I'm hearing a lot of talk from folks on this board and the media that the New England game will be critical for Sparano and factor into whether or not he keeps his job. I believe Ross should make his decision based on everything except the New England game for the following reasons - New England has nothing to play for. Should we win it will most likely have more to do with New England resting its players rather than our team or coaches proving anything substantial. Sparano has already proven he can win games on the road. A win against New England should do nothing to ease concerns of his dreadful home record. This doesn't mean I think Sparano should be fired regardless of the New England game. I just hope Ross has already made his decision and won't let a meaningless game sway his opinion one way or the other. Now, I'll provide my thoughts (which are meaningless, but here they are anyway!) My personal opinion is that Sparano needs to be held accountable for the winnable games he has lost at home. You shouldn't lose to a Jake Delhomme led Browns team in your own backyard. You shouldn't lose to the Lions who have only won ONE other road game in the last THREE years. And I won't even hold the Bills game against him, as they were a much improved team down the stretch, but I think you can argue that one should have been very winnable at home as well. But win the Browns game and Lions Game and we're 9-6 right now. I'm not 100% sure if that would leave us a chance at playoffs if we knocked off New England but it would give Sparano a shot at a respectable record, and I think a record we all agreed was attainable for this football team at the season's start. I also think that just like there are drafts that are better or worse for QBs or other skill positions, this is a season where there are plenty of good if not great options at coach available. Cowher, Harbaugh, Gruden just to name the top 3. If Ross has doubts about Sparano and thinks he can lure one of these guys to Miami, I think you have to pull the trigger. The same way we would have to snap up Luck in a heartbeat if we were sitting at #1 in the draft based on our doubts about Henne.
I agree. I said after the Browns loss that Sparano keeping his job was dependent on the outcomes of the Bills and Lions games. Sure enough, bad games against the Bills have derailed this team's playoff hopes two years in a row now, and the loss to the Lions was what will likely spell the end for Sparano. CK said after the Lions loss to the Pats that a bad team will always find ways to lose a game. While I wouldn't consider this team to be bad, they've certainly been playing badly as of late and most notably when good performance was demanded most. Losing three straight home games to the Browns, Bills, and Lions is horrible, and losing 7 of 8 at home is absolutely godawful. They tied the 2007 team for the worst home performance in franchise history. Sparano may be a great motivator, his players may love him, but their performance (and by extension, his, if not primarily) has probably written his walking papers. I don't think Henning as sacrifical lamb is going to work anymore after this.
While I agree with just about everything you said, I don't think I would even call Sparano a great motivator. He seemed to struggle all season with keeping this team focused after big wins. How many times did we watch this team beat a good opponent on the road only to lose to a dog at home? I'm not sure exactly what the problem is/was but that kind of issue seems to point to coaching and a problem with motivation.
I pretty much agree my man. I don't think the crop of Head Coaching options out there is as great as it may seem. Yeah, there are few good ones, but there is a s--t load of teams whom will be looking for a head coach this off-season. I think there may be something like 10 teams possibly looking for one. I do not want Cowher for reasons I've previously stated(don't want to go off on that one). The two that I would have interest in is Harbaugh and Gruden. Harbaugh would be my first choice, but they will be sought after by a lot of teams. San Fran will go hard after one of them, imo. No one else really thrills me. If a new coach is indeed the route in which Ross wants to go, then he better be ready to ante up some serious dough.
Could you point me to the thread and/or posts you've explained not wanting Cowher? I'd be interested to read your thoughts. I think Harbaugh is the option out there with the most upside, with Cowher being a safer pick who should be able to coach this team we have to at least a couple more wins. I think Cowher, Harbaugh and Gruden are what makes this a coach "heavy" season. If we can't get any of those guys I'd rather stick with Sparano / Ireland and a new offensive coordinator.
