loyalty it implies.
Caserio and Dawson expecting Ross to meet their requirement of hiring their own coach were effectively asking Ross to abandon the philosophy he mandated for success, stability. These men called the situation in Miami untenable because their own egos were already bigger than the team. They saved face by walking away bad mouthing Ross and the Dolphins, but objectively they lost the opportunity of a lifetime by ignoring the importance Ross placed on the formula.
Dennis Hickey was considered a lame duck in Tampa after the firing of Mark Dominick. Why would Miami choose a GM who was on the chopping block in Tampa? The perception that Dennis Hickey was not worthy in Tampa is incorrect. Mark Dominick was fired because he hired Gregg Shiano who failed as an NFL coach. New coach Lovie Smith was given the power to hire his own GM, since Hickey was Dominick’s assistant he was the odd man out, it had nothing to do with his performance in Tampa.
Unlike the other candidates Hickey placed no stipulations on his employment. Hickey did not feel power was more important than teamwork. He was happy to collaborate with Joe Philbin and arrives with the most experience in the evaluation of college talent of any candidate interviewed.
Ross solved the stability issue by hiring Dennis Hickey. The team remains intact and there will be no sweeping changes.
The second key to NFL success is the QB position. Hickey brings new eyes to the table… Ryan Tannehill has many attributes of a good QB, but the tangible proof of winning has not shown through. Miserably losing the last two games to beatable teams still falls more on the field no matter how easy it is to fault the stoicism of the coach. Coaches and GMs pay the price for QB play every year in the NFL. Genius on the sideline and in the front office coincides with QB play on the field.
Ross has now bought all the groceries… If it does not translate to wins, he has no one to blame but himself.
Most successful NFL teams have two things in common, a great quarterback and organizational stability.
Jim Harbaugh was never coming to Miami. He lived in the Bay area where QB Alex Smith was selected number one in the draft, but Ross tried to lure him anyway. Jeff Fisher wanted full control and probably would have gotten it, but Saint Louis had Sam Bradford and a bevy of draft picks, the choice again was obvious, but Ross still tried. Had Jeff Fisher proposed a contract number and insisted on Jeff Ireland’s removal, Ross quite possibly would have relented. The negotiation never got to contract talks.
Peyton Manning had the choice between coming to Miami and helping rebuild a franchise or going to Denver which had won a playoff game the previous season with Tim Tebow at quarterback! Manning was thinking about going to Super Bowls, rebuilding was not on his agenda. John Elway, a fellow member of the QB mutual admiration society, was running the Broncos and at least Manning was honest enough to decline an interview. Yet Ross went to the extent of asking Dan Marino to help.
During the GM selection process, Ross never lost sight of the two keys to success in the NFL. Ross defined the real problem, “we needed to have harmony within the organization. We had to think as one organization where everybody had respect for each other. That operates in the same mindset at all times in all situations.”
Ross knew Jeff Ireland did not have a mutual respect for Joe Philbin and said as much, “It goes back to having respect for each other. I didn’t feel it. We had to make a decision and move on.”
New England Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio and Tennessee Titans vice president Lake Dawson came into the interview with the expectation of being able to fire Joe Philbin. Ross was willing to try to work with these men and proved it by offering the position, but he made the offer with the expectation of organizational stability. Both men wished to keep Miami on the merry-go-round by starting over yet again with a new coach. Ross refused, and he and his team were labeled dysfunctional.
Ignoring the Ross mandate for organizational stability the critics call it blind loyalty to Philbin. The question is, can there be stability without loyalty? When an organization is criticized no matter what move they make, the only option is to ignore the critics and make decisions based on the guidelines that predict success. Stability begins with loyalty, Ross gave that same loyalty to Jeff Ireland only Jeff forgot the word “organizational.” Achieving organizational stability comes with mutual respect which is another form of loyalty to those on the same team. Ireland broke the chain of respect and the loyalty it implies.
