Parcells helped Jets?

From the department of “just go away already” comes this latest news concerning former Dolphins head decision maker Bill Parcells.  According to ESPN New York, Parcells recommended Rex Ryan to the Jets, while he was already on the job in Miami.  All of this coming one year after Parcells passed on hiring Ryan for the Fins and making Tony Sparano the head coach instead.  Parcells even went as far to say that if it weren’t for his good relationship with Sparano from Dallas, he would have hired Ryan for the Dolphins job.

This story bothers me for many reasons.  Clearly, Parcells seemed to have selected the wrong guy for the job.  Maybe Sparano turns things around this upcoming season, but Ryan has sparked a dormant Jets franchise into relevance.  Worst than that is the fact that Parcells would give advice to a division rival, while his main concern should have been improving the Dolphins.  Parcells could have easily said, I like Rex Ryan a lot, but it’s not in my place to give information to another team.  End of story.  Instead, Parcells recommended Ryan, the Jets hired him and the rest his history.  Just another bad story in the forgettable Parcells era in Miami.

Dolphins get OC; need QB

The Dolphins are set to hire Brian Daboll as their new offensive coordinator.  Trust me, I’m already hearing it from Dol-Fans:  What??  Why??  It’s okay to question the move.  Fins owner Stephen Ross promised a more explosive offense, but Daboll comes from the Browns, one of the worst offenses in the league.  Actually, Cleveland was one of 2 offenses that were worse than Miami in 2010.  It doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in even the most die-hard of fans.  I get it.  It’s cool.  Yet, I have no problem with the move. 

Daboll is a young and well-respected guy.  Just 35 years old, he’s worked in the league with the Jets and Patriots.  He has that experience in the division, plus he got to learn the ropes from Bill Belichick.  Again, I think he can do a solid job with the Fins.  Also, don’t lose sight of the fact that he had very little talent to work with in Cleveland.  His quarterbacks were Jake Delhomme and rookie Colt McCoy, and his main weapons were Peyton Hillis and Josh Cribbs.  Yes, that was one of the few offenses out there that was even less explosive than the Dolphins.  Still, none of that matters.  Here’s the reality about the Dolphins offseason:  they need to find a quarterback.  Plain and simple.

Here are the top 5 scoring offenses in the NFL this season:  Patriots, Chargers, Eagles, Colts and Falcons.  As for total yardage, they were the Chargers, Eagles, Texans, Colts and Giants.  Now let’s look at the Top 5 worst scoring offenses in the league:  Panthers, Browns, Dolphins, Vikings, Bills.  You notice a trend?  Yes, it all starts at QB.  Tom Brady, Philip Rivers, Michael Vick, Peyton Manning, Matt Ryan, Matt Schaub and Eli Manning.  Those are all elite QB’s in the league.  That doesn’t even take into consideration the teams still alive in the playoffs.  The Steelers and Packers have Big Ben and Aaron Rodgers.  Both are elite at their positions.  The Bears have Jay Cutler.  He may be inconsistent at times, but few QB’s in the league have more talent.  Meantime, the Jets have Mark Sanchez.  While Dolphins fans hate the Jets and think Sanchez isn’t that good, the truth is, he’s a high draft pick who has a 4-1 career record (all on the road) in the playoffs in 2 seasons.  Plus, he’s made the big throws in some big games.  Sanchez has a bright future in the NFL. 

Now look at the bottom teams.  All of those teams had musical chairs at quarterback and still have no answers.  The Dolphins are one of those teams.  I still think Chad Henne will be on this team next year, but Miami must find a better option for now and draft a young QB to develop.  Either Henne can handle the challenge and improve or you just move on.  The point is, the Dolphins can’t stand still and hope he gets better.  In the end, while you can cry and complain about Tony Sparano and the hiring of Daboll all you want, if the Fins don’t improve the QB position this offseason, none of this will matter much.  Coaches are important, but it helps to have talent.  Just ask Bill Belichick.  He went from a bum on the Browns to a genius with the Patriots.

Dolphins Owner sets record straight…

Well, setting the record straight was the focus on Saturday’s so-called “media roundtable” out at Dolphins training camp.  By the way, it literally was a roundtable of media, as you can see by this bad picture with my camera phone.

