Great post!

 

Great post brother. Whether we like Sparano and Ireland or not, this is at the very least a big step up from the days of Cameron, Saban and Wanny. I posted a similar post in club within a thread. There is no question that we get at least some talent out of the draft which is more then we can say about previous regimes and do better then many from a talent evaluation standpoint. There is some stuff within the game we can improve on such as clock management, playcalling/being more aggressive, etc but Sparano is not bad at all. Hes young and learning.

 

Exactly Trowa, though you shorted Randy Starks and John Denny making the pro bowl as well...:wink2:

There are things I do not care for about Sparano's philosophy, but in perspective we are in far better shape then since 2000 when that Defense was in it's prime and we had won a playoff game, 39 players with 3yrs or less is a really young team, far younger than the Jets and better than the up and coming Bills.

Huge offseason though, cannot understate how important this Cycle is.

 

Problem is Trowa, we have no edge on anyone else in the division, there is not one specific area on the team that is a difference maker in the game, for example the Jets have the Defense and Special Teams, the Pats have Brady and the Bills run the spread.

We sort of muddle along, we have to do better at something to make a move upwards.

 

You've seen him improve as a coach?

And why is it that you state that he's learning? Because Ross publicly condemned his offensive philosophy and promised us change? Because honestly I fail to see he's learned at all..... and the units (Offense and ST) that he has his hands in are an absolute mess and under his direction, just getting worse.

Now we may have some nice pieces, but that's thanks to a handful of good moves by Ireland and the open wallet of Ross.... but in this fluff piece the OP posted, he fails to point out that we had some really nice pieces in place during the Wanny years and failed to capitalize due to wanting to retain consistency and pinning our hopes on blind faith...

Which is exactly what the OP is asking us to do....... when in fact we are heading into year 4 of a regime that has posted back to back losing seasons, have no offensive identity, a brand new staff full of guys that are mostly huge question marks because we had no drawing power to get anybody that was actually on the ladder moving up..... and nothing more than a promise from the owner that our stuck in another era HC will change his ways.

I say that we can't afford this kind of complacency as fans and should be at this point be demanding results. And instead of blowing sunshine up our asses to pretend that everything is rosy, we should be collectively standing in front of the stadium this season with our arms in the air saying "show me".....right now......let's see what you got and if it's not a hell of a lot better, we're going to the beach".

Now I'm not advocating giving up, throwing in the towel and burning the stadium to the ground...... but calling for ppl to have patience with Sparano and company is not only absurd, it's just asking for another 2 or 3 years of mediocrity. And the worst part of it is, some of you are so beat down from the recent past that mediocrity seems to be enough for you. Which is the kind of complacency in this franchise that led to 1-15

Bottom line is we as fans need to be putting these guys on the spot, not on a pedestal...

It's "show me or gtfo" time.........not time to pretend everything is ok and be patient.

 

To sum it JS:

"A coach made it past yr #3 and did not win a SB!! Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war!!!!!!!

 

That's BS Pads...... and seriously over looking the problems we have and the fact that there is absolutely no indication that the guy running the show has a freaking clue as to turn any of it around. You know as well as I do that Sparano's offensive philosophy just straight up stinks......

A coach made it past year 3 for no other reason than the owner failed to do his job and bring in an upgrade at HC..... he damn sure hasn't earned anything. Not sure what you see, but I see a 7-9 coach.

 

The coach lost home games to buff, Detroit, and Cleveland. Then had his team quit in NE. To make matters worse we had players calling him out publicly.

He doesn't deserve to be here, but he is.

 

Panic seldom works.

 

William's *****ing? He is the only cat who complained about Sparano as an example of how honest that is, Jason Taylor joined into that chorus, but keep in mind Williams stays at Taylor's NY apartment when we played the Jets.

The yr before he was signing Sparano's praises..odd that.

And you did not engage a single one of Trowa's points, not one, if one wishes to not like the Coach or the Regime that is fine, however facts are stubborn things, you point out that we lost those 4 games, do tell, how much of a roll did Chad Henne have in 3 of those losses?

