Ireland on hot seat • Tannehill has earned teammates' respect • Sports Buzz

Sports Buzz ...Ireland on Hot seat

This has been a favorite topic of discussion on this MB recently especially after a series of puzzling moves which are further described in this blurb.

A friend of Ross believes Ireland will be in serious trouble if the Dolphins bomb. He insists Ross does not have “blind faith” in his general manager. Another close business associate of Ross said Ireland probably would not survive a 5-11 season but cautioned there could be scenarios in which the Dolphins have a losing record but Ross still keeps Ireland.
Such as: If Tannehill plays very well; or if Joe Philbin convinces Ross that he and Ireland work well together and have this franchise on the right track, with the prospect of huge 2013 cap space ($60 million) and two second-round picks.

Read more here: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/sports-buzz/#storylink=cpy

Not only are the Dolphins carrying $15 million in dead money (for players acquired, then dumped), but Ireland released six of the nine veteran free agents he signed this offseason.

Read more here: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/sports-buzz/#storylink=cpy

What is your guess .Does he survive or not .Personally I think it will come down to how well Philbin works with him.

I think it depends on how the team looks to be heading , I think Ross has trusted Ireland but won't be blinded by that if this year unfolds poorly. I hope Ireland has made moves to inspire his players and that results flow , I do , but I have serious concerns that he is the answer to the question of who is the right GM to lead us past this ongoing malaise.

Ireland's on the hot seat? Impossible. We're told his drafting is above league average and the team is better under his stewardship.

And finally, there’s the disappointing situation at receiver, where Brandon Marshall essentially has been replaced by journeymen Legedu Naanee and Anthony Armstrong. So what happened there? To refresh, Ireland opposed spending on pricey free agent receivers -- Reggie Wayne, Pierre Garcon and Vincent Jackson --- and watched Laurent Robinson cancel his visit when the Jaguars gave him $14 million guaranteed.

Miami then decided its young receivers were good enough that it didn’t need the next-best, cheaper tier of free agents: Brandon Lloyd (three years, $12 million from the Patriots), Eddie Royal (three years, $13.5 million from the Chargers) or Mario Manningham (two years, $7.3 million from the 49ers).

And though the Dolphins liked several receivers in the draft (such as T.Y. Hilton), they always had other players rated ahead of them until they chose sixth-rounder B.J. Cunningham, who was cut. They compounded the problem in June by signing Chad Johnson over Braylon Edwards, who is expected to start for Seattle and has been "very, very good," coach Pete Carroll said.

The hope is that Miami can lure a potential 2013 free agent such as Dwayne Bowe, Mike Wallace, Greg Jennings, Victor Cruz or Malcom Floyd. But Dolfans know, by now, not to get their hopes up.

Ouch. So, Ireland opposed spending money on receivers (to be fair, probably because he killed any cap flexibility we might have had due to failed signings in previous years), thought that the likes of Bess and Hartline were better than Lloyd or Manningham, rated anyone and everyone ahead of most WRs in the draft, and "hope" they can get someone next year.

Even if we manage to land the likes of Dwayne Bowe, I'm not sure Ireland understands that you need more than one good receiver. They should target two complementary receivers, then draft a third.

### The last word to local agent David Canter, who represents six Dolphins: “I’ve had enough interaction with Joe Philbin and been around the league long enough to know he’s smart enough, with their fan base, not to pump his fist after field goals.” (Unlike Sparano).

Does Sparano even understand why people didn't like that?

A friend of Ross believes Ireland will be in serious trouble if the Dolphins bomb. He insists Ross does not have “blind faith” in his general manager.

this is great news! I knew Ross couldn't be this big of an idiot!

"CrunchTime wrote:

This has been a favorite topic of discussion on this MB recently especially after a series of puzzling moves which are further described in this blurb.

What is your guess .Does he survive or not .Personally I think it will come down to how well Philbin works with him.

That's essentially it. If Philbin, Tannehill, and the team show any promise and progress, he's likely safe regardless of a mediocre record. If his decisions don't pan out he'll be back to serving as VP of pro & college scouting.

"CrunchTime wrote:

This has been a favorite topic of discussion on this MB recently especially after a series of puzzling moves which are further described in this blurb.

