What Is The Future? (not fanboy, not doom-and-gloom)

I assume david Lee is the in-house successor to Henning, and I presume they like and trust him since he invented the wildcat and they decided to use it.

Whether or not he can make the proper play call on a red zone 3rd down is another story and one we won't know until he goes and does it.

 

If the Tuna leaves, and Sparano doesnt can Henning, then I dont know what to tell you....

 

David Lee didn't invent the Wildcat, Hugh Wyatt "invented" it. Looks like a variation of the Single Wing to me. He did bring it to the Miami Dolphins though.

 

You know what I mean, he is the guy on our staff who came up with the formation.

 

I said in another thread, that imo, there seems to be a differencce in philosophy between what were doing on offense, and what Sparano believes in....looks like a mismatch to me personally.

I do not like the way henning has called games this year, jmo, but I dont see the right play call at the right time., I see poor play calling in certain down and distance scenario's..

I see a team that talks about an identity, yet the playcalling does not coexist with that identity...

Ronnie should get a minimum of twenty touches..

Davone Bess should be catching 8 to 10 passes a game no matter what..

our ratio of runs on first down should favor the run play..

Ronnie Brown should be incorporated in the short passing game...he is not.

The wildcat should be used either on first down like a running play, or when it is 2nd and 5 or less... or when you have 2nd and 2 and the 2 in 4 down territory....its a freakin no brainer..



There is a serious flaw in his game, and that flaw is not knowing when you should pound the fu%$ing ball down someones throat, even if it fails, you do it to create identity, to create confidence, to break the will of the opponent, to take time off the clock, to wear out a defense, there is no other option in certain situations if you wanna be great... not throw a fade, a slant, or a ricky williams half back pass..

 

To me...the 10,000 pound gorilla in the room is Carl Peterson. I just don't know what kind of effect Peterson is having on Ross, and in the end, its Ross who will decide what our front office and coaching staff looks like next season.

I think the amount of time Carl spent with Ross at the owners meetings, instead of Parcels and Ross, speaks volumes as to the true amount of sway Peterson has over Ross.

If we finish with 10 or more wins, and win at least one game in the playoffs, then I cant see where Peterson is going to have enough ammunition to hold sway over Ross. If we dont win 10 games, squeek into the playoffs and are one and done, then I think Ross is going to have much more sway over Ross.

Judging by how Ross is trying to build on the entertainment value of the Miami Dolphins, and I think he really wants to build the Miami Dolphins brand (this is why they brought in Mike Dee), I can see Ross wanting a "name" coach if there is one to be had. I can also see him wanting to go with a coach who wants to create an exciting team, not one of four yards and a cloud of dust. Because Parcells really doesnt do anything with the team anymore, and never really was a figure head publicly, the Parcells names isnt really adding anything to the Dolphins brand at this point.

If I had to guess.....and make a prediction, I would say this.

Win more than 10 games and two playoff games, Sparano and Ireland are around to continue building. I do think this is the last season with Dan Henning. If we are looking at an .500 season by say game 8.....I can see them going in another direction than Henning sooner.

Anything less then 10 wins and 2 wins in the playoffs, I think Peterson gains enough steam with Ross that Ireland and Sparano are gone. And I think its only because of the sway Peterson has over Ross, and Ross's desire to build and exciting franchise, that this happens. If Wayne Huizenga was still here Ireland and Sparano would at least finish out their contracts.

Then, I think the Dolphins make a run at John Gruden. Gruden would come to Miami in a heart beat, and he brings the pre requisite "star" and Super Bowl tag to the table. He does have flair...and he would make things exciting. I like Gruden alot to be honest, and wouldnt be upset to much if that was the end result....would rather keep Sparano and Ireland....but I dont trust Peterson at all.

I dont see Bill Cowher coming to Miami, I think he is waiting and has been waiting for the Carolina job. Either that or the Giants job if that opens up.

So, next year....

We either have Tony Sparano as a coach....or John Gruden as a coach.


Also...

I know everyone thinks Im nuts.....and say it would never happen. But I still think Chad Pennington ends up as our OC at some point. And sooner rather than later.....he's brilliant, he can obviously coach....and I think Miami Fans would do cartwheels if this happened, and thats not lost on Ross at all.

 

I actually wasn't sure, which is why I made the statement.

 

Henning is an Air Coryell guy. Pretty much everyone uses Coryell concepts nowadays. If you can get someone who coached under Gibbs when he was in Washington, you'll get something pretty familiar though. Al Saunders comes to mind. Jason Garrett.

 

I think Gruden's next stop might be in college. It wouldn't surprise me. He was thisclose to taking an OC job with Oregon under Chip Kelly before he became an announcer.