 

Roundtable... waiting for answers

Okay, now on to the business at hand.  It would nearly be impossible to touch on everything mentioned by Stephen Ross during this meeting with the press.  Jeff Ireland and Tony Sparano didn’t say even close to as much.  What I’ll do is try to answer some of the key questions so many Dol-Fans wondered about after 5 of the strangest days in team history.  Plus, we’ll have the full video of the session on-line on Justnews.com later in the day, and I’ll link it here.

***UPDATE*** you can watch the complete roundtable video here:

http://www.justnews.com/video/index.html

 

 

Is Tony Sparano still the head coach of the Dolphins?

Yes.  The Dolphins owner maintained throughout that Sparano was always his man.  The team officially announced a 2-year contract extension for Sparano that runs through 2013 with a raise.

 

Did he offer Jim Harbaugh a contract to coach the Dolphins?

Ross says no!  Actually, he says he nor anyone in the Dolphins organization talked to any potential coach about the job.  He mentioned Bill Cowher by name, saying no one ever approached Cowher, despite numerous reports suggesting that Ross did.  He added that meeting with Harbaugh was done to make sure he did his due diligence as the owner of the team, but he says he was never ready to offer Harbaugh a deal.  In fact, Ross claims he told Harbaugh to return to Stanford.  He is very fond of Harbaugh, as a fellow Michigan alum, but he says when he met with Harbaugh, he knew deep down inside he had the right guy back home in Sparano.  In his words, “the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.”  (Funny choice of words, considering all the money rumored to be mentioned about Harbaugh) 

 

So why didn’t he just tell Sparano about his meeting?

This is where Ross began to acknowledge he made some mistakes.  Ross says he had a previous trip planned to Southern California, but felt he had to at least approach Harbaugh, since he would be close by.  He feels every fan would agree with him.  That said, Ross never told Sparano he was meeting with Harbaugh, and Sparano said he found out through text messages from friends and Dolphins players.  Ross says he tried to call Sparano on Thursday night when he saw all the news in the press, but the coach had his phone turned off.  Sparano says he did so to get an early night of sleep, and he woke in the morning with 31 text messages from players and one each from Ross and Jeff Ireland.  When Sparano and Ross finally talked, Ross says he told the coach he wanted to keep him.  He also said he wanted to meet with him about the circumstances surrounding Harbaugh.

 

Was Sparano angry at Ross and/or Ireland?

I think you know this answer.  While Sparano didn’t use the word angry, he did say, “the communication end of it could have been handled differently.”   Ross added, “I called him from the plane to tell him he was my man, and I realized the anguish I put him through.”  Sparano took the high road on any potential rifts with Ireland.  He said that they’ve worked together for a long time and don’t always agree.  He said some that smoke sometimes comes out of their meetings, but they all talked on Friday night about what happened and how to move forward.  Ross called Sparano “a great head coach” and Ireland agreed.  The GM added, “he is the right coach for this team.”  Ireland says he told that to Ross from Day 1 and Ross agreed, but the owner says he just wanted to take some time to think it over.  Ross says, like most fans, he was frustrated with the 2010 season.

 

So if this is all true, how did so many media reports suggest otherwise?

Ross made it clear a number of different times that this was his first big coaching decision.  He had never handled an interview process like this and admits he made some mistakes.  That said, the owner was dumbfounded at some of the reports about contract offers to others and meetings.  He said Carl Peterson (former Kansas City GM) is just a good friend and has no input on the Dolphins.  Ross claims Peterson was not on the trip out west, as reported by some outlets.   He blamed some of it on agents and just plain bad reporting.  He says he was overwhelmed at how this became a national story.  Ross looked bothered by it and said he wasn’t ready or expecting that.  He took some blame for it, but says he is telling the truth now.  Again, no offers were made and on one else was interviewed.  Basically, he’s saying Sparano was going to stay all along, barring a change of heart.  After the Harbaugh meeting, he recognized his instincts were right.  He wanted to keep Sparano.  Finally, Ireland stressed. “my relationship with Tony is a strong relationship.”  The only thing Ross kept repeating is that the communication between he and Sparano could have been handled better.

