It wouldn't surprise me if in fact Ross's first loyalty is to Michigan. The "Philbin is safe" thing after the Vikings still strikes me as a bit odd, with a tinge of clearing the path for Harbaugh to Michigan. I get the feeling that Michigan is the wife and Miami is the mistress in this triangle.


"Steve Ross's cell phone rings to Michigan's fight song "Hail to the Victors." And he has awoken in the middle of the night after a Dolphins loss and needed an Ambien to go back to sleep.

He once ranked his top things in life as his family and the Steve Ross School of Business at Michigan. And in that same conversation he called owning the Dolphins, "living the big dream."

This is the strange, high-stakes intersection Ross finds himself regarding the two football loves he holds close to heart and wallet. On Saturday, he often flies to watch Michigan play. On Sunday, he flies to wherever the Dolphins play."

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/...e-dolphins-harbaugh-1219-20141218-column.html

 

What if ??? Like it really matters at this point if it is true or not, nothing changes, it is what it is. Ross can outright say he lobbied for Harbaugh to go to Michigan and theres not a damn thing we can do about it. We would still have to suffer with his Philbin decision no matter what.

 

Glad to get Harbaugh out of the NFL.

 

Why would Harbaugh want to come to Miami?

 

Would that make a difference to this Fins team ?? Doubtful. I'm sure that IF Harbaugh were in any way interested in coming here, he and Ross would have talked by now and Ross wouldn't have said that Philbin were staying. I just can't see that he'd choose his money-making NFL franchise over his alma mater...he didn't get to be a billionaire by making those kinds of decisions...

 

Don't doubt for a second that Ross cares much more about Michigan than the Dolphins. He'll make money off of the Dolphins even if they continue to suck.

 

ASOT it wouldn't surprise me one bit if ross lobbied for JM to get the Mich job first. There's no love, there's no passion for our Dolphins coming from ross. Mich will always be number 1 to him. Heck it can be argued ross' 2nd favorite team won yesterday at sunlife. My sig isn't simple tongue-in-cheek. Based on ross' actions he continues to have ny jest envy.

Brah, don't ever question your loyalty. Just take solace that ross eventually will have to sell. We were fans before his arrival, we'll be fans after his departure.

 

...because fans will still buy tickets to the games.

 

Man, that's awesome that you know Stephen Ross so well. Can you maybe, you know, the next time you're at his place with him see if he can get me an autographed Marino jersey since Dan works for him now? I mean, you guys seem really tight since you know him so well, maybe you can ask him to do that favor for me?

 

There's really no doubt that Ross is helping Michigan get Harbaugh. He's basically writing the check.

I think you've got to question if he kept Philbin this year to avoid the appearances of a conflict of interests.

 

That's quite the assumption.

 

That Steve Ross had something to do with Michigan pursuing Harbaugh?

No, that's not an assumption. It could be an assumption, a well-supported assumption at that (Ross is to Michigan what the Knight family is to Oregon). However, it happens to not be an assumption. Ross was involved.

 

He almost fired last year and held his feet to the fire over Mike Sherman, this year he gave him a stamp of approval early and appears totally unwilling to reconsider despite clear evidence he should.

There's some really suspicious behavior going on here.

 

More importantly than Ross helping secure Harbaugh for Michigan is that he retained Philbin. He could have both helped Michigan sign Harbaugh and helped the Dolphins replace Philbin. Harbaugh is not the only viable candidate to upgrade Philbin.

So no, I do not care if he helped Michigan get Harbaugh.

I do care that he retained Philbin when he should have in fact replaced him.

 

Fair enough then. I understand the connection. I know it as a Michigan fan, and frequent visitor to the campus. I'm still looking for the proof though. Yes, I'm a Michigan fan, but I'm a Miami fan first, as I don't care as much about NCAAF as I do the NFL. I understand he's probably helped line it up for Michigan, but I think the stretch here is that people think and assume Ross would rather have him at Michigan than here. That's the part we dont know, if that comes out as fact, then hell yes, tar and feather Ross. I'm all for it.

For all we know, Ross may have asked Harbaugh if he'd like to come here or Michigan. Unless we know that isn't the case as well. I mean Ross does seem clueless enough as an owner to actually think Philbin did a good job this year because we were close to beating some good teams (GB, Det, Den)

That's all I'm sayin... I'd love to know for sure what really went on before speculating more. I know Ross put him in touch with Michigan kind of thing... but I don't think we'll ever know if Miami was never in the cards.

 

My speculation, and this is just speculation, is that the conflict did indeed exist in Steve Ross' mind but that there was no nefarious scheming to rob Miami in order to benefit Michigan. I think the choice is and was always Harbaugh's and Ross just wanted Harbaugh to choose one of his two teams.

That said, if there was no conflict of interest, he could have gone much, much more aggressively at Harbaugh and actually tried to out-compete Michigan to the point of hurting the school's bid. I think that is what Oakland is attempting...but I don't think that was ever on the table for Ross because of the conflict of interest.