-Lions
-Browns
-Bills

This is where I disagree with Trowa, I no longer trust Chad Henne to be our starting Qb, Sparano and Daboll maybe can fool themselves, if they do I'll hope for the best, for myself..no thanks, seen enough checkdown passes with 2 minutes or fewer left with no timeouts in the middle of the field to tell me what I need to know.

 

Don't confuse common sense and facing reality as panic

 

Odd, Trowa dealt in common sense and reality in his OP, and yet the meat of his thread starter remains unegaged.

Now, in 2007 if someone had talked about "4yrs to turn it around" I would have rejected it out of hand, however after seeing how they do things the only conclusion that is logical to me is it will take 4 yrs, maybe 5, until we reach annual playoff run levels, this yr if we manage to acquire a Starting Qb.

Don't like it, but have the perspective that we are in one tough division and wishing and hoping or panic will not change that fact of life for the Dolphins.

 

And I'd take both of these NFL stars opinions over that of a coach that needs to be propped up to even attain mediocrity. You take away Mike Nolan and this was a 4 win team this past season.... Ricky may be a flake but he what he said made absolute sense. Sparanos has a failed philosophy, if it wasn't we would have been promised a total makeover..

How many ppl on this forum do you really think were unaware of anything that the OP pointed out? It was nothing more than a fluff piece to get ppl to stop pointing out the chinks in the armor and join him in his pom pom rally. We went from mediocre to crap and back to mediocre.......well almost mediocre. And if we don't see a 180 turn in the offensive philosophy of this head coach, we're going to once again waste a good defense and head down another death spiral.

And how about admitting that Sparano did a crap job of developing the QB that you so frequently like to use as Sparano's scape goat? What's amazing is that you fail to see that Henne was shaped by Sparano and his mentor Penny (who you thought could save the day last year), to be the checkdown artist you so detest. That's what QB's do when the HC is coaching scared and driving for FG's...

And no I'm not endorsing Henne...... his only chance was to get someone in here better than Sparano to try and salvage him. But still, if I'm Ross I force the fist pumper to ride the wheels off of Henne, do or die..... and let the next HC fix the QB situation. Someone with a clue....

 

How many 3rd year coaches these days go 1-7 at home and retain their job? That's a bigger reality than anything the OP stated...... like I said, you could have made the same case during the Wanny years about having some really good pieces in place.

We're a 7-9 team..........coached by a guy that can't manage 3 time outs a half. But hey, it beats being 1-15. Woo Hoo!

Oh wait, no it doesn't...... it just means we'll be picking in the middle instead of at the top.

Throw a party for mediocrity if you want to.... I may show up but I'm not bringing pom poms

 

I think we'll see a different team in 2011. The players love Sparano, that has to be a good thing. I think he was too loyal to his assistant coaches. His *** is on fire now and I think we'll see a more explosive team because of that.

 

How funny, 7-9 "things are looking up!" in 09 even though the Defense was decrepit, 7-9 "Failed philosophy!" when the Defense was outstanding.

I think that is what Rooney was speaking upon.

Apparently many did not based on the tenor of the pessimism, Sparano will manage to get the offense back on track, of that I have little doubt, the real issue who will be the Qb? We can find some passable Vet Qb who knows how to run a 2 minute drill and how not to create dummy turnovers when the game matters and do fine, but that is not the best way to go.

Or

Maybe Henne won't cut it? That does happen JS, all of the time in the NFL, young Qb's washout, that is life the real key is to not stop trying to develop one.

For all of the panic over the losses to the Browns, Bills, and Lions, no one really examines "why" they happened, sure folks will ***** and moan and point fingers, very few get down in the dirt of what happened.

My gross conclusions are this:

-Henne lost his poise and I think he lost the team as well.
-Wake needed help rushing the passer, he was gassed or doubled or whatever, no one else stepped up, that must be addressed.
-lack of a running game caught up with us, the Bills simply run blitzed us and Henne had no answers and got flustered.

There is only so much scheming that can be done to make up for a dirth of effectiveness in the players, that and I suspect Sparano misjudged some things and players tbh about it, maybe I recall more about that time period then you JS.

 

Yes, I have seen him improve as a coach. I see him coaching players up regularly as well. I stated there are things he needs to work on but your post reads like a sulking baby who didnt get his way.