 

What’s his message to angry and disappointed fans?

Ross says that he wants to win a Super Bowl.  That’s all he wanted when he took over the team, and that’s all he will continue to work for.  He was clearly frustrated about the 2010 season and the way the last 5 days were handled, but he says it doesn’t take away from the ultimate goal.  When asked how keeping Sparano and Ireland after such a bad season, Ross says that decision was not taken lightly.  He did his research and asked around, but in the end, he felt Sparano and Ireland had the team going in the right direction.  He pointed to the winning overall record over the last 3 seasons.  Ross did stress that fixing the offense this offseason is a priority.  Sparano added that he is already looking into potential offensive coordinator candidates to replace the retired Dan Henning.

 

So, here’s a question to me, what should we make of all this?

No matter what they say, Sparano is clearly still angry at how this was handled.  I’ve been told by many good sources that he didn’t want any part of this media roundtable.  The reality is, Sparano is being a team player.  He aired out his issues with Ross and Ireland and they say it’s all fine now.  I’m sure some things were resolved, but Sparano is only human.  This has to linger a bit.  Still, a contract extension and raise should help him deal with the frustrations.  As for Ross, he is the ultimate spin master.  I’m sure he’s telling the truth about most things, but he’s no dummy.  You can’t tell me a billionaire businessman is this naive.  He knew what he was doing, and he was hoping to land a big time coach, if possible.  That doesn’t mean he’s not happy with Sparano.  He wouldn’t have handed him the keys to the franchise for another 3 years if he wasn’t.  I just think Ross was far too indecisive about how he wanted to approach this, and he fumbled the situation from the start.  Meantime, Ireland did all he could to keep his job.  I don’t blame him from having gone with Ross to recruit another coach, but he should have communicated better with Sparano.  He admitted that plenty of times.

 

In the end, we’re right back where we started.  Except, the Dolphins turned this into an unnecessary soap opera in plain view to the public.  They’re all coming back as one big, happy dysfunctional family.  This should be an interesting offseason.  Any chance the team would be on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” show next training camp?  Now that would be must-see-tv!

Sparano stays; now what?

Where do I begin with this mess of a Dolphins search?  First of all, I had no problem with the Dolphins keeping Tony Sparano, as long as other changes were made, in particular on offense.  Of course, I felt that way BEFORE Stephen Ross decided to publicly prance around the country to hire whatever big name he could find.  Meanwhile, Sparano was busy working at the Dolphins facility, clearly knowing he wasn’t really wanted.  Yet, here we are, right back where we started.  Every big name coach said no, and now Sparano is back after being dragged through the mud in the media and public’s eye.

Ross screwed up.  I can’t really say it any other way.  If he really wasn’t happy with the job Sparano did, he should have just fired him.  That’s the problem, he wanted someone other than Sparano, but he wanted to keep his current coach on a leash.   It’s almost like Ross wasn’t sure what he wanted.  If he was so committed to big change and star power, why didn’t he just give Bill Cowher full control?  Clearly, money wasn’t an issue.  Ross seemed determined to keep Jeff Ireland around, even if it meant losing out on a proven Super Bowl winning coach.

The Dolphins owner, much like the team’s offense this season, had a terrible game-plan.  He had to know from the start that Sparano-Ireland was a package deal.  Again, I was all for keeping both for one more year, but if a change was made, they both had to go.  Ross didn’t seem to understand this concept.  It backfired badly!  Cowher wouldn’t have it, Gruden would only come for an insane salary and Harbaugh knew that this type of situation was a recipe for failure.  I know Harbaugh needed a great sell to leave his current home.  The reality is, if Harbaugh really wanted to leave the Bay Area, he would have jumped to Miami.  Still, something about the Dolphins situation turned him off.

It’s starting to look like that may have been Ross.  It’s bad business to be known as an owner who will leave his coach hanging out to dry.  It’s the same reason why owners like Daniel Snyder and Al Davis have notorious reputations.   Ross had all the right in the world to make a change and expect better, but he could have handled this in 100 different ways that made more sense.

Now, he’s left with Sparano as coach and a strained relationship between coach and GM.  It’s not exactly the ideal situation for a team looking to rebuild its image with fans this offseason.  All that said, I’m a Sparano backer.  I haven’t seen him as the problem all season.  The offense was hampered by a quarterback that regressed and an offensive coordinator that sure didn’t help the cause.

