The Ireland question(s): When does he have to produce by? *SURVEY*

guess you didn't watch the games

 

Miami was never leading against NE and the closest they got was 4 points when the score was 7-3. NE was leading 17-3 in the second quarter. To say the game was in question the entire time was completely false. Against SF, they lost by 14 points, not exactly a close game.

 

We almost beat the Patriots and 49ers. WOOOO!!

Jeff Ireland for Executive of the Year.

 

He should have produced by now. He hasnt. Therefore IMO, his time should be done here.

We're still lacking talent in the back end of our defense (Jones has emerged however), our offense still lacks playmakers, especially at WR, and our OL, which there's alot of money tied up, isn't really that spectacular. These three areas on the team have been sub par, during his entire tenure here.

 

Irish is on borrowed time. The problem is, he is Ross' security blanket. He is a cockroach who will survive the holocaust of yet another bad season and bad profitability. If you watch the games, you see how many plays are missed, not executed, and how many situations we find ourselves in because we have no virility. Our defense is inadequate. Our offense is impotent. And its because we have guys who have no business on the field as key cogs in our system.

Years and years of high draft picks and cap room. There is no excuse for our personnel to be so weak. Well, there is one excuse. Who buys the groceries again?

 

You obviously didn't watch this game.

NE's 17 first half points:

• TD from botched Fields' punt on our own 12 yard line.
• TD following a roughing the punter after holding NE to a 3 & Out.
• FG after a Tannehill Sack/fumble on our 25 that bounces right into the hands of Wilfork who's completely blocked out of play. {NE gets a free 3 points despite our defense holding them to another 3 & out. That's a 10 point swing from 1 roughing the punter penalty.}

Points Miami had taken off the board:

• pick 6 called back from a "low block" that didn't even matter. Cost us 4 points.

**That's a 21 point swing but we we still only trailed 17-10 at halftime and lost by 7..... Plus we gave Brady his worst game of the year and sacked him 4 times.

New England's first 9 possession stats if not for the roughing the punter (first 42 minutes of play):

• 7 pts
• 103 net yards (including holding penalties, excluding Brady's INT)
• 48.9 Brady QBR
• 3 straight 3 & outs
• would've been a 4th 3 & out if not for a BS pass interference on Dansby vs Vereen

You obviously didn't watch this game either. It was MUCH closer on the field.

• We spotted San Fran a TD after the muffed punt inside our 10. Otherwise the game is tied 6-6 through 3 quarters.
• San Fran scored a 4th quarter TD, then we followed it with one our own.
• Score would be 13-13 at this point with 5 minutes to play and no need to go for it on 4th down inside FG range, meaning it's 16-13 Miami following a successful FG.
• Kaepernick's 3rd & 5 50 yard TD run with 2 minutes left would've won it for them 20-16. But then again, if they're trailing by 3 points with 4 minutes to play, they might not be running 5 straight times, especially not on 3rd & 5.

 

What does coaching, namely correcting 4 years of inferior Sparano coaching, have to do with Ireland?

How can you possibly come to that conclusion? Do you consider anything less than the Steel Curtain as "inadequate"? Our defense is keeping us in games.

 

Keep fighting the good fight brah. Don't the idiot fans have all the air time.

 

Ireland bears responsibility for many things. But people's inability to understand the BASICS of football isn't one of them.

 

No, it isn't. We have a very good defensive line, good but not quite great linebackers, and might have a keeper at quarterback. We also have a franchise punter, which is so ridiculous I almost can't believe I typed that. Every other group on this team is fundamentally flawed.

Coaching can't overcome that.

 

Wait, moral victories don't count in the standings?!

 

He has to produce by next year since that will be his third year in charge.

 

Topic hardly even make sense, define produce........the product being team success ? or player aquisition ? I know how the critics work hard to assign credit of each loss solely to the GM. Most of their ideas of how a Personnel dept. would "produce" are humorous anyway. Also, I love the personal deadlines everyone makes, and the assumptions of how hot the seat is, borrowed time, etc........ the people in charge have a different point of view. Start paying attention.

Carl Peterson isnt going to endorse anyone over his own protege, he didn't last january, so and he won't again anytime soon. No disrespect, but you guys just ignore all the details so it's hard to take your analysis seriously. In reality theres nothing the GM can do to change anyones mind, they're all made up anyway. The media turned on him, with help from dez bryants crying, and that's all it takes for some people to make their minds up.

 

Under this logic, no GM should ever be fired.

 

Are you serious ?

Is this man really serious ? Does he really believe this ? I have to start thinking they are secretly Jets fans here just to torture us.

 

We know he can't, the record speaks for itself.

 

Okay we'll play this game.....

So how have the players he's drafted and are no longer with the Dolphins done ? How many are currently on NFL rosters ? Because if they have talent some team is going to find them.

How many players have come through here and been looked at by Ireland and not signed and then gone to other teams and are now starters ?