 

I agree. That's the point I'm trying to make here to some who are just running rampant with "Ross loves Michigan more than Miami". We just can't honestly say that. I honestly think Harbaugh just wants to be back in college. Free from the restrictions of a salary cap, and a GM picking his talent for him. At Michigan he's free to go out and recruit, build his own empire again, stock the shelves with his talent that he can mould into the players he wants, he gets kids again, that would respect him in any and all situations etc. etc. etc.

Given the history between Ross and Harbaugh and Miami last time around... I think you'd have to think that may have stuck with him too.

I just think if we look at it objectively, it could go either way, but ultimately this was Harbaughs decision. You're right though, Ross sure could have begged him and bribed him with more cash than Michigan to get him here instead, but if Harbaughs heart wants to be back in Michigan and in the college game, then that's just throwing away money and setting the franchise back further when he pulls a Saban.

 

Honestly I believe the conflict of interest is a problem. By all means he SHOULD have been going after Harbaugh for Miami like a dog that smells a ***** in heat. The fact that his dual love for both programs most likely softened his stance that way, even possibly to the point of going all nihilistic and sticking with a dipsh-t like Joe Philbin simply because he's depressed and doesn't think anyone short of Harbaugh would be better than Philbin...that's a bad, bad thing. That should not happen. He's the owner of the Miami Dolphins and he should be advocating EXCLUSIVELY for the Miami Dolphins.

 

I agree 100%. Maybe he secretly offered Harbaugh more money to come to Miami, maybe he did make a more aggressive push. He likely knew both sides of the situation and the offer being presented. Again though, if Harbaugh wants to leave the NFL, nothing is going to change that. Even the phone call the Raiders made this morning.

Like I said earlier, I agree with what you're saying, what I don't agree with is the people spouting off as if it's fact that Ross screwed Miami over in favor of Michigan, because we simply don't know that was the case. I get it, it seems like it though, but perception isn't always reality.

I get what you're saying though.

 

Ross has a business college named after him at Michigan and he is the universitys biggest contributor .He donated 200 million dollars to the university last year.Together with fellow alumni Harbaugh they are seeing how OSU under Meyer will be dominating the Big 10 for many tears to come and they want to make Michigan competitive.

IMO Michigan is a passion for Ross.The Dolphins are a hobby .

 

That's very accurate imo.

 

I truly believe if the Michigan job was not open Ross would be doing whatever he could to bring him here. Now he gets best of both his worlds. He can keep the guy he hand picked and his favorite coach is going to coach his favorite team. We have a terrible owner

 

Well it's my opinion that Ross needs to sell the Dolphins to an owner that it's Miami first in every situation.I did not think we had a chance for Harbaugh,but was hopeful none the less. But for the Life of me and all Miami fan's,We DESERVED BETTER than Cautious Joe Philbin.

 

And to think...people complained about Joe Robbie....

 

I don't give a sh*t about Michigan. I care alot (or used to) about the Miami Dolphins.
He could have help Michigan get Harbaugh and fired Philbin. That's what should have happened.

 

I would see it as irrelevant. The decision was always Harbaugh's. I don't believe that Ross had much influence either way other than being behind a boatload of cash from either place.

 

Ross doesn't have one billion dollars. He has over four of them. He could write any check that Harbaugh could reasonably want, if Harbaugh was the least bit interested in coming to Miami. He clearly isn't. If he's interested in Michigan, I see no conflict, as there's only one possibility.

 

People should stop with this already. Harbaugh was never coming to the Dolphins. He did not want to last time and does not now. This wasn't some Dolphins vs Michigan battle and Ross pushed for Michigan.

Harbaugh was never coming Here. It was all wishful thinking. However, that does not exonerate Ross for keeping failbin and tanking this team for next year. There are going yo be other good candidates out there. Ross is still a stooge of epic proportions, but umich has nothing to do with it.

 

I know it is just speculation on my part but I don't think Ross ever had any idea of replacing Philbin. I believe he is totally committed to Philbin no matter what. We almost beat some good teams last year and we almost beat some good teams this year but that doesn't change the fact that we finished 8-8 and are mired in mediocrity. Once again we only have next years draft to look forward to and little to be optimistic about.

 

Our only real hope is that there's such a monumental haul of talent over the offseason that they can win despite bad coaching.

 

Harbaugh was never linked to Miami on this go 'round. I am not sure why people are making up reasons to vilify Ross when there are plenty of valid ones to work with.

 

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that Harbaugh was never going to come to Miami.

Why would a coach who probably had his pick of head coaching jobs want to come and take over a team owned by Ross? I have to doubt that it is probably widely known around league circles that Ross is clueless as an owner. That is why no top coaching prospects or top GM candidates have shown any interest in these jobs when there have been openings in recent years.

I think the reality for Ross was that he couldn't do any better than Mediocre Philbin and that is why he took a three point win over a bad Vikings team at home as an opportunity to spring the fact Philbin was returning next year.

Funny how silent Ross has been after the thumping his home team Jets laid on the Dolphins this past weekend.

 

He did go to a team that is practically owed by Ross. It is the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.