Let's not discuss Jeff Ireland. Whether that debate is still alive or if time of death has been called on it, remains to be seen. I don't have any interest in that discussion and honestly I haven't had a ton of interest in that discussion for quite some time. Fact of the matter is, it's tough to figure out who a good replacement candidate would be. Most of these guys are assistants, personnel directors and whatnot. We have mostly no idea what decisions were theirs versus their bosses, and on some level every decision was their bosses' decision. I think we get caught up in the individual wins that several of these guys have and maybe that's a mistake. You say, oh this guy drafted Jason Pierre-Paul, he knows what's up. But in the long run, he's also going to draft Vernon Gholston. They all do. What's really important is looking at the long term pattern of what the guy has done and how he's approached the job. I think it matters who the guy learned under, as well. The depth and breadth of a guy's experience comes into play. It just so happens these things are kind of difficult to see. Us coming up with GM candidates is a fool's errand in some ways. But I think it's still a worthy discussion. I'll start by putting forward the first person I'd put on the interview list. I think Nick Caserio is a strong candidate because of his background at New England. He was the WRs Coach during their record-breaking year with Moss, Welker and Stallworth all playing like heroes. He started off as a personnel assistant with NE in 2001, became an offensive coaching assistant in 2002, moved back to the personnel side as an area scout in 2003, became Director of Pro Personnel 2004 to 2006 (think: Corey Dillon, Keith Traylor, Rodney Harrison, Rosevelt Colvin, Junior Seau), became the WR Coach in 2007 during the record breaking 18-1 year, moved back to the personnel side as Director of Player Personnel in 2008 (replacing Thomas Dimitroff). Scott Pioli left one year later and the Patriots did not replace him. Caserio just took a larger hand in what was going on. Standout draft picks from 2009 to 2013 include Sebastian Vollmer (late 2nd), Myron Pryor (6th), Julian Edelman (7th), Devin McCourty (late 1st), Rob Gronkowski (early 2nd), Brandon Spikes (late 2nd), Aaron Hernandez (4th), Brandon Deaderick (7th), Nate Solder (mid 1st), Shane Vereen (late 2nd), Stevan Ridley (3rd), Marcus Cannon (5th), Chandler Jones (late 1st) and Alfonzo Dennard (6th). Some picks that I don't think you can quite refer to as successes or failures relative to price tag include Dont'a Hightower (late 1st) and Patrick Chung (early 2nd). On the other hand I think you can say that the following were busts: Tavon Wilson (2nd), Taylor Price (3rd), Jake Bequette (3rd), Ras-I Dowling (early 2nd), Darius Butler (2nd), Ron Brace (2nd), Brandon Tate (3rd), Tyrone McKenzie (3rd), Rich Ohrnberger (4th), Jermaine Cunningham (late 2nd). It's probably a bit early to evaluate the 2013 draft class. Howveer, they're getting strong involvement from rookies. Standouts include Chris Jones (6 sacks), Joe Vellano, Logan Ryan, Duron Harmon, Aaron Dobson and Kenbrell Thompkins. They've gotten a total of 2,374 snaps out of their rookies. Miami has gotten a total of 453 snaps out of rookies. Having worked on both the coaching staff and the personnel side for the entire time that New England has been a good football team, I think he's probably had maximum exposure to what many deem The Patriot Way. A lot of coaches shake off that tree thinking they know it but in reality they don't because they've only had exposure to certain things. Caserio's had exposure to pretty much all of it, including the team's habit of sending present picks for better future picks (which I think is a highly advantageous strategy). A guy from the Patriots wouldn't necessarily be good news for the media policies of course, but that's something you need to grill him on in interview to find out how he really feels about that stuff.
Pats had a tonne of misses on high picks the last 5 yrs, not sure they are the organization I'd want a personnel man from tbh Ck. I personally prefer the Giants organization as they usually draft in the later half of rd #1 and usually hit on their guys. GB is also a prime organization to look at imo.
How about Eric DeCosta from the Ravens as GM and bringing David Shaw from Stanford as his HC. I think I like that duo very very much.
TOM HECKERT JR. Just make sure we get him a driver and keep his office stocked with Jack Daniels. THAT would be awesome. it would almost be like they hired.....ME.
What about Scot McCloughan Senior Personnel Executive from Seatlle? he was the 49ers GM and acquired "five of the 49ers' nine Pro Bowl selections this year: Dashon Goldson, Frank Gore, Justin Smith, Joe Staley and Patrick Willis." 11 of 22 starters from the SB team were from his regime. During his time with Seattle they drafted pretty darn good too.
I want one of 2 guys: Tom Gamble or Marc Ross. They are light years better than Ireland....most of the other candidates are simply just massive upgrades
Not only that, but the positions they have filled. Eric DeCosta rose from the ranks of the Ravens and has been there like 15 years as a scout, head college scout, director of player personnel and now assistant GM to a pretty good GM. This is a very very solid resume. David Shaw has been a QB and WRs coach in the NFL apart from being the OC and HC of the Stanford Cardinals with plenty of success. I think this combination is incredibly intriguing.
The problem with Eric DeCosta is he has repeatedly refused to interview for jobs as he's got strong family ties in Baltimore, is happy there, and most people in the organization believe he's easily the man that will replace Ozzie Newsome when he retires. I admire the idea of marrying the two together considering their past experience with one another, but if DeCosta just isn't interested then that goes up in smoke.