 

(sarcasm)But Gardenhead don't you know that's not his fault, because every player he drafts should be a pro bowler - dude where did you miss that ?

 

Even then our idiot owner would probably refuse to take it.

 

Or ya'know, you could analyze what the GM has produced relative to others and figure out how good or bad he is relative to average?

TOO MUCH THINK

 

No we didn't, but he's still here like that one annoying Christmas guest that just won't go away.

 

May I add this caveat, I don't know how serious the gameplanning was for the last two. They know they can beat us, and if you remember when they really needed to win the games, each put on a drive in the 4th qtr that made us look like the team we have been since 2009.

NE had the Texans right after us, and I have no doubts their coaching staff and players were already thinking about that game when they came to play us.

Hmmmm, food for thought aye ? (probably not for the blind homers, cause it ruins all their pre-conceived notions that we are a great team that just has bad luck & refs that hate us).

 

Or ya'know, we could see how many GM's who've had 4 straight losing seasons will still be around after this year.

But you do that other stuff and let me know the results.

 

On a fundamental level, I feel strongly that you cannot judge a GM by a single season record any year, due to all of the variables that are out of his control (coaching, health, luck, ect.). However, when a guy has been in place as long as Ireland has and hasnt built up much of anything, then I think that he's definately on probation in 2013. He's built up a good defense, yes, and thats despite trading away the team's best DB before this season. However, aside from finding Wake in the CFL (and Kudos to him for that), how many playmakers has he aquired on defense? How many guys who truely make a difference, and not just a cog in the system? Our guys drop interceptions more than any team Ive ever seen, and its been happening for years. Aside from Wake, our players miss on sacks that they should get far too often. And I expect more than good run defense from Dansby and Burnett for the money that the team is paying them. They dont cause turnovers and they arent pass rushers.

On offense? OK, name a WEAPON that Ireland has brought to the team. Please, name one. Hartline and Bess have developed into dependable supporting recievers, but neither is a difference maker. We've completely ignored the tight end position while the rest of the league has turned it into a factor in the passing game. Ireland had nothing to do with either Ronnie Brown or Ricky Williams, and hasnt brought in anyone else who the team can rely on to move the ball on the ground. Bush is a complimentary player. Take away a few big games, and he just doesnt get the job done at least 2/3 of the time.

Im not calling for Ireland's head....yet. However, if he makes no move to improve the team's passing game via free agency or trade before the draft, then he's dead to me. We're at the very bottom of the league in almost every meaningful passing stat. Yes, part of that is on a Rookie QB, but if he can look at that and not TRY to make it better, then what the Hell is he doing in the job?

 

But Seth its all coaching, didn't you know that ?

 

In both games both of their offenses made the alpha moves when it was needed and our defense was their p*ssy *****.

That is why they are winners in this league and we are an also ran.

 

There's a vast difference in the equation of how long should he have, or how long does he have.

Many of us think he should have already been replaced. But I know what reality is, and he will be here next year, I am convinced of that. Doesn't make me a happy fan.

 

I drank the Ireland Koolaid, I admit it, But. I am just not that optimistic with the talent that the Dolphins have assembled. It seems like every year we tell ourselves that we are just a few pieces, a few players away from a good team but we never seem to get any closer. I would love to be able to tell myself and believe that Ireland has drafted and assembled some very good players to form a good foundation but I can't. I am not anti-Tannehill and I believe he could be a good quarterback, but do I believe that makes Ireland an exceptional GM, no, not at all. I am just not confident or confortable with where the Dolphins are right now and I truly don't feel I am a bad fan for feeling that way. I have been a Dolphin fan as long as anyone on this board and have been one since before Miami played their first game in the AFL and that will not change, win or lose. I am not a bad fan because I don't have that confidence or hope in Ireland but I am still a fan.

 

You'd be a bad fan if you didnt care how bad the team was, and supported the coach and front office no matter what. Coaches, front office people and owners are just stewards of the Franchise. Im a fan of the Dolphins, the team, not the people who run the team.

 

Well, it's pretty simple. The normal time to judge a GM is 3 yrs. He's been with this HC one...so he has two more seasons to secure enough talent and play-makers for us to be competitive...simple as that. If Ross had wanted or schemed or planned to give Irish one more year (this year), I'm sure more attempts at securing a play-making WR and or/TE would have been made during this past offseason and thru this season... I'm not saying that they planned on losing this year, what I'm saying is that there is a plan to build this team mostly thru the draft. We were tight up against the cap last offseason for FA anyway. This year they have some options both thru the draft (with the extra picks acquired) and with some flexibility in the cap for FA.

 

Not sure how this response relates to my post your quoting. What from that post provides insight to my logic of how a GM's work effects the franchise ? There was nothing there to indicate one way or the other. My point was that the ownership just evaluated and decided to keep Ireland, and that everyone is ignoring that detail.