Ross is already showing himself to be a quick-trigger owner. Hate to tell you, him and everyone else but this team is following the EXACT same pattern as the Cowboys under Parcells. Surprise everyone year one, regress years 2 and 3 during which your true rebuild took place and year four you contended again. I said it was a 4 year project when the trifecta arrived and maybe a handful of people believed me. This offseason is crucial but I prefer Ross keep his meddling ways out of the coach and GM's way. And if you look closely the offensive philosophy Daboll uses has some of its roots in what Henning does as well....dont expect the philosophy to change so much as the situations in which certain plays are called, more formations added and a few different looks. Most of the NFL runs a similar offense anyway..its about execution.

You state its because of Ross's wallet and Ireland that we're improving but why then is Jake Long continuing to evolve? Vontae Davis? Sean Smith? Cam Wake? Hartline? Bess? Langford? They cant all be because of the position coaches! We have seen how bad head coaches can ruin a perfectly good talent. Sparano hasnt done that. Your criticism of Sparano's every move while leaving out his accomplishments from a player development standpoint and in getting us to the point where we now win most of the games against the teams we should beat, wreaks of bias in my opinion.

I'm not complacent. Im not loving the fact we arent doing what the Steelers and Pats do every year but Rome wasnt built in a day. The fact of the matter is we have how many players left from the prior regime? Ronnie (temporarily?) Ricky (again, could be temporary), Carey (also may be temporary given his cap hit if there is a cap), Crowder and Bell. Thats called taking over a bare cupboard. Maybe you dont realize it takes 53 players to win a title but thats only 5 that we started with. It doesnt happen in 3 years unless you are exceptionally lucky which we havent been.

But he is because he deserved it more then anyone else Ross could actually get. After Ross's viagra wore off he realized Harbaugh was even less proven then Sparano and while it was tempting, it says something that Ross changed his mind and gave Sparano another year and two more on the contract. He could have done what the Giants did in 06 to Coughlin and let him coach on the final year of his deal as a lame duck. There is precedent for it being done now even though its rare. How'd that work out? Stability above everything else is about creating an environment where players and coaches cant be complacent but the franchise, from ownership down believes in its people to get things right.

Those losses were without question, unacceptable. But as the OP said, this is a young team learning how to win. Thats hard for a lot of people to accept and a lot of it falls on the QB and some on the coaching but thats part of the learning curve. And learning exists in sports just like in life.

 

I'm not so sure khat, Sparano was confident that he would have his guys ready for the Patriots Finale and they played like it was the last day of High School, and on every unit, Offense, Defense, Special Teams, Sparano badly misjudged his team.

If I were Coach, there would be wholesale changes.

 

The past is made up of the decisions made by those who made them; the players chosen and signed, the coaches and front office managers chosen to carry out their duties to the team.

You can look at it from many perspectives; you can even pick and choose what to look at and ignore what doesn't fit your argument.

But one thing is certain about the past: it is set...it's done and over with.

Now...the future.

The future "isn't" anything.

It is not set; it is not done.

It will consist - you guessed it - of the decisions made by those who will make them; the players chosen and signed, the coaches and front office managers chosen to carry out their duties to the team.

You can say that you believe things will be one way or another, and there's no right nor wrong. A belief is just that; it does not require justification nor proof. It does not require others to believe as you do.

However...if you say that you are certain things will go one way or another - then you'd better have a little something more than faith and a positive outlook.

You should be able to demonstrate why you believe as you do. Not for anyone else's satisfaction - unless you're arguing that "certainty" on your part with others who don't share your optimism...as it were.

Einstein once said that one definition of insanity would be to do the same things and expect a different result.

