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Dan Henning vs. Mike Sherman: A study in Homerism

Discussion in 'Miami Dolphins Forum' started by MonstBlitz, Jan 5, 2014.

  1. MonstBlitz

    MonstBlitz Nobody's Fart Catcher

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    Remember Dan Henning? He orchestrated some of the worst Miami Dolphin offenses of all times. He was far and away the biggest target at the end of the 2010 season. Yet…he had a very vocal group of fans defending him on this board and others.

    Fast forward to 2013. Miami had another poor offensive campaign. Orchestrated by Mike Sherman. Yet, as poor as the offense was, it wasn't as bad as things were in 2010. In 2010 Chad Henne regressed terribly in the Henning offense. In 2013, on the other hand, Tannehill was vastly improved even though the overall results were not great. Yet, Sherman has few if any defenders on this board.

    Why is that? And where am I going with this you're probably asking at this point?

    The reason Sherman has no defenders this year is that everyone is too busy defending Jeff Ireland. To defend Sherman would leave nowhere for the blame to go but at Jeff Ireland's feet.

    Several of the "all is well in Miami" club make the argument over and over again that if Jeff Ireland were to be fired the "haters" would just find someone else to loathe. And I won't argue with that, it's probably true. When a team does poorly some fans will always try and find the reason why and demand improvement. And even if things are going relatively well, no team is ever perfect.

    As much as this is true, the opposite is also true. There will always be a group of "defenders" if you will. The folks who defend the incumbent as long as they are a Miami Dolphin. Whoever is considered to be the biggest underperforming Dolphin be it a coach, player or pasty GM there will be a group who will defend that person vigorously. Right now that guy is Jeff Ireland. So Sherman does not get the same defense Henning got because Ireland is in greater need of the defenders.

    I'm sure some will take offense to this. Nobody likes being labeled as a homer. Just like nobody likes being labeled a hater. But for those interested in why there will always be great debate on fan forums, this is a key piece of the puzzle.
     
  2. Silverphin

    Silverphin Well-Known Member

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    Honestly, I'm numb on Sherman. I actually DO like the offense. I just hate the way it is called quite a bit of times. So, if they can grab a better OC, than I'm all for it.
     
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  3. Rocky Raccoon

    Rocky Raccoon Greasepaint Ghost Staff Member

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    What? First of all, who is this "everyone" that is defending Jeff Ireland? That is completely false.

    Secondly, Mike Sherman has defenders. He doesn't have many because his play calling often sucked. He never did enough to get the ball in the hands of the playmakers and he never adjusted when it was blatantly obvious we had trouble in protection.

    EDIT: OK, I see what you're saying now. I think both should be fired, it it helps :lol:
     
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  4. Limbo

    Limbo Mad Stillz

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    The only defense of Sherman I can consider is that cutting him loose could stunt Tannehill's growth. You can say Tannehill's improvements this season came out of that long familiarity, and messing with that has some risk.

    I thought this about a month or two ago. But at this point...eff it, he's an awful play designer, schemer, and caller, imo.
     
  5. MonstBlitz

    MonstBlitz Nobody's Fart Catcher

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    Yeah, I meant to add, in no way should this thread be considered a defense of Mike Sherman. I'm certainly not trying to suggest he should be retained. Especially with all the upgrades available out there. But if I could only choose 1 to fire, it's Ireland over Sherman in a heartbeat.
     
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  6. Rouk

    Rouk Well-Known Member

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    all I know is we scored 30 or more 1 time this season every single team in the playoffs did it at minimum 4 times. Now if its the talent level or the players i dunno i guess that would depend on what side of the fence u take. I just don't see how anyone can say our offense was fine this year it was straight up hot garbage.
     
  7. Alex44

    Alex44 Boshosaurus Rex

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    The offensive system Sherman runs is far better but he is a TERRIBLE game planner and play caller. FAR worse than Henning.
     
