http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/09/26/2425101/as-miami-dolphins-fizzle-tony.html hmmmmm...Don't know what to believe anymore.
The disturbing thing is that Jeff Ireland continues to look like he has kevlar on and he shouldn't. This roster is negligent. For all the talk about how greatly Henne has improved, we have a good receivers unit and for the second game in a row Daniel Thomas has run well, and yet the offense produces 29 points in 2 games, and botches it in key situations. That's the quarterback Jeff Ireland still wants to claim is a winner. The worse this team does though, the less poop Jeff Ireland is going to be able keep from sticking to him. If we really are in a position of picking Andrew Luck, there's no survival for Jeff.
I don't remember....did we not sign Harbaugh because he wanted too much money? Or did he just not want to be in Miami? Seemed like he wanted to be in SF...but if it's because they didn't want to pay him I'll be pissed. Meanwhile they'll buy up a bunch of unsold tickets that nobody wants.
If he ordered Ireland not to spend and then Ireland covers for Ross by sacrificing Tony, I really want a new owner and this place fumigated. FACT: Ross is a scumbag who wants the novelty of a team for celebrity and cares NOTHING about winning.
To quote from the article: That’s what a team source said later when I asked if changes were coming to the coaching staff. “No, nothing’s happening,” was the response. I pressed. Are you 100 percent sure? “One hundred percent,” the response came Maybe for this week Tony is safe, but after we hit the bye-week at 0-4? How much pressure will there be to make a change? Ross had better get used to blacked out games and lots of empty stadium seats for the rest of the season. Fans are looking at yet another rebuild process for the Dolphins (though I think it could be done in two years) and are growing very, very weary.
The part about Ireland being safe is disheartening, though. Sparano deserves every bit of criticism he receives and precious little of the blind, misplaced faith in him showed by some, but Ireland is responsible for this roster. He is not without blame.
This was clear to me when they said they made Vernon Carey take a pay cut so they could quote on quote sign someone.
Don't see that Ireland didn't get a bulls eye painted on his back promises him no accountability . I don't expect to hear from an owner that a change at GM after game three is considered.
This is a scoop? I've been saying this stuff in the best fit HC thread all night. CK is right about Ireland. He should have a hotter seat than Sparano. He's the one who waits over one year to claim a #2 TE off waivers, only to cut him 2 weeks later. He's the one who thinks we're doing so well at FS that we didn't have to explore the market, regardless of Ross' financial restraints. He's the one recycling guys from his days in Dallas, perhaps the laziest pro scouting efforts I've ever seen. Oh, and I've said for a while that Ross is not super-rich as most here believe. He lost a LOT of money in the real estate crash and had to borrow money and pay Huizenga in installments to buy the team. Honestly, he probably shouldn't be an NFL owner on a financial basis alone, regardless of how hands-off he is when it comes to football decisions.
It's a hazy situation with Harbaugh. The Miami people insist that they were the ones that said no, and after their meeting with Harbaugh, Stephen Ross supposedly told Jim that he should stay at Stanford. However, I think a lot of people, perhaps legitimately, wonder if Jim Harbaugh wasn't the one that told Miami no, and turned out only to be using Miami as leverage against both Stanford and San Francisco. We'll never know. All I'll say is, IF Miami legitimately had the opportunity to bring in Harbaugh...then I think it was a big mistake to pass up on that opportunity. That's my opinion.
I like Ireland more than most, but If he's in the way of some Head Coaching candidates, I'd fire him immediately. I wouldn't mind hiring someone from Baltimore, Pittsburgh or Philadelphia.
Jeff Ireland's constant focus on young players is also not helping Coach Sparano. A hungry veteran is even better than a hungry young guy. To just throw out this blanket idea that we're going to assume young guys are almost always better than old guys...is lazy roster management.
A good QB does not go 0/4 with an interception when the game is on the line. That last try, with decent time left and a timeout sealed my distrust of Henne. I just don't think he can get it done when it matters at this point and he has been showing it in the redzone. That last series was more of the same. Game on the line; points on the line; he can't get it done.
There isn't a single fact in this statement. I realize the forum is in knee jerk panic mode after the Phins lost to a team that just isn't as bad as most believe, but come on. Scumbag? Novelty? Doesn't care? Give me a break.
There have been big moments like that in each of the first three games. Chad Henne is 0 for 3 in those big moments. There was one against NE when we had a chance to pull within 7 points with plenty of time left. and we turned the ball over on downs. There was a similar moment at the beginning of the 4th quarter against Houston where we executed a long drive, and had a chance to go up on them 17-16 by getting a touchdown. Couldn't punch it in there either. This one was the most obscene though. We're talking about 10 yards. I think some people are going to conveniently try and big up the task involved when they ask why Henne was in that position in the first place, but we're talking about something that should have absolutely been about a 2.5 out of 10 on degree of difficulty scale. We're talking 4 downs to gain 10 yards and give Carpenter a legit shot. THEY HAD A TIMEOUT. Every section of the field was open to him. Four shots. Three incompletions and an interception. That says it all. It really does.
He created one turnover this year and tried for another in this one. he is a great guy BTW...personable, salt of the earth type of person. A spectacular human being. Too bad his football playing days ended a couple years ago.
Seriously I don't even know what's worse. Signing this scrub to an NFL contract despite him being probably the worst pass blocker in the league last year, or starting him despite him being probably the worst pass blocker in the league last year. Does Nate Garner not exist?
Don't be silly; we need Nate Garner as a Tackle-eligible, since our TEs can't block. Nor catch, for that matter.
lol... I didn't really notice Garner out there, but now that I think about it, I do recall hearing the refs all game long saying #75 is eligible in the background... I'll tell you one thing, our TE's can probably block better than Columbo. Just take his *** out and replace him with Garner. It CAN'T get any worse, literally.