That coordinator, Dan Henning, is set to retire, so the search to replace him will begin.  Meantime, Henne will likely be on the Dolphins roster next season, but whether he’ll have a chance to start is to be determined.  One thing that’s easy to determine is that Ross took an ugly situation and made it worse.  Let’s just hope his unintentional confidence in Sparano pays off.

Harbaugh: Worth the Risk?

This town is in a frenzy over the Dolphins head coaching search. As we reported last night, Fins owner Stephen Ross travelled to the west coast to try to reel in Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh. By now, most Dol-Fans are aware that Ross is trying to make Harbaugh the highest paid coach in the NFL. I’ve been bombarded by questions like why? And, doesn’t Ross remember Nick Saban? Trust me, I’m a little concerned about that too. Let’s break down the pro’s and con’s.

Reasons why Harbaugh is worth it:

First of all, it’s not our money. Why do we care if Ross spends 5 million or 50 million on a coach? The NFL doesn’t have a salary cap for coaches, so it wouldn’t hinder the moves Miami can make with players. Yes, 8 million per season is an insane number, but again, many Dolphins fans have complained to me for the last year that this owner doesn’t do enough. Wouldn’t spending this kind of money and making this kind of effort be seen as doing all he can to improve Miami? I think so.

As for Harbaugh the coach, he has done an amazing job of transforming Stanford into a powerhouse in just 4 years. He is known for his creative offensive mind, and he knows how to coach quarterbacks. That last sentence should be music to Dol-Fans ears. The Dolphins offense has been a major problem, and the Fins haven’t had an impact QB since Dan Marino. Harbaugh seems like the right guy to bring some creativity back to Miami’s offense. Meantime, he’s a young and emotional guy. He’s very media friendly and is a players coach. I spent some time around Harbaugh over the last couple of weeks while serving as an emcee at a couple of Orange Bowl events. All I can tell you is that I was very impressed with his attitude and personality. It’s hard not to like him. You combine that with his football knowledge, and it’s easy to see why Ross is targeting him.

Reasons why Harbaugh is not worth it:

Well, simply put, college coaches who jump to the NFL for their first head coaching jobs in the league haven’t had much success. Here are the last 7 coaches in that position to make the jump:

Lane Kiffin, Bobby Petrino, Nick Saban, Butch Davis, Steve Spurrier, Mike Riley and Dennis Erickson.

Do you know their combined NFL records? 130-186. You don’t need to be a football fan to know that’s not good. Also, as many of you have mentioned, we all remember what Saban did in Miami. I know many of you hate Saban, but he’s a damn good coach. Yet, he couldn’t handle the NFL. It’s not an easy transition, but some history suggests it can be done. Let’s not forget Tom Coughlin was a successful coach at Boston College before winning in the NFL with the Jaguars and Giants. Also, closer to home, Jimmy Johnson left the Canes and won 2 championships with the Cowboys. It can be done, but it’s far from a sure thing.

So where does that leave Dolphins fans? Well, I would’ve liked Bill Cowher to get a chance, but clearly, Stephen Ross didn’t want to restructure the entire organization. Harbaugh is a big change, but the Dolphins will still have Jeff Ireland making personnel decisions. Meantime, Harbaugh can go out and get the offensive coordinator he wants.

In the end, to answer the title of this post: yes, I think he’s worth the risk!

Have faith Miami fans. No one knows what the future will bring. On a side note, this process has been a farce. Ross has kept Sparano hanging while wooing other candidates. It’s not a good way to do business. But, I’m writing this post from a strictly football perspective. If Harbaugh takes the job, embrace the fact you’re getting a young football mind, who has the chance to turn things around. If he turns out to be another hot college coach who can’t cut it in the NFL, let’s not act like we’re surprised. We’ve been warned.

Dolphins, Harbaugh update…

Well, it seems Dolphins owner Stephen Ross won’t take no for an answer!  According to an ESPN report http://www.justnews.com/sports/26383313/detail.html , Ross is headed west to make a final pitch to Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh.  Remember, Ross hasn’t even fired Tony Sparano yet, or interviewed any minority candidates to satisfy the NFL’s Rooney Rule.