So let's examine:

• Front office: (before) Jeff Ireland;
• Front office: (after) Jeff Ireland;
• Okay.
• Head Coach: (before) Tony Sparano;
• Head Coach: (after) Tony Sparano;
• Um...okay.
• Offensive Coordinator: (before) The senile and recalcitrant Dan Henning;
• Offensive Coordinator: (after) One of only two guys in the league last season with an Offense worse than that of the senile and recalcitrant Dan Henning's;
• Okay...whoa, wait a minute now...
• Receivers Coach: (before) Karl Dorrell, under whose tutelage the entire Receiving corps regressed and underperformed, and who lost the faith of the one Receiver on his squad talented enough to have gained 1000 yards despite the total cluster**** the Offense became as the season wore on;
• Receivers Coach: (after) Steve Bush. You know...Steve Bush; the team's former Offensive Quality Control Coach. What? Yeah, you know, the job Sparano gave to his totally inexperienced son after making these brilliant coaching changes. What? No, Bush has never done this job before either.
• Uh...are you sure? REALLY?!
• Quarterback Coach: (before) David Lee...who was so awful in his job he had players in open revolt by the last game of the season...so God-awful that he took Chad Henne from good college QB from a major program to the trembling husk with a towel over his head we saw on the sideline last season;
• Quarterback Coach: (after) Karl Dorrell. You know...because he did such a bang-up job this season with the Receivers. What? No, he's never done this job before either.
• Oh C'MON! You're just making this **** up now!
• Special Teams Coach: (before) John Bonamego...who holds the rare distinction of being a Coordinator fired before mid-season by an NFL team;
• Special Teams Coach (after) Darren Rizzi...who stepped in after Bonamego was made to walk the plank, and did a goo...he did a bang...well, he did the job. What? No, he had never done this job before either.
• You want some of this vodka? 'Cause if not im'a kill it.

So...in summary. Reason for opitmism?

Sure.

On THE BIZZARRO PLANET.

 

That does it!

Can someone please scrape me up off the ground.

 

Its a four year project, complete overhaul of a team, almost expansion like, but in this case, their fate is gonna be determined during their 4th year..They do have respect to earn this season..

 

Far less excuses can be made when 7-9 happens two years in a row. Surely you understand that? And that defense had nothing to do with Sparano, surely you understand that as well...

lol....and you base this on what? Is there some new gimmick offense that will appear on the horizon that will save the day as did the WC before he "developed" it into ashes? Another Penny to come riding in on a white horse? Another ridiculously easy schedule that will again lull the fan base into thinking the coach actually has a plan?

Seems you don't have much of a foundation to base your claims of hope on

Still won't admit that your boy Sparano did a pathetic job trying to develop Henne...... oh that's right, it's someone else's fault. Poor Tony was a victim of circumstance....... surely it couldn't be his piss poor offensive philosophy that had a hand in it.

.

Sparano made a mess of the OL....... abandoned the running game and instead relied far too heavily on his young QB, to supplant that running game, by asking him to throw 40+ a game. And held onto his favorite, Cobbs, instead finding someone with more to offer...... there's your answer to the running game.

And Henne lost his poise and the team due to being undermined at every turn by the fool who's task it was to develop him

And maybe like Sparano and company, you were so hungover from fantasizing over re-inventing the wheel with Pat White, that you were as oblivious as they were as to what the hell was really going on.


This nonsense about panic is just another excuse....... I look forward to 2012. It will all be over by then..

 

Well it wasn't really a fluff piece Trowa, you used facts to draw your conclusions, a puff piece would be:

Reshad Jones is going to be a BEAST!

The following up such a thread title with "I really like Reshad Jones, anyone else?"

While Jones finish in 2010 per PFF would surprise people, there would be no facts involved, no even pointing to what specifically would cause one to think he will be a beast, just pure homerism for a player.

Fact: The 2010 were a young team that played close to .500 ball for most of the season
Fact: Sparano's running game in 08 and 09 was in the upper tiers of the NFL, he did not suddenly forget how to assemble an effective offensive
Fact: the defense is quite young as well and still finished #6 overall in the NFL
Fact: we played the #2 toughest schedule in the NFL
Fact: we lost 4 games by a touchdown or less
Fact: We played 8 games against teams that made the playoffs, 2 against the teams in the SB, 4 against teams that made the Conference Championship Games
Fact: the team was competitive with a Offense that ranked 29th in TD's and Special Teams that ranked 29th which is another sign of good coaching.
Fact: we finished #2 in the nfl in the least amount of penalties

Thems are facts.