Sparano is going ot get run out of town, whether he deserves it or not. The fans, per usual, have never really liked him and every loss just serves as further evidence as to why he should never be allowed to walk the face of the earth, or whatever some of you spurt out on here. Personally, I think if we go into the bye week at 0-4, it is going to be REALLY difficult for Ross to keep Sparano around and salvage any amount of fans coming to games. Ireland, also in my opnion, deserves to stay. I don't really see his track record as being absolutely horrid like others do. I see a GM that, up until thisyear, seemed to have a plan when it came to free agency and the draft. Admittedly, this year felt like they have simply thrown darts at a wall full of names and gone after whoever it landed on (why trade for Bush and then refuse to use him how it is proven he should be used?), but it now seems that this may be because of Ross handcuffing Ireland. If Ireland was able to go after exactly who he wanted, I assume we might see different players on the field for us right now, and we may have different results. But given that Jake Long, Chad Henne, Daniel Thomas, Karlos Dansby, Vontae Davis, Sean Smith and Brandon Marshall, among others, have been acquired on Ireland's watch, I am willing to see what he can do going forward still. But the bottom lline is that we simply don't have very good depth anywhere and our team falls apart late in games. To me, those two elements are damning of a coaching staff that still tinkers too much with the back end of the roster and doesn't know how to win games...just on how to not lose them occasionally. The defense this year is soft, and I can't pinpoint exactly why. Maybe it is talent related, or maybe it is a mindset that permeates down from the coaches and certain veteran players that have seen this happen before. Whatever the reason, it hasn't been pretty. And it has made for a miserable experience for us as fans. And ultimately, this is what will condemn Tony Sparano, Jeff Ireland and Stephen Ross. I don't buy that Ross doesn't care about winning. I believe Ross DOES care about winning, maybe if only because he knows how it affects his bottom line, or maybe because he is a competitive fan like all of us. Ultimately the reason doesn't matter, as long as it exists, which I believe it does. The ball is in his court though on how he steers this ship toward calmer waters, because right now, the fans are hurling themselves overboard with or without life preservers at the ready.
My God, Huizenga trusted Parcells to bring in "football people" and he signed the franchise away to a guy who was less qualified than himself. No Virginia, there isn't a Miami Dolphins. It's just a hollow corporation now that is exploiting a once quality name. Like a Huffy Diamondback bicycle sold at Wal Mart. It's a team whose pedals are falling off...
where does the concern come from about Ross and Harbaugh? was there an article or something?...Of course it would of been a horrible decision, but why would he go thru all that and make a bad decision...doesn't make any sense..
You can't blame Ireland for signing Colombo with Tony's recommendations. As a backup RT at the minimum you take him, it's Tony who keeps starting him. I'll tell you one thing I would not be at all surprised if Brian Daboll is HC after the bye week. That or we suit up. I don't think they're going to get a Cowher or a Gruden. I think cost is going to be a major factor. Also Ross cannot be feeling good about that Sparano extension he's going to have to pay. Nolan has to be chomping at the bit. Anyone have any recollection of him as a HC outside of offensive play-calling.
That right there is very telling in itself...that the problems of the Miami Dolphins goes further than just Sparano and Ireland. Ross didn't want to crack open the checkbook and spend some of that $8 million we are under the salary cap? I've said it be, Ross is not a football guy. He's not a Dan Rooney, a Ted Marchibroda nor a Joe Robbie...he's a businessman, looking more at dollars and cents and whether or not his business is paying back a positive dividend for his investment, regardless of the amount he's paid out...as long as the amount paid back to him is positive, he could care less. At least Ross isn't like Jerry Jones or Al Davis...actually to run the day to day football operations.
If he's concerned about that 8m that tells you the team's financial situation. Ross strikes me as the type of guy dare I say it that would move the team to Los Angeles.
Since he is involved in the real estate end of the world trade towers, I like to think of Ross as a neo-conservative shill. The funny thing is that it seems that Ross thought that just giving the fans the latest technological gadgets and celebrity would be enough to sell tickets. What is it about these people that they are so enamored with gadgets? I guess the Jungian collective unconscious was at play when the Republicans felt so cool by tweeting texts to each other like naughty little schoolchildren during a State of the Union. Anyway, I now believe I see the humorous poetic justice of the record home losing streak. I think he'll just bounce whatever ideas Ireland put in his head off of Carl Peterson. Clearly, he thinks he can trust him. I hope Ross knows, however, that there is a contingency among the fanbase/hobbyists who know that no appreciable coaching change will take place until the end of the season and you might as well keep Sparano on for the rest of the year. Nolan has crapped the bed and you'd be wasting valuable data on Tony's tenure by giving Daboll a venue to uselessly audition for other teams. Remember Cleveland pulled the plug on Belichek prematurely. Besides, for me personally, I would view it like a hilarious reality show. I so wanna see Tony make it to at least game 8.
I'd rather see Daboll at least to do some very aggressive things as far as play-calling goes. Perhaps new things the NFL hasn't seen in the form of what the Bills are doing in Buffalo. Wild guess we find a way to use Henne, Bush and Thomas in the backfield together.
What disturbs me is Henne must have been Mind-%$#^ed by these guys. Henne had it in him to put a game winning drive together against the Jets in 09. Why is it all of a sudden he cant move the ball 10 yards? Roll him out! That was a money play two years ago.
I 100% agree! Jeff Ireland is striking me as the ultimate brown noser right now. He seems to have suckered Ross into thinking that he is qualified for this job.
Unfortunately, I think you are correct. Chad is 2 for 10 for 22 yards and 2 interceptions in the last two minutes of a half, and he is 8 for 21 for 47 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 1 interception in the redzone. He is playing his worst ball when the field is compressed and the pressure is on him.