  8. BayAreaFinFan

    BayAreaFinFan D'oh Club Member

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    The most telling thing to me is the fact that Tannehill isn't on board with Sherman. That was his college coach and o coordinator for his first 2 years in the nfl. That speaks volumes.
     
  9. Vertical Limit

    Vertical Limit Senior Member

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    I think our offense would be better under Brian Daboll rather than Mike Sherman... Brian Daboll was able to get points on the board with Matt Moore and Henne.. pretty sure Tannehill would have done good on it as well..
     
  10. ExplosionsInDaSky

    ExplosionsInDaSky Well-Known Member

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    I think some of the blame goes to the players and some should go to Sherman. Had we gotten better production out of the offensive line, maybe his scheme,style would have produced better results. Im going to say that was easily a bottom five ranked line, and one of the worst ive ever seen. Its hard to run an offense when nobody can block.
    Sherman getting a third year here wouldn't surprise me at all. Our failures aren't all on one person.
     
  11. Dol-Fan Dupree

    Dol-Fan Dupree Tank? Who is Tank? I am Guy Incognito.

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    Worst thread ever.
     
  12. Califin

    Califin Well-Known Member

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    As I recall, there was some discontent, but hardly the stuff I would call outrage over Pasqualoni, and his firing was almost unexpected. As for Henning (post Pennington) he enjoyed the benefit of an overwhelming debate regarding Henne's potential, that typically left little energy or interest to target an old man, though I was convinced senility was creeping in.

    Imo, the most significant difference between the previous staff, and Philbins, is that the former was actually productive enough early on, to earn a degree of respect from most fans.
    Fresh off their first season, the staff had just completed the greatest single-season turnaround in NFL history, including the division title, and perhaps most emphatically, in having coached many of the same players from the previous season, to overachieve into the Playoffs.

    In contrast, the glaring perception surrounding Sherman today, and fueling most resentment, is an underachieving offense, prone to inconsistency. Sherman however has had little early success to counter his growing swarm of detractors, and while the delivery and installation of Tannehill earned a few points, those were cashed out after the bye week.
     
  13. GMJohnson

    GMJohnson New Member

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    Ireland is also responsible for poverty, disease and climate change.
     
  14. P h i N s A N i T y

    P h i N s A N i T y My Porpoise in Life

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    Blame game breakdown, by the experts. Everything's always about 4 years ago with you guys.... Never moving forward.
     
  15. adamprez2003

    adamprez2003 Senior Member

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    Don't remember a huge defense of dan henning. I was one of the few people blaming the personnel and not the coaching saying whether henning was or wasn't a good coach couldn't be judged because he didn't have a QB or WRs. Same can probably be said for sherman only its reversed and he doesn't have the oline to run effectively. The personnel for both OCs caused them to become one dimensional and therefore inneffective.
     
  16. Fin D

    Fin D Sigh

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    Can I want Ireland and Sherman fired without thinking they are the bastard love children of Hitler, pol Pot, Vlad the Impaler and Osama Bin Laden...or am I being too crazy?
     
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  17. GMJohnson

    GMJohnson New Member

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    Don't forget Stalin and Attila.
     
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  18. Larryfinfan

    Larryfinfan 17-0...Priceless Club Member

    Blah, blah, blah...Now that's a bunch of bunk. Ireland has 100 times more haters than Sherman ever dreamed of having. If you don't beleive me, wait until Ross finally announces that everyone is staying and listen to the backlash. That's what Ross is waiting on, trying to figure out how to break this to the public and lose fewer season ticket holders and team backers...

    Ross is not a rash man. That's why this is taking as long as it is. Personally, I think his loyalty issues are a hinderence in an NFL organization, but fantastic for real estate business ventures, but then I don't have $4B in worth with my real estate acumen, so I cede those decisions to Ross. I beleive Henning was truely done as an OC in the NFL at the time we hired him. Has nothing whatsoever to do with the current situation between Ireland, Philbin and Sherman...