And in keeping with your thread theme:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Miami_Dolphins_season

Saban's 06 season

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Miami_Dolphins_season

Sparano's 2010 season

Saban was considered a good coach when he went to Alabama, and yet the 2010 defense was better than his 06 defense and Taylor won the DPOY award that yr, this yr no dolphin had a single vote and it is a much younger unit than the 06 version.

 

The only meat in the OP was that the FO has done a better job of bringing in talent than the 04-07 regimes. Nobody is going to dispute that. There is zero evidence or 'reality' in the OP that we're 'coaching better'. You can pretend people are dissatisfied with Sparano because he hasn't won the Super Bowl. You are intentionally exaggerating and ignoring the obvious fact that he has not been better, he has gotten worse. That is supported by facts. Because despite all of this new talent he can't come up with a game plan good enough to beat Detroit, Cleveland, or Buffalo at home with everything on the line. Look at the last three years and you'll see someone doing a very poor job beating good NFL teams. [and last season he did a poor job beating bad NFL teams as well] I decided to look for some substance and actually look up how well the Sparano fins have played against winning and playoff teams over the past three years.

Against teams that made the playoffs:
2008 - 1-2 [the first year though and they only actually got to play three playoff teams, so no big deal. Their one win came against an 8-8 playoff team though.]
2009 - 3-4 [improvement though bloated by the Jets sweep, nonetheless an improvement]
2010 - 2-6 [oops]

Against winning teams:
2008 - 3-4 [actually not bad for year one]
2009 - 3-7 [more winning teams, winning percentage went down some]
2010 - 2-6 [oops again]

As you can see they are not getting better against the NFL's better teams. They are not even treading water, they progressively got worse. You don't have to have a team of 30 year olds to have better consistency than that. You do need better coaching though. Another noteworthy fact is that our Fins are not keeping up in the division. For two year we could count on Sparano to give the AFC East fits going 4-2 in the east both of the first two years. This season he fell off the wagon and managed a meager 2-4. The rest of the AFC East progressed and we did not.

I'm not a fortune teller I won't prophesize doom or anything like that. But I seriously can't recall an owner forcing a coach to change his basic philosophies and it working out well. If that has even happened before. I will go into next season hoping for the best just like everybody else. I will have more faith in Sparano's ability when I see more evidence that he has a high level of it.

 

If you look at our team from 09 to 2010, both played very tuff schedules and both finished a disappointing 7-9. Why?


Our D was MUCH better in 2010. Our QB was about the same or a little better. Our WR's were better. Our TE was better. We brought in two VG-great players, in Dansby and Marshall. We added a VG player in Misi. Yet, we had the same record. So, what was the problem?


IMO, it was the lack of a running game and ST's. There should be an abundance of talent to fix our problems. Our needs are getting a stud for the OL, as well as RB. Great options at both positions this year.

Fix those two glaring needs, let the young guys take another step forward, and we are a playoff team. We are not far away.


Most NFL players are in their prime from mid to late 20's. They are stronger, smarter, and no longer have to think, just play. These young vets are keys to a teams success not only as players but as leaders. They have been through the wars, earned respect, and can lead vocally or by example.


The problem Tuna & Co inherited was that we didn't have any of these guys. They had to try to fill in the blanks in FA. The problem there is they were as new to the team as rookies, with no knowledge of team, schemes, etc.



Now, we have some of these guys surfacing, Guys like Dansby, Wake, Starks, and maybe Davis on D are firmly implanted on the team and should be able to takeover the non-existent leadership roles.


On O, it is still a question. I saw Henne as a leader in 09, not so in 10. Maybe it was coaches not allowing him to be. Maybe he was intimidated by Pro Bowler Marshall. Don't know.


I do know that he NEEDS to be "Fearless Leader" on O, and NEEDS to tell Marshall to STFU in order to have the respect of the O. JMO.

 

Henne:

-Lions: pick 6, two int's late in the game seal the deal
-Browns: int returned to the 1 yd line with a minute left and no timeouts
-Bills: throwing check down passes with 1 minute left and no timeouts

Are we noticing a theme here?