 

He's incorporated Brown without touching the ball. Henning often uses a halfback as a checkdown, usually running flare action. That's what he's been doing since he was a Redskin.

Why would you run the Wildcat on first down? That's the only down in football that the defense has to prepare for everything. If you run the Wildcat on first down, they prepare for the run.

 

I'm not sure what to think about the offense anymore...some of the calls are befuddling to me..namely the 3rd and 6 WC and our 2nd and Goal-to-go situation against the Jets.

I see Marshall line up in the backfield probably a half dozen times to then go out into motion, and the defense doesn't buy it..they still manage to put their best corner on him. If you're trying to create a matchup, wouldn't you do that with a guy like Hartline where a corner might not follow him over?
WR screens to Hartline and Bess, while we have the best tackle-breaking, rac guy in the NFL not catching those passes?
Ronnie getting less than 15 touches per game? I don't care if he's made of glass or not...run him till the wheels fall off...
It just seems like we're trying to ram a square peg in a round hole.

 

I had no idea Sparano did so well as a play-caller. Interesting

The downside is I don't know of many coaches that have had success as being the HC and the OC.

 

My honest take on the Dolphins:

We have built a decent squad of players, but why do we always have 2nd rate coaches? I am fine with Sparano, but our ST Coach was horrble, our OC is horrible. We had Norv turner here for a while.....not good....and Cam Cameron....not good. I think we would be better off bringing in some younger guys, maybe even from the college ranks, who are innovative and not senile. Just my two cents.

 

I dunno, I know he's been under some fire. If they struggle, he may be let go.

 

Mark Whipple.

 

Oh, John Gruden recruiting would be quite a sight. I imagine him just yelling at a potential recruit and his parents right in their living room. Making angry faces.

 

if i was the owner i would do everything in my power to keep henning around through the 2012 season. We are on the verge of having the talent to make a run at a Super Bowl and I dont want to go into the playoffs with some novice like Lee or some other unknown quantity. Henning may get too smart sometimes for his own good but his gameplans and more importantly in game adjustments are brilliant and are born out of 40 years worth of experience. You can nitpick a play or two per game but its almost impossible to nitpick the other 55 minutes of his work. You simply dont replace that. This is a a guy that almost had the Panthers pull off one of the great upsets of all time just 6 years ago. The worst thing we could do is get the talent to win it all and then bring in some novice who gets outcoached by savvy defensive coordinators

 

Peterson and Ross:

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...otted-together-repeatedly-at-league-meetings/

http://www.wptv.com/dpp/sports/foot...-miami-dolphins;-bill-parcells-now-consultant

"It also couldn't help matters, some figured, that former Chiefs football executive Carl Peterson had been spending so much time with Ross, his former boss in the USFL. It was to the point that Ross and Peterson were apparently inseparable at the NFL owners meetings in March in Orlando.

Stash that theory, for now. But file it away for later should Peterson actually come on board in some official football capacity.

A hard-bitten football man from North Jersey, Parcells wasn't much for anything that distracted people from the primary mission of winning football games, so he wasn't too keen on game-day attention being focused on the likes of the Estefans, the Williams sisters, Fergie and Mr. J-Lo, Marc Anthony.

Under Parcells' leadership of the so-called "Trifecta""

 

i love that about bill. you came to a football game. you want celebrities go to a club

 

I never understood why Parcells or anyone on the football side would care about stuff being done for the fans in the stadium. At the end of the day, isn't anything that fills the place up with excited people a good thing?

 

As a long time season ticket holder I have mixed feelings about some of the gameday stuff.

It is kind of embarassing to have a super bowl type spectacle of celebrities, music, fireworks, concerts, etc and then to come out and lose your first two games.

 

I'm a season ticket holder as well and was skeptical, but I think it actually has made a difference. It doesn't hurt that our seats are only about 15 rows below J-Lo and we can sneak a few peeks during the game.

 

Good stuff. A couple games where we out-coached the other team: Jets Monday Night game (last season) and the Patriots game at home last season. The Jets game is self-explanatory, but the Pats game was one of the first games we really aired it out, and it was clear the Pats were not prepared for Henne to drop back as much as he did. We also held them in check in the second half of that game.

I hope Sparano stays. It's clear the players really like him, and they are usually the first ones to grumble when it's time for a coach to leave. As long as you have the team behind you, I think you can be successful.

Henning is a head-scratcher for me. I don't think I've seen an OC make one of the best calls I've ever seen (like the TD pass to Marshall on 3rd and short or the screen to Ricky) and proceed to make some of the dumbest calls I've ever seen (Wildcat on 3rd and 6, Ricky's Wildcat INT against Buffalo). Even though he gets a bad wrap, he's solid most of the time IMO.