Good point, and perhaps the reason why someone with a resume like that has still not taken a GM job. Hopefully things change in that respect and he is enticed into thinking about this GM job. I really like that combination of GM/HC.
I have a question. I know there are system coaches..ones that prefer say a West Coast offense vs..Pro Set..are GMs ever system GM's? Do they ever become better at judging talent based on a specific style of play? Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
Honestly... Id inquire as to whether or not Jimmy Johnson would. He has always been known as a very good talent evaluator. Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
Jerry Reese actually has blown it the past few years.....not to mention they always seem Cap strapped
Sure, I think it's more likely you get good at identifying good players in specific archetypes if you keep doing that, and do it well enough repeatedly to stay employed. If you keep picking 3-4 defensive ends, I think you get a pretty good idea of who is going to be good and who isn't for example. But that still translates well, a good 3-4 DE is probably going to be a good 3-technique.
I think who the next GM will be will depend on if Ross demands that this next GM keeps Philbin as the HC. If Ross will let the next GM determine who the coach will be, I suspect quite a few more quality GM prospects will be interested in taking the job. If on the other hand, Ross only wants to hire a GM who will agree to keep Philbin as this teams HC, I don't see the top tier list of candidates being interested in taking the GM job. Ross made a mistake two years ago when he forced the next HC to work with Ireland if he wanted the job. Hopefully he won't make this same type of mistake when hiring his next GM. If the next GM wants to keep Philbin without pressure from Ross, I'm okay with that. But if he wants to hire his own HC, Ross should let him.
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9524561/bill-barnwell-ted-thompson-influence-nfl Brian Gutekunst is a name to keep an eye on. He's a young, up and coming guy. I'm not sure if he has dabbled in any advance analysis with the use of more advanced statistics, but given his age, he may not be a part of the old guard who wants nothing to do with stats. Several teams have been setting up analytics departments, and this is something I think the Dolphins should embrace.
The other question is what background would we prefer the GM to come from? From my perspective you can either get a guy that's been in the pro personnel side dealing with free agents and NFL players, the college side involving scouting, or a more business oriented leader type. I know Idzik for the Jets came from the money side as director of football administration. I've seen Omar Khan's of the Steelers name bounced around as a potential candidate for a role similar to this. I think you'd expect someone coming from that background to be more of a leader who puts together a strong team beneath him. Khan is young and has connections to Bill Cowher if you're interested in luring him as a coach. I'm probably more partial to hiring a better overall leader like Khan and then building a great staff. While it's tempting to be interested in someone with a heavy college scouting background for the draft, that doesn't guarantee success. Ireland came from a college scouting background.
I was doing some reading on this last week, and came across this dated article from Jan 2012. Although dated, it provided me with a good shortlist to do further research. I think this topic is the most important one we are facing at the moment as it is clear Ireland's days are numbered. IMO, he even got the proverbial kiss of death in the Tiricio interview that saw the likes of Sparano out. In any event, here is an excerpt from the article listing numerous candidates. Again, it is dated so keep that in mind. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000...ties-present-themselves-for-hot-gm-candidates
While what you are stating may not be exactly a situation where you are supporting the use of advanced analytical methods in your decision making, I do feel you are more likely to get someone that will embrace those methods if they come from the economical side of the equation. What you have to decide is just how much actual player evaluation does the GM do in the long run? I'd venture to guess that the underlings do the bulk of the work and pare the list for the GM to make a decision. The other part of this would be this. Would you rather bring in a guy like Omar Khan as a Team President and have him hire the team's new GM and head coach, having both report to him? A lot of teams have traditional scouting types as GM or a situation where the head coach is the central power who are setting up advanced analytical departments that are being utilized. Andy Reid hired a guy named Mike Frazier to set up the analytical department for the Chiefs. Kevin Demoff is the CEO of the Rams and runs their analytical department, which Jeff Fisher embraces.
I'm not so sure about that. From what I've read, Philbin still seems to be regarded very well around the league. A lot of GM candidates may believe the blame lies with the cards that Joe was dealt.
Zach Thomas, Jason Taylor, Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, Emmit Smith, Russel Maryland, Patrick Surtain, Sam Madison Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
"While I am patrolling this message board..they know not to hire those that agree with me, because they would then be bestowing power on me. I AM the Miami Dolphins." Now That would be Whitlock. I am just saying..they hire Heckert..I would know More people in this Org.
I think Gaine could function as the head of scouting in the interim until we have a GM. But if Ross is going in a new direction from Ireland, I don't imagine it will be Gaine. Believe it or not Gaine was against signing Cameron Wake for the contract we gave him out of the CFL.
Just woke up and can't think of his name but he works for the 49ers. It's Tom Gamble. I don't want anyone part of this organization to get a promotion. We need a clean slate all around. -Sent from my TMO Samsung Galaxy Note 3 using Tapatalk
Replacing Ireland with his right hand man Brian Gaine would be such a Dolphins thing to do. God help us if that happens.
That's too bad because they could build a nice football program together, and may somewhere else. With David Shaw having coached J Martin at Stanford, that could be another reason for Shaw staying away from Miami. In regards to Caserio, I wouldn't imagine NE being thrilled with the idea of losing him to a team w/in their division. Could NE block that move in any way even though it should be a promotion based on his current title?