Pats went 14-2, otherwise we split with the Bills and Jets, if anything Sparano owns the Jets and surprisingly has trouble with the Bills, and in the OP Trowa did point out that 39 players had 3 yrs experience or less, think that could be the reason for the poor showing against the 4 teams that made the Championship games?

Well, that is to say, we did go 2-3, or 3-2 vs those teams depending on how one views the Stealers rip off.

No worries, we have more wannabee Mrs Cleo's than late night TV used to have on.

 

Poor QB play can sink any coach, I can buy that alternative explanation. For me win or lose I want to see a team that displays a little killer instinct. For that to happen Sparano has to have it and coach it himself. He has the enthusiasm, energy, and passion but he needs to coach like he believes he has a team of champions. If he doesn't believe it why the hell would the team believe it? If what Ricky said has any truth to it he can't continue to waste practices constantly harping on mistakes. Yes turnovers and penalties can kill you but you have to make plays as well. Last season the Dolphins were very poor at making those big plays on both sides of the ball.

 

I think we agree about the killer instinct, or lack thereof, no one on the Sparanophins plays like they not only want to win, but they want to crush the opponent each game, every game, but the other things it is difficult to know, I think Sparano's practices are simply overworking the players and not accomplishing very much at all.

To me Sparano has to have a Coughlin like Epiphany this yr.."gosh, this working harder stuff is counterproductive"...

 

Yeah this is what I was getting at. Supposedly they expend a lot of energy in practice essentially preparing not to beat themselves and forget about practicing to beat their opponent. The million dollar question for me is can Sparano get away from this tendency. If this is his style that he's been at a long time can he see that it is the problem and completely move away from it? I think the fate of our team over the next season or two depends on his ability to do that. It's more that and less trying to fill the roster with pro bowlers and trying to bring in awesome coordinators and coaches for every unit. To me the burden is on him right now and that's why I can't accept the notion that his coaching has been just fine. It has to get better just like the QB play, the Oline play etc.

 

Well, the problem is, and maybe Williams was being selfish here, is that the roster is quite young, some guys need those basics drilled into their heads week after week, what maybe Sparano should do is begin to differentiate between a Vet and a Rook/Raw player but I'd think that is more of a positional coach issue than a Head Coach issue, which would mean Williams was complaining about Sparano's overall coaching philosophy and not really what he was saying at the time.

Imho, Williams should be shown the door, I do not think he is done but I do think he and Sparano would be better served if Williams went elsewhere ala Jason Taylor which is what I think his comments were really all about, Williams knows his career is just about over, he and Taylor are close friends, one went to the AFC title game, one fumbled in the final game of the year.

Plus Williams made 4 million last season, we can do better for that kind of money.

Way I see it:

-Williams 4 million
-Brown 3.5 million
-Carey 7 million
-Crowder 3.5 million

All are on the bubble.

 

The organization is pretty much rudderless. I love your post and the sunshine you spread over the place, but...... The organization stinks, and, we're headed into a season where sparano is fixing to be fired at midpoint. I am looking forward...But REALLY forward. Next season is going to be a trainwreck

 

Well, I don't know if it's "fluff"...I think that's impossible on a messageboard.....This is just a bad time of year, and, don't look for it to get better until the draft.

 

Well, unsurprisingly I disagree, the Defense will have improved and it would be bordering the impossible for the offense not to have improved as well, the schedule is our easiest in 3 seasons, if anything I think we are primed to have a really good season, especially with the Jets having FA issues.

 

I agree with that, this is something the Dolphins under Ireland are singularly bad at, they do not know how to create positivity about the team, a remnant of Parcell's philosophy of treating the media as the enemy.

Ireland making radio appearances is not exactly instilling confidence moving forward..he sounds like he would rather be doing anything else.

That is a part of the reason why imho they should sign Chad Owens and Phil Hunt..throw us a bone for pete's sakes!

 

We've got our own FA issues. Not only that, the Jets have shown they are shrewd in signing FAs...They've clearly out performed us, no matter our head to head records. I mean, they are just better than us at doing it, and, there's no shame in saying so. That points right to the head of football operations. Our schedule is easy? That's the basis of you thinking we're doing well? I'm sorry but being failures to set up success doesn't work as a selling point to me.