If there is any logic that is flawed, its the thinking that coaching is exempt, and the blame for our teams struggles fall directly on the GM's lap. No one has said anything about Sparano getting a raw deal because he had nothing to work with. To bring up logic in this argument is ironic.

 

You're really that much in the dark, and can only see your side of the argument ? You've got yourself that convinced ? Anyone who disagrees is a Jet fan out to torture you ? Not suprised ! It is the whiners and complainers who will forever appoint scapegoats, that are really doing a disservice to everyone. They are the Jet like cancers to this society. Put any one of you complainers in another fanbase that hasnt won a superbowl in the past 5 years, you get the same crybaby, doing the same childish things.

 

I'd look it up, but they don't keep stats for GM wins and losses.

How very bizarre. I wonder why that is?

 

All I know is that Ross stated before this season that he expected this team to have a winning record and make the playoffs. I was finished with Ireland after last season, but what anyone thinks about Ireland, even me, is irrelevant. The only person that matters is Ross. So far he hasn't said anything about Ireland and his job performance this season.

As much as I want Ireland replaced, I have come to the conclusion that the real problem with the organization is the owner. He just doesn't seem to have any idea what he is doing as an NFL owner. I fear that this team will not become a successful organization again until he finally decides to sell the team. Hopefully he is looking for a buyer at this time.

 

It's pretty unlikely he was setting expectations for Ireland publicly, rather than was just being optimistic.

I think there's also a problem(that is characteristic of opposition politics) in characterizing Ireland as both hilariously incompetent and dangerous. Maybe it's unfair to peg you with it, but a lot of people seem to believe that Ireland sucks at his job, but is awesome at keeping it, while somehow has tremendously erred in setting Ross' expectations. That seems pretty silly.

I don't know that the owner is really all that important. Jerry Jones has a dynasty. There are very few owners who are really responsible for their teams success beyond ponying up the money to run the team.

 

The owner is the most important person in the organization, because he is the person responsible for the hiring and firing of the personnel in the organization. As long as he is willing to keep Ireland as the teams GM, there is no other person in the entire organization who can make the decision that the team just might be better off going in another direction at the GM position.

The owner of a team also decides how much power to give the GM and the head coach. It was Ross who decided that Ireland would have all the power over player personnel decisions. That was suppose to be one of the main reasons Fisher turned down the head coaching job with the Dolphins. Fisher wanted final say in the player personnel decisions. The owner can also decide to appoint a head of football operations, who has power over the GM and the head coach, as Parcells did when he was with the Dolphins.

The owner may not have any control once the games starts, but he has total control over all the individuals he hires to coach the team, and who selects the the players for the team and everyone else in the front office of the team.

As the saying goes, "how effective a team is run, starts at the top". The owner of the team is at the very top. Everything else is irrelevant if the owner is inept in hiring the right people for the job. This applies in every business, not only in the NFL.

 

Most of the coaching/GM hires in the NFL are a result of popular sentiment. Every year, there's an incestual list of coaching and GM candidates that bubble up based almost entirely on who they know, with the occasional hot college coach coming up. An owner for the most part picks from those options like a high schooler trying to get a date at the prom.

I don't think very many league owners are capable of on their own merits identifying quality football minds, and even a lot of the successes on the league are built on a combination of blind luck, endorsements, and fan sentiment.

This really doesn't explain how Norv Turner keeps getting hired as a head coach but it's also a sticking point in several major scientific theories as well so I'm not too concerned.

 

No matter how coaches and GM's are selected, it is ultimately the responsibility of the owner to decide which coach or GM he will hire. Some owners tend to be better at these selections and they are the owners who have the teams with the better records, year after year.

When Joe Robbie started the Dolphins, he was smart enough to hire the best GM in the business at the time, Joe Thomas. After a few years of watching his team lose with George Wilson as the HC, he went out and hired Don Shula, a proven winner in the NFL. He ended up having to give the Colts a first round draft pick for signing Shula, but it was well worth it over the long run, as well as the short run.

It is obvious that whomever Ross is listening to, when he is hiring his football people, doesn't seem to have a clue either. Ireland worked under Carl Peterson in Kansas City prior to going to the Cowboys. So I assume Peterson is the person Ross is relying on to give him advise on retaining Ireland and also helped in the hiring of the new HC of the Dolphins after Sparano was fired.

I just don't have a lot of confidence in Peterson either. I realize that Ross doesn't have the knowledge or expertise required to make good selections in the personnel running his football team. My biggest concern though is that he also doesn't have anyone around him to give him solid advise in regards to the best people for these jobs.

If we are waiting for blind luck to occur, in the selection of a GM who might turn this team around, we may be waiting for a long time. All I know is that I don't feel Ireland is the right guy for the job and hopefully Ross will have some good advise or dumb luck in picking the Dolphins next GM.