What is your guess .Does he survive or not .Personally I think it will come down to how well Philbin works with him.

What did you think watching Hard Knocks? Did you get the impression Philbin is really in sync with Ireland and vice versa?

Not sure here , but I can see Philbin at the end of this season if/when asked by Ross that he would say he felt they have made inroads and some of the young players are progressing as needed and that they have major assets they will utilize well this off season. Not sure if I want to hear that though .

If Tannehill looks good and the rest of the team isn't in shambles, he'll have at least one more year.

He'll go as far as Tannehill will take him. If Tannehill puts up a QB rating of 85 and we go 8-8, Ireland will stay. Whether the fans like it or not.

"Anonymous wrote:

He'll go as far as Tannehill will take him. If Tannehill puts up a QB rating of 85 and we go 8-8, Ireland will stay. Whether the fans like it or not.

Tannehill will have to put up a passer rating better than 85 for this team to go 8-8.

Ireland's job is not as tied to Tannehill as people think. It's tied to wins. Jeff Ireland has been here five years and Parcells has been out of the picture for over two years. Is the talent really getting better or did you just finally get a quarterback when oh by the way his college coach happens to be your offensive coordinator?

When you've finally got a quarterback, the pressure only increases. Once that happens, you've finally got a chip in the big game, and you better not waste it. The Dolphins are about to have a bunch of draft picks and a ton of cap space and they're going to want to make sure they have the right guy deciding how to use all that.

"Desides wrote:

Tannehill will have to put up a passer rating better than 85 for this team to go 8-8.

We were five 4th quarter collapses away from an 11 win season against a much stronger non-divisional schedule last year. If Ireland keeps his job I hope its not because we won a few games vs the Raiders, Colts, Bills, Jets, Seahawks and Cardinals, Jaguars, Rams, Bengals, and Titans. Some people might say those teams are just as far from contention as we are. I wonder if their fan bases are as pessimistic about the season as ours.

Really does depend on Tannehill, drafting Gates and getting nothing out of him, JJerry over Graham etc, these moves have hurt the franchise.

Consider this, we are in cap purgatory and have no real money in the Big $$ positions aside from Wake and Long.

We are starting two late rd pick Safeties, the wr corps features 3 UDFA's and a 4th rd pick and we are not paying a Cb big money.

Ireland's proclivities for "it's a big man's game" is haunting his tenure.

"GMJohnson wrote:

We were five 4th quarter collapses away from an 11 win season against a much stronger non-divisional schedule last year.

Teams that consistently collapse are bad teams. You don't get to spin that into a badge of honor for this roster. They had chances and blew them. That's not what good teams do.

And this roster has regressed from the already low level of talent on last year's roster. We've possibly improved at QB. Everything else is either the same or worse.

Have a family member who speaks to Brian Gaine and Mike Dee. It depends how we are as a team. 8-8, 9-7 it all depends how we develop and if strides are made.
Ireland is on the hot seat yes indeed. Plenty of Input from Philbin and Sherman as time will tell.

"jpep13 wrote:

Have a family member who speaks to Brian Gaine and Mike Dee. It depends how we are as a team. 8-8, 9-7 it all depends how we develop and if strides are made.
Ireland is on the hot seat yes indeed. Plenty of Input from Philbin and Sherman as time will tell.

The Brian Gaine part is interesting, but I'm not sure if I'd trust the secondhand opinion of a guy who stands to gain (no pun intended) from Ireland's firing.

Agree with Des, we haven't improved the overall talent on this team...its like we focused on replacing Moore, thinking that was the magic potion, and we ignored the myriad of holes this team had...how can you expect to trade two of your only playmakers, plus strike out completely in FA and still have time to continue this failure of a rebuild...what happens next season if we don't spend wisely and this clown wastes our draft picks on positions that he shouldve replaced years ago...does he get ANOTHER season to see if his draft picks pan out??

He shouldve been fired when he passed on Jimmy Graham for freaking John Jerry, lets not forget Odrick instead of JPP, and Vontae instead of Nicks/Matthews...this guy is a poor talent evaluator, he should not be given more rope, we have regressed each year he's been here...