I will when i get a chance bro. I'm just poppin' in from work.. I have nothing against Cowher and I think he's been a good coach, it's just not the direction in which I would want to go....at this point. I just didn't want to take your thread into that direction. My main point was that there are a lot of teams that will be looking for a head coach, so we may not have as many options as previously thought.
you judge the total season, after the last game is played & you've had time to gain perspective & reflect on the results
The only way you judge him on the Pats game is if the players totally lie down and don't show up, than that is an indictment of the coach. You look at the season on a whole.
I guess I can't disagree with this. If the team loses in an embarrassing fashion then you have to factor that in as well. Let me clarify and say I don't think any win should redeem Sparano if Ross already has doubts about his coaching and a close loss shouldn't sink him, if Ross had previously decided he was worth keeping.
I agree that the Patriots game is irrelevant when it comes to judging Sparano on this season. The Patriots will be resting many of their starters in the game. In fact the Patriots will be treating this game more as an extra pre-season game than a game they have to win. It would not surprise me if the Patriots take out Brady early in the game and go with back-ups for the majority of the game. Winning or losing the game really means nothing to the Patriots. Since they have already clinched home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. So if the Dolphins do happen to beat the Patriots back-ups. The owner should ignore the results of this game. Sparano, the coaching staff, Henne, and the rest of the players should only be judged on the first 15 games of this season. Another area of concern for the owner, Ross, should be that fans are beginning to lose interest in the Dolphins and turning their attention to the Miami Heat, instead. This past weekend. More TV viewers in South Florida tuned in to watch the Heat VS Lakers than watch the Dolphins play the Lions on television. This is the first time in the history of the Heat that they have had more viewers for their game than the Dolphins have when they both played in the same week. The fact that the Heat appears to be overtaking the Dolphins in terms of popularity should be a real concern for the Dolphins owner. The Heat created this interest by hiring a man like Riley many years ago. He has already provided Heat fans with one championship. With Mickey Arrison giving him the financial support. Riley went out and purchased the best team money can buy. Ross and the Dolphins now must not only compete with the teams in the NFL. They must now compete in their own back yard with the Miami Heat. Ross, like Riley and Arrison must make bold moves this offseason in an effort to retain the fans who are tuning in the Heat, but no longer tune in the Dolphins. Like it or not. Miami is a town that through the years only supports winners. Right now the winners are the Heat and the Dolphins are viewed by many fans as losers. Fans will continue to stay away from Dolphin games until Ross provides the fans with a reason to return. As all of us are very aware. The only reason required is a," winning football team".
This is so stupid. If you are going to judge him on the bad game vs the bad team then why would you not judge him on the game vs the best team that might be resting s few players. New England on a off day is better than the lions on a good day. These threads are getting absurd
I'm sorry you find my thread absurd. I feel I've given at least a few good reasons why a win against New England should not save Sparano's job. Whether you think New England's backups are better than Detroit's starters or not, Tony Sparano has already proven he can win tough games on the road. Unfortunately he's done nothing to prove he can keep his team motivated for should win games against horrible teams at home. Detroit was his chance to prove that. If you honestly feel like Detroit is that bad a team that New England's back ups would beat them, then you should be more ashamed of Sparano than I am for losing to that team at home. To be fair, I did say a close loss also shouldn't count against him if Ross has already decided to keep Sparano at this point. I don't think it's that absurd to think a hugely important decision of who is going to lead this team in the years to come should not hinge on a game that is meaningless to both teams.
I think he will be judged by the teams record as a whole and not one game,that being said this season has been another disappointment wheather they win against NE or not. Just my opinion but I think they look for another coach.
No one game should cost a coach their job, no matter what the circumstances. You are correct though that his WHOLE body of work of our home games should be the major factor in Ross's decision
I don't think one game or the next means a great deal at this point. We have a three year sample size on Sparano, and, for better or for worse, I think we can fairly figgure out who he is.
I think you want to see the team play hard regardless, as that's a measure of a coach's leadership. Belichick doesn't always rest his starters, so this might be more of a game than one might think. Ross sounds on the fence. If we suffer a 30-10 loss to New England's backups, I don't think he will be anymore.