 

I just want to be clear.....when I mentioned Gruden...it wasnt because I thought Sparano deserved to go, or anything like that. It was mearly speculation that I thought Peterson had some amount of sway over Ross and which direction Peterson would go.

Heres an article that had some play ealier this year, as to why Parcells decided to step down and put Ireland in charge. It was to protect Sparano and Ireland.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...lls-stepped-aside-to-protect-ireland-sparano/


"Citing unnamed friends of Parcells, here's what Jackson had to say: "Parcells said he fears that if he leaves, owner Stephen Ross will hire another top football executive (potentially Carl Peterson) who eventually would hire his own people to replace Ireland and Tony Sparano. Parcells told friends that Ireland and Sparano deserve a chance to build their relationship with Ross and establish more credibility with him, and Parcells believes staying makes that more likely."



According to friends in contact with Parcells since a dead-on report by ProFootballTalk.com last week, Parcells said he fears that if he leaves, owner Stephen Ross will hire another top football executive (potentially Carl Peterson) who eventually would hire his own people to replace Ireland and Tony Sparano. Parcells told friends that Ireland and Sparano deserve a chance to build their relationship with Ross and establish more credibility with him, and Parcells believes staying makes that more likely.

But even if Parcells left, Dolphins people say Ross wouldn't have hired a new czar now and he wants to see how the team does this season. But Parcells' presence for another year or so would help Ireland/Sparano next offseason if the team struggles in 2010.

In 2009, Parcells complained to friends about Ross' envelope-pushing on the entertainment side, but that did not factor into his decision.



Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/...ano.html#storylink=omni_popular#ixzz11hpvMj00

CLEARLY Parcells feels there is 1) a need to protect the two and 2) Ross has an interest in going in another direction.

It also got me thinking....

We have been wondering who has been saying stuff to the media about Henne...how Parcells is really disappointed, and that Pennington was going to be starting after the bye week....

I wonder if its not Parcells leaking this....but Peterson. I can see Peterson doing his best to undermine the current staff...possibly with the permission of Ross. Thats probably a lot of conspiracy theory on my part....but SOMETHING is lurking in the dark....

 

Gruden caught lightning in a bottle and won with a Tony Dungy team. To his credit he tweaked the O, won the SB and never did much again.

 

He's had success whereever he's went. What's also not noted is that he is partly responsible for the development of Ben Roethlisberger.

 

It might be interesting to go back and read some of the stuff written about Ross when he bought the team:

Stephen Ross has a passion for building. He builds houses. He builds high rises. He builds malls. Now, feeling like a kid again, he has taken on a building project unlike any other he has ever attempted.

He is rebuilding the Miami Dolphins.

"We're re-inventing this thing," Ross says with a glimmer in his eyes.

The goal is really simple: create a football experience unlike any other in the NFL. A consistent winner on the field, a trend-setter off the field. Ross is leaving the first part to his football people. "The best thing I can do there is stay out of the way and not micromanage," he says.

The second part, though, is all his. Ross has created a vision that began to unfold last season, a vision that turns the stadium where the Dolphins play into a star-studded collection of intrigue, high-tech information and excitement. Kind of like a South Florida version of what Jerry Jones is doing in Dallas, a comparison Ross likes.

http://www.miamidolphins.com/news/stephen-ross-passion-building

Did anyone else know that they were going to build a water park next to Sun Life?

http://www.examiner.com/miami-dolph...ins-owner-stephen-ross-is-the-next-mark-cuban


Miami — A new water park with wave pools, slides and a snorkel area is planned just across the street from the current playground of the Marlins and Dolphins.

Miami Dolphins owner and real-estate developer Steve Ross intends to turn a 40-acre parking lot next to Sun Life Stadium into a water attraction pegged to a spring 2012 opening -- just as the Florida Marlins will move from Sun Life to the new baseball stadium in Little Havana, said Dolphins CEO Mike Dee.

``We're looking at any and all ways that we can utilize the stadium and bring economic value. It's both an opportunity and a challenge,'' Dee said

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/20...-sun-life-stadium-world-waterpark-association

 

my fear is Ross reads these boards, decides the fans arent happy, fires ireland and sparano and replaces with peterson and herm edwards. oh god. i crapped my pants. be right back

 

As long as he leaves after the SB win. That team slid hard and fast after that win.

Actually revolving yearly coaches might be the fix to all their ills.

 

Bpk, words from Cowher and Reid.

http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/news/Story.asp?story_id=15036

I watch Whipple most Saturday's, as I'm a Hurricanes fan. He's also got a New Haven connection.

 

you the defense prepared for any play on any given down and distance, no? thats the problem with the wildcat. i would also say that our formations do a poor job of this as well