Caserio and Dawson expecting Ross to meet their requirement of hiring their own coach were effectively asking Ross to abandon the philosophy he mandated for success, stability. These men called the situation in Miami untenable because their own egos were already bigger than the team. They saved face by walking away bad mouthing Ross and the Dolphins, but objectively they lost the opportunity of a lifetime by ignoring the importance Ross placed on the formula.
Dennis Hickey was considered a lame duck in Tampa after the firing of Mark Dominick. Why would Miami choose a GM who was on the chopping block in Tampa? The perception that Dennis Hickey was not worthy in Tampa is incorrect. Mark Dominick was fired because he hired Gregg Shiano who failed as an NFL coach. New coach Lovie Smith was given the power to hire his own GM, since Hickey was Dominick’s assistant he was the odd man out, it had nothing to do with his performance in Tampa.
Unlike the other candidates Hickey placed no stipulations on his employment. Hickey did not feel power was more important than teamwork. He was happy to collaborate with Joe Philbin and arrives with the most experience in the evaluation of college talent of any candidate interviewed.
Ross solved the stability issue by hiring Dennis Hickey. The team remains intact and there will be no sweeping changes.
The second key to NFL success is the QB position. Hickey brings new eyes to the table… Ryan Tannehill has many attributes of a good QB, but the tangible proof of winning has not shown through. Miserably losing the last two games to beatable teams still falls more on the field no matter how easy it is to fault the stoicism of the coach. Coaches and GMs pay the price for QB play every year in the NFL. Genius on the sideline and in the front office coincides with QB play on the field.
Ross has now bought all the groceries… If it does not translate to wins, he has no one to blame but himself.
Dolphin Contract Players Doing Themselves no Favors
Now shout fans understand why I wouldn’t come off the five win prediction I
made prior to the season. Now they understand what was tugging in the back of my
mind forcing me to avoid following my heart. Been there, done that, no way was I
setting myself up for the inevitable disappointment. I wasn’t surprised
when I turned the television off at the beginning of the third quarter of the Tennessee debacle, I expected it.
After the 30-9 destruction of the Jets, the Dolphins should have
been poised to play hardnosed competitive football for the rest of the season,
but they packed it in. They beat their nemesis, proved they could rise above
500, and started beating their chests forgetting there was still half a season
to play. Many of the dismal stats that fans refused to believe were important, showed up when emotion could no longer carry the day.
“That team I watched for 30 minutes was not the team I
coached for eight games,” said Joe Philbin. Welcome to our world Joe. We’ve
come to understand, talent outside the QB position is not much different from
team to team. We understand the game is about intensity, discipline and
overcoming adversity. We learned this through watching other teams rise from the
abyss, like Colts have done with a rookie QB. We’ve learned good teams show up
for games every week because any team can win in the NFL.
The Dolphins have yet to figure it out. The QB or coach
doesn’t seem to matter, it’s the new Dolphin legacy, South Beach millionaires
cannot be expected to show up for mere football games, they may get dirt under
their manicured finger nails. The stands were noticeably sparse, perhaps the
faithful decided they would not get fooled again by a team that teases and then
kicks them in the face. One of the Dolphinshout brethren drove all the way from
South Carolina to feel that donkey punch. He will certainly think twice before
undertaking that endeavor again.
All the clichés dictating how to lose were on display, not
taking care of the ball and getting baited into bonehead penalties, not
tackling and being in the wrong coverage or no coverage at all, being
completely dominated on both sides of the line of scrimmage, it was all there
Sunday. Losing is inevitable when the team plays like losers. It’s okay Dolphin
fans you can say it, the Dolphins are losers.
Mr. Ross, it’s not about celebrity and extravagance, in fact
it’s the opposite. The real Miami fans are dwindling because the team appears
to care more about celebrity and extravagance than football. The supposedly
sold-out stadium was half empty because the tickets are bought by people that
can afford extravagance but could care less about football. The real fans are
priced out and people that can afford the tickets don’t show up. It’s the same
product on the field, players making too much money go partying on South Beach then
don’t show up for the game.