So the article basically states that Ireland may or may not be on the hot seat and may or may not be fired this off-season? That's some pulitzer level **** right there. :pity:

"biggiesmalls3k1 wrote:

Agree with Des, we haven't improved the overall talent on this team...its like we focused on replacing Moore, thinking that was the magic potion, and we ignored the myriad of holes this team had...how can you expect to trade two of your only playmakers, plus strike out completely in FA and still have time to continue this failure of a rebuild...what happens next season if we don't spend wisely and this clown wastes our draft picks on positions that he shouldve replaced years ago...does he get ANOTHER season to see if his draft picks pan out??

He shouldve been fired when he passed on Jimmy Graham for freaking John Jerry, lets not forget Odrick instead of JPP, and Vontae instead of Nicks/Matthews...this guy is a poor talent evaluator, he should not be given more rope, we have regressed each year he's been here...

Egnew not doing much of anything in camp is a very bad sign, the 2010 draft is really a dark blot on Ireland, 2011 is no great shakes either, if Ireland does get canned it will be easy to see why.

He took players as if we were always at the back of the draft order, but in all of his time here, only once were we later then middle first rd draft positioning.

I know folks are focused on THill, but to me, Lamar Miller could be as important, HR hitting Rb's have value as well..then again, he could be Lorenzo Booker.

The coaches need to work in Lamar Miller, As far as Ireland is concerned don't think he knows what he wants/ or needs/ doesn't draft well or sign the proper talent free agents or what not.

"jpep13 wrote:

The coaches need to work in Lamar Miller, As far as Ireland is concerned don't think he knows what he wants/ or needs/ doesn't draft well or sign the proper talent free agents or what not.

Values the wrong positions to highly, that comes from Parcells and Peterson, they seem not to realize..you can make do with less then high pick big positions players in favor of guys who score Td's..they win ballgames..

"ckparrothead wrote:

Ireland's job is not as tied to Tannehill as people think. It's tied to wins. Jeff Ireland has been here five years and Parcells has been out of the picture for over two years. Is the talent really getting better or did you just finally get a quarterback when oh by the way his college coach happens to be your offensive coordinator?

When you've finally got a quarterback, the pressure only increases. Once that happens, you've finally got a chip in the big game, and you better not waste it. The Dolphins are about to have a bunch of draft picks and a ton of cap space and they're going to want to make sure they have the right guy deciding how to use all that.

I sure hope that's the case. it would be a shame if Ireland stayed after a 4th straight losing season just because the obvious draft pick at QB showed a little promise, hell I'd expect him to given his familiarity with the system, though he probably wont have that high of a QB rating given the terrible pieces around him. but Tannehill's performance this season, good or bad, will do nothing to ease my concerns about Ireland's ability to build the team AROUND him.

you know how much damage an good GM could do with all the cap room we'll have plus the 5 draft picks in the first 3 rounds? this is an opportunity to vastly improve the team in one offseason, turn us from joke to contender, a chance to get the fan base truly excited about the future of the franchise. I'd hate to appoint that task to Ireland just because Tannehill looks like he belongs.

"Desides wrote:

Tannehill will have to put up a passer rating better than 85 for this team to go 8-8.

I disagree with that.

"Desides wrote:

Teams that consistently collapse are bad teams. You don't get to spin that into a badge of honor for this roster. They had chances and blew them. That's not what good teams do.

And this roster has regressed from the already low level of talent on last year's roster. We've possibly improved at QB. Everything else is either the same or worse.

True, the 4th quarter collapses show a glaring weakness, the inability to play from ahead and finish teams off. Its not a badge of honor, but its not indicative of an overall lack of talent either.

We won't know whether the talent level has increased or not until the season begins to play out, and you mention a possible improvement at QB as if it's a trivial thing.

"Desides wrote:

Teams that consistently collapse are bad teams. You don't get to spin that into a badge of honor for this roster. They had chances and blew them. That's not what good teams do.

And this roster has regressed from the already low level of talent on last year's roster. We've possibly improved at QB. Everything else is either the same or worse.

The arquement could be made that players win games and coaches win close games. The talent on the team this year isn't as good as last and I expect the team will be needing good coaching as much if not more than the talent they have shown.