Salguero: Ireland told his job is safe

I hope this isn't true. We haven't done anything yet. We're 7-6.
2009 we were 7-6
2010 we were 7-6
2012 we were 6-7

Our best finish 7-9. Let's see how this plays out. The only possible way Jeff Ireland can stay is if we make the playoffs. If we don't, from an accountability level, he has to be fired.

Personally, unless this team gets into the playoffs at 9-7 or wins a game there, I want Joe Philbin & Jeff Ireland gone.

 

I think allot of this is knee jerk reaction.

Who the hell knows if Ross if gonna keep him or not. How many times have we heard something that someone told one of these reporters...that absolutely couldn't be further from the truth.

We will know soon enough...just go with the flow...

 

Jeff should definitely be gone, but after reading about some of the advanced analysis stuff that Joe is using and reading that Joe will use analytics going forward, I want him kept. We have a unique opportunity here to finally be smarter than the rest of the league with Joe Philbin. We don't need to keep Jeff Ireland around to mess it up.

 

The scary part is that I can see Ross addressing the fact that Joe and Jeff are not on the same page when it comes to personnel by bringing in a third person to be the deciding vote when there is a disagreement as opposed to just getting rid of the problem (Jeff Ireland).

 

Can you provide the source to this? Or is this something that has been hush-hush?

 

It's in the club level.

 

Where did you read that?

 

I'm curious as well.

 

Suggesting that Joe Philbin and Jeff Ireland are somehow on a different page is pretty much a perversion of second hand info and innuendo.

 

Second hand info? Yes.

A perversion of that info? No.

That info is saying pretty clearly that they are on different pages.

 

Honestly....

I think Jeff Ireland is gone if we dont make it into the second round of the playoffs.

The problem is....what if we do. What if we make it to the AFC Championship game, I cant see how we CAN fire Ireland at that point. If there really is no smoking gun in regards to how much Ireland knew about the Cogs/Martin bullygate....firing him would look bad to the rest of the NFL in my opinion. I think even if we made it past the first game, its gonna be tough to fire him, givin how his draft picks and now FA acquisitions have begun to make a difference.

What GM is going to want to come to Miami...if his team makes it to the second round of the playoffs, hasnt been there in what...5 years..and still gets canned?

Not saying I dont want a new GM, I just believe there are consequences outside of just getting a new GM we should be looking at.

So far, Ross has handled things very well. He resisted making ANY knee jerk reactions, the team seems to be gelling and coming together.

In my opinion, out of deference to how the team has been playing, and has shown alot of character, any talk of new GM/Coach should be tabled until our season is over.

 

No, the info says that they disagreed on certain players. That doesn't constitute anything that wouldn't exist between any two people. These type of disagreements are always going to exist.

 

Eric DeCosta isn't likely to go anywhere, and just because you come from a well run organization doesn't mean you will be successful. The last two GMs hired from Baltimore were Phil Savage and George Kokonis, and the opinions on both of them were as high as they are currently on DeCosta.

I think Brian Xanders is the guy to go after. He has done the job before and was very successful at doing it. Plus, he's a metrics guy.

 

KB...

If you wouldnt mind, and I know its off topic from the original post, but....can you explain some of the advanced analytic stuff Philbin will be using? I mean...are we talking Money Ball 2.0 here?

 

We're lucky the AFC is mediocre. In 2010 and 2011 11-5 was the 6th seed. Last year it was 10-6. 9-7 has only been good enough once this decade to win a wild card spot. This year the Colts clinched a division title at 8-5 coming off a loss... Unless we become the New York Giants who have perfected a 9-7 Super Bowl run, I am not sold that our glaring holes can be filled by him without him creating new ones. We have overpaid LBs playing worse than Dansby, and an overpaid WR who has acted as a 60 mill decoy most of the year. (I fear that money for Wheeler/Wallace could come back to bite us) We need 3 (maybe 4) new offensive linemen, and we have Grimes, Starks and who else becoming free agents? And little production from the 2013 draft class, some high picks not even active for some games. Our first goal for 2014 is to de-throne the Patriots and win the division, and we're going to have to have a GREAT offseason to do it.

Do I really trust him to turn the Dolphins into an 11-14 win team that can be a consistent AFC East championship contender and eventual Super Bowl team? (aka the Seahawks, 49ers, Broncos...) Not really. I've never in my lifetime seen the Dolphins win more than 11 games (they last won 12 games in 1990, I was too young)...so I'm going to expect at least that next season.

The worst part is, assuming this is true which it might not be (because do you really trust Armando?), not that he could be back but the knee-jerk reaction by the owner after a few wins to get to 7-6. You should be waiting until the end of the season to be evaluating anything. What happened when we went 7-6 in 2009 & 2010? Finished 7-9. I doubt that happens again...but you never know, as the owner at least WAIT and see if we go 10-6 or 9-7 before having any reaction...positive or negative.

Now I'll go back to trying to ignore the pesky, tricky Ireland situation until AFTER the season, and keep cheering for wins.

 

KB, what about Jason Licht?

 

Joe has been using GPS tracking software in the players practice jerseys to chart and measure their level of activity during practice. He has used this data to determine whether he needs to increase practice length or taper it off. This data also lead to him going against the NFL grain and giving the players Thursday's off. Data from the previous season showed that teams who lost on Sundays and had a poor offensive performances had very physical practices on Thursdays.