Sadly, Joe Philbin is only now beginning to realize what he
got himself into when he accepted this job. It must be puzzling to look up at a
sold-out stadium with a sea of empty seats. It must be puzzling to see a
talented football team decide to not show up for a game. The Dolphin roster
is full of players in a contract year and the impact on their future value
should be an incentive to play at high level week in and week out, but it
appears to be of no significance. It makes sense, once there's a few million in the bank football doesn't really matter anymore.
Logic would say one of two things, either these players do
not want to play in Miami or they are just not very good. Not
wanting to play in Miami would be inconsequential when a free agent can select his next
destination. Playing well in Miami would only raise his value no matter where
he lands, so that only leaves one option, these players do not care. They expect
the fans to show up in the stands but they don’t show up on the field.
The coaches can prepare a team to play, they can go through
all the scenarios expected on game day, but they cannot take the field. It is
up to the players to show up on game day and the Dolphins did not. The only
clear message after so many years of below average performances is to jettison
the players that are not showing up. Let pending free agents go. The team should be very careful which players on this free agent list deserve a premium contract.
Jake Long
|
Matt Moore
|
R.J. Stanford
|
Randy Starks
|
Tony McDaniel
|
Jonathon Amaya
|
Reggie Bush
|
Austin Spitler
|
Ray Feinga
|
Anthony Fasano
|
Nate Garner
|
Jonathan Freeny
|
Chris Clemons
|
Jason Trusnik
|
Pat Devlin
|
Sean Smith
|
Jabar Gaffney
|
Marcus Thigpen
|
Brian Hartline
|
Jeron Mastrud
|
Anderson Russell
|
Will Barker
|
The Dolphin management needs to call these players out.
Some will demand a salary comparable to the best players in the league at their
positions. The question is, are they playing at that level? Of the starters listed on the
left, only Randy Starks, Anthony Fasano and Brian Hartline
are playing a level worthy of consideration and only Starks is in the upper
echelon at his position. Long, Bush, Clemons and Smith are not worthy of anything more than a
mediocre deal equitable with their mediocre play. Of the non-starters, only
Matt Moore is worth the $2.5 million he is paid as a backup.
Two weeks in a row and the names Long, Smith and Bush
rise to the top of the ire in Dolphin fandom. For the second week in a row
Dolphin fans are asking these players to step up and be a veteran presence. It
is time for Joe Philbin to make some critical decisions, it’s obvious by sitting of
Bush and Incognito he is very unhappy with players making stupid mistakes.
These are also the players others look to for leadership and it is not
happening.
It may be a knee jerk reaction to call for heads to roll,
but the tabulator is making the calculations. If the Dolphins wish to change
the culture of the team, players that are not showing up on Sunday should be
looking over their shoulder. Joe Philbin has one chance to make it as an NFL
head coach. He has to decide whether a player is in or out every Sunday
and the players not showing up will need to be gone if he hopes to succeed.
Dolphin fans are over it, they have watched season after season of being out of contention by the beginning of November and they are not going to continue being disappointed. There will be more and more empty seats and it should be no surprise to Stephen Ross, Joe Philbin, Jeff Ireland or any player on this team...
The Dolphins need a wakeup call because if they spend another game sleep waking, the season will be over and another hunk of the once proud Dolphin fan base will walk away. There is a lot better things to do than watch the most disappointing team in the NFL. It's not worth expending the time, emotion or money on a team that can't bother showing up on Sunday.
If the Dolphins can't show up, I'm certainly not...
The Dolphins need a wakeup call because if they spend another game sleep waking, the season will be over and another hunk of the once proud Dolphin fan base will walk away. There is a lot better things to do than watch the most disappointing team in the NFL. It's not worth expending the time, emotion or money on a team that can't bother showing up on Sunday.
If the Dolphins can't show up, I'm certainly not...
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