    Sherman has issues, but his blame will be eased because of the OL woes, that certainly affected the ability of his offense to produce. Is that right or wrong, I don't know, but it is certainly something that is being considered. On the other hand, the OL woes aren't all on Ireland either. The differences, imho, is the actual play calling. He holds too much to the vest and needs to open things up but, as I said, the OL has an affect on what he can and can't call. Given that, I still think it's time for us to move on from Sherman, but I don't get to make that decision. Changing out Ireland is quite another thing. It hamstrings the new guy coming in for at least this year (assuming Philbin is safe), and then there are the obvious aclimations that will need to be made between him and Philbin. At least, Ireland and Philbin are past that part and Ireland has a much better idea of what Philbin is looking for.... There are pros and cons to any of these decisions....

    Most fans think the easy thing is to press the reset button and move on from the lot. Well that's not easy and it sets the team back, no doubt and there are the obvious financials to resolve, but is it really the best thing for us to do ?? Would the overall fanbase be this worked up over Sherman, Ireland and Philbin, if we'd just play in Cincy yesterday ?? I think not and it's the same team and staff...
     
  19. Nappy Roots

    Nappy Roots Well-Known Member

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    When was the last time our fan base was happy with our OC? I mean seriously people were unhappy with henning. People were unhappy with Jason Garrett and he's now a HC. People were unhappy with Marc Trestman and he's now a HC. I'm starting to get the sense that the only OCs in the NFL that their fans are happy with is Peyton Manning and Sean Payton.
     
  20. rafael

    rafael Well-Known Member

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    I thought Henning was horrid by the end. It felt like all he did each week was roll out the exact same game plan that he'd been using forever and that every opponent knew by heart. The league adapted and he didn't. By the end Henning was phoning it in each week. Sherman is much better than Henning was, but has not been good. He's fortunate that RT is such a good passer that he was able to rescue several games during hurry-up situations. I think they both deserve(d) to leave, but Henning was far worse. I don't really see the comparison as all that apt other than you do have rumors of their respective QBs losing faith in their OCs. That is particularly damning and is a definite sign that Philbin should be taking note of. If it's Ireland or Sherman, I'd dump Sherman in a heartbeat.
     
  21. rafael

    rafael Well-Known Member

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    I thought Daboll bid a good job. I think that if Henne had stayed healthy that year they would have won a ton more games. Henne was never going to be a franchise guy and he was working with players that fit the old Parcells model and not what he wanted to run, but Daboll was manufacturing an effective offense those first three games with Henne.
     
  22. CaribPhin

    CaribPhin Guest

    Every year this team sucks and you force Ross to fly in by helicopter, Jeff, you indirectly contribute extra emissions to the atmosphere. Just resign so we can pass this planet on to our kids.
     
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  23. Alex44

    Alex44 Boshosaurus Rex

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    My question is who was deciding the plays during the two minute drill?

    If Sherman called every play...nice work. If it was Tannehill choosing from a set of plays, you can argue Sherman literally had 0 success.
     
  24. GMJohnson

    GMJohnson New Member

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    Do you think Philbin should have (or ever did) stepped in to correct the play calling issues?
     
  25. GMJohnson

    GMJohnson New Member

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    Yeah yeah, and we could cut our green house emissions in half if you'd stop blowing smoke all the damn time :lol:.
     
  26. rafael

    rafael Well-Known Member

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    I think that's an impossible question for us to answer since we don't know if he did or what changes he would have made if he didn't.
     
  27. CaribPhin

    CaribPhin Guest

    More to the point, Joe Philbin has never called plays for an NFL in his career. If he has at any point in Miami, it would have been his first time.
     
  28. heylookatme

    heylookatme Well-Known Member

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    I believe the QB calls the offense in the 2 minute drill? And yes, I do think that's an indictment of Sherman.
     

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