Those Thursdays off are very likely the reason this team is currently relatively fresh and is playing well in December.

The GPS devices are from Catapult Sports.

 

10 and 6 is not mediocre..

If some our projecting that this team is playing well in spite of the coaches that's a tough one to debate because it has angles where I can see it being true, Its very hard to find a conviction, but I do know our team is eventually fu$&ed though if it is true..

Man this is tough to figure out.

 

Your thoughts on this team is self motivated? Pretty much makin this run solo, nothing about Philbin is discerning enough to have confidence he's the right coach?

 

I think some of you have to step back and listen to yourselves. They way some of you sound, you would rather sacrifice post season success if it meant getting rid of Ireland.

The reality about Ireland is that he is an average NFL GM. He certainly is not the trainwreck many here make him out to be. I think what is driving a lot of this is the fact that unknowing outside fans and outside media types trash on him so we too must as well. We want to feel good about this team and Ireland being around doesn't allow us to feel good about this team.

One thing I will say is that he has handled the QB situation, dating back to the sign Orton times, very well. Had he done as what many here suggested (sign Orton, sign Flynn, trade up for RG3, draft Weeden) he would have been fired by now.

In fact, if I'm not mistaken, wasn't it you KB that was singing his praises as it pertained to his handling of the QB situation?

 

The GPS thing is being done by many pro and college teams (even those innovative Dallas Cowboys). Let's not act as if we're the only team looking to gain a competitive edge.

 

Considering the state of the line while they played and the games it actually cost us, I would say that's a pretty big philosophical gulf between Ireland & Philbin and it does not take mental gymnastics to see that.

 

Only 7 NFL teams and 25 college teams are using this technology right now. For the first time in a long while, the Dolphins are actually part of a movement where they are in front of the game and not chasing it.

 

What in the world? This is pretty much a fairly tale. The idea that Ireland was "definitely gone" was pretty much fabricated entirely by fans and the media.

 

So your saying the losses against the bus, bills, and panther losses were talent related.??..you believe in this coach longterm?

Just trying to stay clear, I understand the argument on both sides if this team goes on to win out, I do think you have to rethink everything, but I don't know if it's more the team of players are just on a mission and will eventually turn on the coach..

I thought going on a run like this after the Cognito thing would show us what kind of coach we have, but I don't know if these guys are playing for themselves or what's going on in that locker room..

 

I'm saying the biggest problem this team has had since the 2000 season has been poor personnel decisions. These decisions are the sole reason for why this team has been to the playoffs only 1 time in the past ten years.

 

We have to discard the media innuendo and stop dissecting things that were not said. What I have heard from Ross was that he values continuity, wanted to see progress and recently spoke glowingly of Philbin.

People try to infer things that fit what they want to see occur and discard that which does not fit. Regardless, none of what I've heard has suggested a house-cleaning in Miami.

 

No, that not what we're hearing in this thread, were hearing that 10 and 6 gets the GM fired, and that the players are running the asylum in a good way..

 

I'm not a 100% sure what you're asking, but my stance on Ireland is this: I don't think he's a poor evaluator of talent. In fact, I think he's better than average. I want him fired because I think went against Philbin's wishes on Cogs and Martin.

I firmly believe it is the GM's job to adopt his coach's philosophy and find players that fit. It has been my defense of Ireland up to this point, but now it damns him.

If your coach wants a guy gone because he sucks and our biggest issue this year was at that player's spot, to the point it cost us games, then the GM is wrong for not replacing him. If the coach wants a player gone because of behavior and our biggest scandal in team history, has that player's behavior right in the middle of it, and it cost us a game, then the GM is wrong for not replacing him.

In fact, not only his he wrong, but those mistakes are too big to ignore. If Ireland isn't fired, then he needs to have some power taken away.

 

Jeff's past record is what should get him fired regardless of how the team finishes. No one is saying that 10-6 gets Jeff fired. What is being said is that losing seasons in 4 out of his 6 years as a GM should be the determining factor, and it should also be noted that he made piss poor personnel decisions this off season. He makes better decisions this off season, and this team is likely 3+ games better than they are right now.

 

He spoke in support of Philbin, because Philbin was obviously the one that is most implicated in the Martin issue. He is the one that deals with the players regularly. Philbin is the "voice" during the season, and he was the one that was having the light shined on.

 

If Miami goes on this run, they will have beaten 3 of the teams in the playoffs, and should of beaten the other..not sure what you want out of a young team with a 2nd year coach and Qb.

My concern now is trying to figure out if this team was just so disrespected that their motivation is not coming from their coach but from within their brethren.

 

But the reality is that not you, not me, nobody knows what's going on behind the scenes. We can only infer from non-information. That's why some of these viewpoints are so ridiculous.

 

Only in Ireland (threads).

 

Oh I agree. One thing I will say is that if Ross canned Philbin after speaking about him so glowingly and at the very least playing meaningful football through to the end of the season, that this would create a lot of apprehension in the eyes of prospective replacements.

Some here may want change but you're never assured the change you want is the change you're going to get.

 

Yet, Jeff Ireland is a bigger target of the investigation according to reports that have come directly from Ted Wells. We know that Wells met with Ireland for a longer period of time than he met with any of the players or coaches. We know that the other main person of interest in the investigation was Jim Turner. We also know the NFLPA has targeted Jeff Ireland as well because of his history with other issues

Jeff Ireland is a black eye on the Miami Dolphins organization.