Still, the sources indicate that Ross is willing to make Harbaugh the highest paid coach in the NFL at somewhere between 7-8 million dollars per year.  How do you feel about this Dolphins fans?  Could desperation be setting in?  It’s clear, Bill Cowher has lost interest, while Jeff Fisher is staying with the Titans.  It may be Harbaugh or bust (keeping Sparano) for the Fins.

I like the fact Ross is being bold and aggressive, but I can’t help but get a Nick Saban feeling in my gut.  To be continued…

Hottest candidate: Harbaugh

A few weeks ago, when fans starting to really vent about the job Tony Sparano has done as Dolphins head coach, I mentioned a candidate to watch: Jim Harbaugh. I know fans were hoping that Bill Cowher could replace Sparano, if he were to be fired, but with every passing day, that seems more unlikely. Keep an eye on what happens with Harbaugh. He’s the hottest candidate out there for just about every job, including the Dolphins. Fins owner, and fellow Michigan alum, Stephen Ross is very fond of Harbaugh. As he decides the fate of Sparano, it doesn’t surprise me to hear that Ross is exploring the possibility of Harbaugh. Of course, Harbaugh can pick and choose where he wants to go at this point. If the money and oppurtunity is right, that could be Miami. It’s something worth watching.

Does Sparano Stay?

I think I must have been asked this question 500 times in the last 2 weeks. I just got back from Tony Sparano’s year-end press conference and the coach wouldn’t even touch the subject. He’d only say that he’s meeting with Dolphins owner Stephen Ross this week and that’s it. The coach also wouldn’t discuss the future of offensive coordinator Dan Henning. Honestly, he doesn’t have to. I think most expect Henning will announce his retirement this week. As to the original question? Only Ross knows the answer, but I think Sparano survives this disappointing season.

Yesterday’s loss in New England is what many people would call a “coach killing” performance. If that team supports Sparano, they sure didn’t come out and play like it. That said, Sparano talked today about this body of work, and no, I don’t think he meant how much weight he’s lost. Clearly, the coach is talking about taking over a 1-15 football team and turning them into a division winner in his 1st season. Let’s not forget, that was just 3 seasons ago. Yes, they’ve been disappointing the last 2 seasons, but it’s not all Sparano’s fault.

I think the failures of Bill Parcells can ironically be what saves Sparano’s job. That, and the uncertainty surrounding the labor issues in the NFL. Parcells failed badly and then bailed quickly. I’m assuming Sparano will sell Ross on giving him one more chance to do it his way, along with GM Jeff Ireland. Remember, it’s Parcells who handpicked many of the players who have disappointed so much over the last 2 years.

As for Ireland, it’s hard to say what Ross is thinking right now.  He must be furious with the way the team ended the season. This is a very important decision, and he really must weigh the pros and cons. Does he want to bring in a Bill Cowher type and give him a big contract and full power? Kind of sounds like what Parcells had, and that didn’t work out so well. He could go the college route and chase a Jim Harbaugh, but we’ve all seen plenty of successful college coaches fail in the NFL (Nick Saban anyone?)

Finally, back to the labor unrest. All signs point to a lockout that will shorten the offseason. A new coach would be severely impacted by that, in terms of player personnel decisions and implementing a new system. These are all things that need to be taken into consideration.

In the end, we should know in the next couple of days what direction Ross will send the Dolphins. For Dol-Fans, the hope is, whatever decision is made, the direction is going upwards for Miami in the future.

A Miami Heat Town?

Very quietly, the tide is turning in South Florida.  While the Dolphins keep slipping into NFL irrelevance by missing out on the postseason for the 8th time in 9 years, the Heat are the biggest story in the NBA.  Along the way, they’re also becoming the biggest story in a town long dominated by the Fins.  That dominance is about to change.

For the first time that I can remember, a regular season Heat game beat a regular season Dolphins game in the ratings.  It happened on Christmas day, when the Heat-Lakers game on WPLG (had to give the station a plug) got a better rating than the Dolphins-Lions game the next day.  While some may disregard the significance of this fact, I think it’s very significant.  Remember, the Dolphins only play 16 games a year, and while it was a meaningless game against the Lions, this points to the lack of interest from fans.  Meantime, people around South Florida were glued to their TV’s to watch a Christmas day regular season NBA game.  Again, it could signify a MAJOR shift for South Florida sports fans.

