Sounds familiar. ;)

 

The difference with this team now, however, is that Suh is going nowhere, and the "player in the locker room" right now may just be Suh, but in a negative sense.

You could argue that a similar process happened when Johnson was here. Marino was going nowhere, and he and Johnson's feuds were the primary obstacle to any success this team could've had.

 

but I think we are hearing from the locker room as a whole. it seems pretty loud and clear to me and Suh and Wake are the loudest right now.

 

Exhibit A: the "Manhattan" portion of the locker room we've heard about.

Notice neither player has done a thing on the field so far.

What we're looking at here IMO is a symptom of having a lame-duck (i.e., powerless) coach, combined with a very powerful player who doesn't endorse the coach.

Again, contrast that with New England, where both the coach and the star player (Brady) have a tremendous amount of power, and both endorse each other. That sets the tone for the whole roster and what happens on the field. It essentially creates the entire team culture.

 

This is something that happens in every locker room I've ever been in. I dont think the segregation of "stars" is privy to just the Miami Dolphins. When i worked in baseball, the guys who made the most money, got the best lockers sometimes two or three lockers. When i interned for the Miami Dolphins, the guys who made the most money IE Dan Marino..Sam Madison...Tim Bowens...OJ McDuffie. It's not uncommon. I dont believe it has anything to do with their play on the field. It's the culture of a locker room and it happens everywhere. I believe this is a group of guys that know they are being led by a group of clowns and they're tired of playing for the circus. JMHO

 

I'm not saying it's necessarily unusual; I'm saying its a reflection of the power those two players have among their teammates. They get more "real estate" in the locker room than anyone else.

And apparently they "dispatched" Jordan Phillips from there this preseason, again a reflection of that "power."

 

I dont think it's a power play - As it is a stature thing - We "earned this real estate" You're a rookie, you gotta earn it.

 

If two players can tell some other player where he isn't going to be in the locker room, that is indeed power. It may come from veteran status or a history of great play, but it's still power in the end.

 

Surtain brings up an interesting topic though about Jimmy having the team on pins and needles thinking they had to perform or they were out the door.

Perhaps this is just a perception, but it is my perception that Joe Philbin's message to players has been like that but modified in an important way. Instead of thinking they have to perform or else they're out the door, the players are guided to believe that they have to perform like a professional or else they're out the door.

The players might feel like as long as they're showing up when they're supposed to show up, keeping quiet when they're supposed to keep quiet, not taking potty breaks at inappropriate moments, getting to bed by the time coach comes around for bed check, making weight like they're supposed to, etc...then they're fine. But in the past, perhaps, they were much more nervous about what they put out there on the field being the ultimate dictator of whether they're fine or not.

 

I think that's a logical distinction that may have some weight, and it's certainly consistent with what we know about Philbin, but the key ingredient here IMO is that Philbin is essentially powerless as a coach, whereas the player with the most power has a great deal of it by virtue of his contract. That mixture isn't good if the player isn't on the coach's bandwagon.

In reality here you could make a terrific argument for not adding a player of Suh's stature (by virtue of his contract) until you have a coaching staff with a track record of success and the power that brings.

Think of the Lakers with Shaq and Kobe -- how do you think that would've worked out with a coach with no track record, versus Phil Jackson? How have things worked out since Jackson left, with Kobe having all the power amidst a parade of novice coaches?

You as an owner essentially can't just hand all the power over to a player like Suh by paying him all that guaranteed money, unless you have either 1) a coach with a tremendous track record, or 2) a virtual guarantee that the player is going to jump on your current coach's bandwagon.

 

https://vine.co/v/eQJdxTYnE2t

^^^^That's a problem

 

I had to double check, FFG out in the wild, not the Club!

The Manhattan thing bothered me only because Suh just got here. But they gave him a fat check so be it. If we had a Dez Bryant on the defense, he'd probably barge in there and kick them out for their play so far (although Suh has been good ... not $100m good but good).

 

And the fact that he occupies so much real estate despite his newness to the team suggests that there was indeed a void of player leadership before his arrival.

Contrast that with the Dolphins' signing of Junior Seau, whose first message to the media after the signing was that this is "Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas's team."

So now add that to the mix: you have 1) a lame duck (powerless) coach, 2) a player (Suh) with a great deal of power who doesn't endorse the coach, and 3) a lack of leadership elsewhere on the roster.

That spells mess, and it's what you're seeing on the field, my friends.