While Dolphins owner Stephen Ross has been busy trying to make a Dolphins game a great event around the stadium, Heat owner Micky Arison has been busy making the game itself on the court an event.  The Heat’s acquisition of the top player in the game has guaranteed daily media interest.  Simply put, more and more people are caring about the Miami Heat than ever.  While this has happened, newer generation Dolphins fans are getting frustrated.  The die-hard 25 year season ticket holders will always be there for the Dolphins, but they can’t afford to lose the young fan base.  That’s the group that’s not worried about history and only worried about having a good time.  If you call watching a team go 1-7 at home a good time, than maybe the Dolphins will always be king.  More likely, it’s the 3 Kings that will continue to win and attract attention, and along the way, expect the big ratings to continue.

Sparano, Dolphins in Trouble

It’s been one of the more bizarre seasons for the Miami Dolphins in a long time.  Somehow, the Fins have managed 6 road wins, which in most years is more than enough to get you in the playoffs.  Unfortunately, they’ve also managed to lose 6 games at home, including losses to Cleveland and most recently Buffalo.  Simply put, the Dolphins are a mediocre football team.  The worst part is, they’ve been this way for a while now.

Much of the blame will fall on Miami head coach Tony Sparano.  It’s the life of a coach.  You win and you get a lot of credit.  You lose and you’re on the hot seat.  Sparano was one of the hottest coaches in the league just 3 years ago.   Yet now, his job is, no doubt, in jeopardy.  If I know anything about Dolphins owner Stephen Ross is that he’s not a patient man.  He’ll publicly stay out of the spotlight and say that things are going to be okay, but behind the scenes, Ross is furious at what has transpired.  He should be!  Ross took over a proud franchise that had Bill Parcells running the show.  All indications were that Parcells was in the process of making this team relevant again.  Instead, Parcells is gone and this team has major issues.

Let’s start with the issue that has loomed over this team since Dan Marino departed:  Miami has no quarterback.  Chad Henne has gotten a fair chance to be the guy, but he’s looked way to indecisive and mistake-prone.  If a new regime comes in, you can be sure Henne will not be a part of it.  Even if Sparano is retained, I can’t imagine Henne getting a shot to be the starter next season.  Yet, anyone who thinks this team is just a better QB away from being a contender is kidding themselves.  This team has question marks at running back, offensive line, defensive line, and the secondary.  Plus, it’s clear Miami needs a new offensive coordinator.  I truly think it won’t matter, because I expect Dan Henning to retire after this season.

As for Sparano, I don’t like his chances of surviving this debacle.  Ross is hell-bent on making the Dolphins a great product for the fans.  Most of his efforts have centered on game day festivities at the stadium, but he knows you can’t lose 6 games at home and expect fans to be patient.  Dol-Fans deserve better.  As sad as it is to say, the Dolphins haven’t been a very good franchise in a long time.  They haven’t won a playoff game since 2000!  Something will change this offseason, and it’ll likely start with the coaching staff.

Names like Bill Cowher and Jon Gruden have been mentioned already as possible replacements for Sparano.  Obviously, these are big name coaches, but let’s not forget how big of a name Parcells was when he arrived.  Where did that get the Dolphins?  I think if the Giants don’t fire Tom Coughlin, I like Cowher’s chances of landing here.  You know Ross will do everything in his power to land him.  Meantime, it’s hard to tell what Gruden wants to do, but I’d say he’s option number two.  Also, don’t ignore Stanford coach Jim Harbough.  Ross is a University of Michigan alum (Harbough stared there), and he has a lot of respect for the up-and-coming coach.  Whoever the coach is in 2011, he’ll need a new QB, a possible new running back, a new offensive coordinator and plenty of other changes.  Fans have to get used to one simple fact:  the Dolphins aren’t a team close to being a Super Bowl contender, they’re a team closer to being a rebuilding job.  Who will be in charge of that rebuilding is the real big question.